Being a Girl

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

By Micheline Auger

Do you know what it feels like for a girl?/ Do you know what it feels like in this world,/ for a girl?
– Madonna

What it Feels Like for a Girl
Jackson Hole, Wyo.-Columbia Eiden, a sixth grader at the Jackson Hole Middle School chews her lip while staring at footage of a documentary she is making. “You have to be careful not to delete the wrong thing,” she said.
She jots down a few notes and continues watching.

Columbia’s documentary is one of 16 written, produced, filmed and edited by girls in the Girls Actively Participating (GAP), a program at Jackson Hole Middle School that teaches girls to trust themselves and provides them a foundation for entering fields typically thought of as male-dominated, including technology.

The girls focus on what they love. For Columbia, that’s her love of dancing; for sixth grader Maggie Boyt, the environment. “I like to participate in helping the world by recycling, raising money for charity and making the world a better place,” Maggie said.

Twelve year-old, Nancy Moreno is making her documentary about moving from Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, to Jackson Hole. “We moved because we had a lot of family living here and in Mexico, we just lived with my grandma. It was hard leaving my grandma because she always took care of us. Every morning she would bring us yogurt.”

Nancy’s friend, Danicia Quezada, also considered making her film about her move to Wyoming but then decided to talk about her friends instead. “Friends are a big part of my life,” Danicia said with a big smile.

“A lot of them talk about their friends, and you know what? That is the most important thing in their lives right now,” said Amy Manhart, the Jackson Hole Middle School teacher who directs the program. “I’m not going to tell them what to say. The purpose of these films is to show the community that it’s not easy being this age and you may think, ‘Oh friendship, you’ll have 20 more friends,’ but right now they have those two and when they’re fighting with those two, it makes it really hard.”

Persistent stereotypes
Manhart co-founded the free, after-school GAP program 11 years ago with Julie D’Amours, an outdoor enthusiast and Jackson Hole ski instructor, after witnessing men and women in an Outward Bound Instructor Course act out traditional gender roles. She also felt compelled to do something in response to psychologist Mary Pipher’s best-selling book, Reviving Ophelia, which explores why depression, eating disorders and suicide plague American adolescent girls.

“I guess the biggest thing from reading Reviving Ophelia was that they’re growing up too fast,” Manhart said.

Girls Inc., a national advocacy group, reported in a survey of more than 2,000 girls and boys, called the Supergirl Dilemma, that girls are under increasing pressure at ever younger ages to “please everyone, be very thin, and dress ‘right.’”
The report shows that though some progress has been made in the perception of girls’ abilities in math and sciences, gender stereotypes that contribute to the escalating stress for girls, still persist. These are the kinds of reports that motivate Manhart.

“That’s the whole point of the program. Don’t pigeonhole yourself, especially not in middle school. Let’s try all this stuff and if one thing fits and one thing doesn’t, great. You’ve been exposed to it and yeah, maybe droves won’t go into technology, but that one girl who is interested in it knows now that it’s OK to do so.”
With an annual budget of $22,000, GAP provides middle school girls a safe environment to take risks, learn new skills and have fun - without the presence of boys.

“Because sometimes, boys make fun of you,” said Danicia, another sixth grader, “and girls aren’t really like that. We have a chance to express ourselves without someone making fun of us.”

And expressing themselves is what these documentaries are all about. Funded by a $2,300 grant from the Wyoming Women’s Foundation and inspired by the documentary Don’t Fence Me In, which features stories of Wyoming women and girls, these films are “kid-run and kid-operated,” Manhart said. “This is the girls doing it.”

But they don’t do it alone. Manhart said she invited professional women from the community: “Carrie Noel from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival came, Leigh Reagan from Don’t Fence Me In, along with the executive director, Mickey Babcock, who is also a former GAP board member. Amy Brennan McCarthy (associate producer of Don’t Fence Me In) helped by talking about distribution and production and local writer, Meg Daly helped the girls write.”

In addition to filmmaking, the GAP calendar is full of activities such as cross-country skiing, assertiveness training and classes in computer animation and entrepreneurship.

“We’ve also done projects like knitting a blanket that we donated to the Community Safety Network, or going to the Whole Grocer and talking to (registered dietician) Mary Rowley about how to eat, and how to shop,” Manhart said.

Rowley has been working with GAP for the last five years. She gave them a tour of the store and talked about different kinds of foods and how to read food labels.
“This was the first time we went to a grocery store so I wasn’t sure what to expect,” Rowley said. “They didn’t ask a lot of questions but they also knew more than I expected. Most of them had heard of Omega-3s and some of them even knew what they were good for. Their favorite part was definitely the smoothie bar.”
GAP is organized around four themes: building community, giving to others, taking care of ourselves and hearing our voices, “which is where the film project comes in,” Manhart said.

Bridging the GAP
Once the girls chose their topics, they had to come up with their scripts. “Meg Daly helped them with that,” Manhart said.

“We sat in a circle,” Nancy said, “and the other girls would tell us questions they wanted us to answer in our documentary, like how old were you when you came? What were some of your experiences like? What was good about coming? What was bad?”

“They told you everything they wanted to know about you,” Columbia added. “And then we chose the best questions.”

With their questions in hand, the girls were ready to shoot. “Carrie (Noel) took a couple girls and said, ‘Let’s go film this,’” Manhart said. “So they got very individualized attention on things like how to set up the cameras, how to choose your background and then the following week, those two girls took two groups of their own out and were the experts and shared what they had learned with the other girls.”

Nancy went first: “I was so nervous about filming. I got to practice the first time, and then the second time they filmed me.”

The cameras and editing software, both provided by the school, were not only the tools of their trade, but also their introduction into a skill-set largely void of women.

“One of the focuses of our grant application was the gender gap in regards to technology,” Manhart said. “For instance, more boys than girls go into video game programming and that’s where the money is, so we thought with a project like this, we can get the girls using the technology; bridge that gap a little bit.” And the girls seem to take to the technology pretty easily.

“I liked learning how to edit a movie,” Nancy said.
Columbia agreed: “Editing was difficult but fun. I watched my movie ten times before cutting so I wouldn’t make a mistake.”

To celebrate the completion of their films, Manhart held a private screening for the girls at the school in March, which included a walk down the red carpet or, in this case, walking through a purple curtain that Manhart hung from the classroom doorway.

“We had party food and the girls cheered each other on,” Manhart said. “They were pretty good to each other, but horrible to themselves. They all had the same reaction: ‘That’s not what I sound like! Is that what I look like? Look at my hair!’ But then there was a clip of me talking about GAP and I wanted to do the same.”
“It was really fun,” Maggie said. “It felt like you were a movie star. I liked holding the camera and directing best.”

What are the answers?
At the end of each film, the girls answer three questions: What’s the best thing about being a girl; what’s the worst thing about being a girl and if you had a fairy godmother, what would you wish for?

“The best thing about being a girl,” Columbia said, “is that you can do lots of stuff with your hair, whereas boys just get to spike theirs.”
And the worst thing: “Boys don’t think you are as good as them and they think you are weak. They think they are better than you.”

Nancy: “The best thing about being a girl is being in GAP, and the worst thing would be not being in GAP!”

And if you had a fairy godmother: “In my film” Maggie said, “I said I would wish for the world to be a better place. I still wish for that.”

Since its inception in 1997, GAP has reached more than 400 sixth- through eighth-grade girls, most of whom think they will continue next year. Girls who have gone on to high school also met with Manhart once a year to reconnect and many of them volunteer in the program.

“The girls get really busy, and move on to other things, which is great,” Manhart said. “If we can be the springboard to that, that’s great. I just feel like we’re the baby step to doing bigger things.” PJH

The GAP girls’ films will be screened, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., April 28 at Lyndsay McCandless Contemporary, 130 S. Jackson Street.

Yolanda Vasquez and Nancy Moreno pose for their classmate, Columbia Eiden.

PERMALINK:
Being a Girl | Planet JH News Article: Cover Stories

Reader Comments
RE: ".. teaches girls to trust themselves and provides them a foundation for entering fields typically thought of as male-dominated, including technology..." More girls go to college than boys. Boys are being shortchanged by the nonsense about girls being shortchanged. Plenty of evidence has shown that many women avoid male-dominated fields not because they think they can't succeed in those fields but because they don't want to. Men and women ARE different. ....Nonetheless, any program that supports a child's (boy's or girl's) exposure to new educational experiences is all for the good. Now, how about a Midwifery program for boys. eyeson jackson
Eyeson Jackson "boys are being shortchanged by the nonsense about girls being shortchanged". What a ludicrous statement. "More girls go to college than boys." College is a choice and is open to every gender. The rest of your comment does not even make any sense. "...women avoid male-dominated fields because...they don't want to" and then you write "...how about a Midwifery program for boys", as if to bring your point home that girls and boys are only interested in gender-specific careers. "Men and women ARE different" and they also have different interests. I'll have you know that I was delivered by a male midwife, which goes to show you that Midwifery programs are not just for women. It is a matter of interest for men, whereas it is a matter of discrimination for women. Thank human kind for recognizing this difference and making a change to allow career choices equal for everyone. What a great program for young women to go out in to the world and have a choice of career and feel secure about it. Equality
Oh please! What are you thinking EQUALITY? We have one special program after another for women and girls. BOYS are being discriminated against. Women in the USA have all the choices in the world to do whatever it is they want to do with a career. They are responsible for the choices they make---it has NOTHING to do with discrimination. As is CLEARLY illustrated with these young girls, they take more pride in what they can do with their hair than what they can do with their minds. But hey, their kids, so I'll let some nonsense slide. eyeson jackson
Well it's obvious that you did not read the title "Being a Girl". You wouldn't have any idea what "choices" you think are out there for women until you've experienced life as a female. SM
SM: It doesn't take a genius--or a female--to know what choices are out there for women. I suggest you look around you---you'll see women in EVERY profession. And you will see women dropping out of male-dominated careers because they want to do something else. But, I will agree that discrimination still exists---it's called reverse discrimination against men---usually white males. The Supreme Court heard a case just this week. Try doing some reading about the issue. ......I grant you this---Selective Service should be opened up for women as should the chance for women to fight on the front lines of battle fields (with or w/o men by their side). The women in the USofA deserve the chance to explore this career choice and spill their blood for this country. eyeson jackson
RE; ..."..more boys than girls go into video game programming and that’s where the money is, so we thought with a project like this, we can get the girls using the technology; bridge that gap a little bit.” Video-game PROGRAMMING is nothing like "video" EDITING. Typing code all day long ISN'T TOO EXCITING. Most girls at this age would reject that in favor of video editing--nothing wrong with making movies but it has little to do with addressing the "tech gap".... And lets be honest, kids use technology throughout school and at home and as pointed out above "girls seem to take to the technology pretty easily". They're going to have a better chance to get excited about male-dominated tech fields if they are successful in math, science, & computer science. After-school tutoring in those fields might be a better idea. This program MAY actually be replacing time spent building the foundations for a tech career with self-esteem building. eyeson jackson
”....teaches girls to trust themselves and provides them a foundation for entering fields typically thought of as male-dominated, including technology.” .....“One of the focuses of our grant application was the gender gap in regards to technology” ....“That’s the whole point of the program. Don’t pigeonhole yourself “ .....“We’ve also done projects like knitting a blanket” “....how to eat, and how to shop” ....”The purpose of these films is to show the community that it’s not easy being this age...” ....“..expressing themselves is what these documentaries are all about.” .... “a safe environment to take risks, learn new skills and have fun - without the presence of boys.” eyeson jackson
"This program MAY actually be replacing time spent building the foundations for a tech career with self-esteem building"...you say that as if it's a bad thing. With "some" people negating any acknowledgment or awareness of there being any difference in career options between the genders, young women need to be strong enough (and educated) to be able to stand up for themselves. If you're so affected by the thought of boys being "shortchanged by the nonsense about girls being shortchanged" why don't you get out there and start that Midwifery program you wrote about for boys. Men and women both have choices, and these kinds of programs are created to encourage young girls that, if they are interested in technology, there is a place for them in the workforce. Just as there is a place for men in the Midwifery profession. Equality
"The report shows that though some progress has been made in the perception of girls’ abilities in math and sciences, gender stereotypes that contribute to the escalating stress for girls, still persist."..."That’s the whole point of the program. Don’t pigeonhole yourself, especially not in middle school. Let’s try all this stuff and if one thing fits and one thing doesn’t, great. You’ve been exposed to it and yeah, maybe droves won’t go into technology, but that one girl who is interested in it knows now that it’s OK to do so." "With an annual budget of $22,000, GAP provides middle school girls a safe environment to take risks, learn new skills and have fun - without the presence of boys."..."Because sometimes, boys make fun of you," said Danicia, another sixth grader, "and girls aren’t really like that. We have a chance to express ourselves without someone making fun of us." Any program that provides young women with a strong and safe support foundation hopefully enables them not be affected by people chiding them by saying "they take more pride in what they can do with their hair than what they can do with their minds." Equality
This is nothing more than a girl-scouts program. I'd like to know exactly what they spend their money on---seems like this could all be done for FREE by volunteers like EQUALITY. Where is the evidence that this program has accomplished anything? 11 years and no metrics to evaluate the return on investment? eyeson jackson
The administrators pretend that this program is going to fix problems girls face. It won't. It doesn't. Girls will do just fine without all the hand holding. They are not hamstrung by discrimination, or men, or some imaginary or real mental roadblock to success. The worst role models for women are usually other women. And telling girls that they need special programs in order to succeed just reinforces the perception that women are more emotionally needy. eyeson jackson
We should not be defining girls (or women) as the overly-emotional mentally-weak gender that is in need of special hand holding. I'd suggest that the program remake itself into a program that provides a real environment where girls can experience and learn about science and technology. One that measures its own success, or lack thereof, like a scientist. One that can prove that it provides a strong return on our investment of time and money. As it stands, there is no reason for this program to have a budget of $22,000. That's a crime. Focus on working without the $22,000. eyeson jackson
This is a very well written article, I'm thinking now about going G.A.P. in 7th grade! Annette Donald
$ 2 2 , 0 0 0 ................ over $ 1 0 0 0 per kid. eyeson jackson
Instead of adults who want to pigeonhole little girls as depressed, suicidal and suffering from abnormal disorders, here's a better role model who masters math as well as ballet: .... .... "Willa Chen has a knack for tough tests. The Detroit News reports that the 17-year-old Canton High School senior in suburban Detroit got perfect scores on the ACT, SAT and PSAT. Chen plans to attend Princeton University. She participates in the Math Olympiad and loves jazz, tap and ballet dancing. " .... ...... eyeson jackson
Eyeson -- The School District is set to spend 3 million on new stadium seats. 22K is a drop in the bucket. The program isn't perfect but it has its place and gives girls something constructive to do in a safe comfortable place. Wayiseeit
Eyeson Jackson (should be wordson jackson): I do my fair share of volunteer work with youth camps (for boys and girls) every summer for the past 9 years. But, I also have a well-paid job that allows me to pay back my student loans for my education (thanks to my high-school "career and personal planning" class, I knew that I would have a choice of careers when I went out in the work force). You seem to have a lot of spare time on your hands to cut through everything that happens in this small community. Since, you have a comment on most articles, it seems that you have a lot to get off your chest, and would be better suited to volunteer your "expertise". I bet you would have a lot of community support for a program for youth which is run for FREE. Good luck with your new endeavor. Equality
EQ: That male midwife must have done some damage to the part of the brain responsible for common sense because the last thing Jackson needs is ANOTHER non-profit or volunteer organization. Kids have a million options for stuff to do in their spare time and one too many adults who want to micro-manage their every step. In my mind, these are good-intentioned adults acting in a misdirected way. They are stereotyping little girls. Their program is over funded. They focus on the wrong stuff. The very first comment I made supported the program for the same reasons WAYISEEIT does. I just don't buy into the idea that they are meeting the goals set forth in the story or doing so in a responsible way. You want to attack me because I find some faults with a program that pretends to be bridging an tech gap and seems to have a bloated budget. Do you work with the program? What you should do (or those associated with the program) is respond to the concerns I raise. None does because they are afraid of a little sunshine on their spending and program direction. eyeson jackson
Bhahaha..you're right. I must be partially brain damaged to think that you would volunteer your time to support a youth program. Wayiseeit stated that "$22,000 is a drop in the bucket" and "the program isn't perfect but it has its place and gives girls something constructive to do in a safe comfortable place." That is not what I read in your first statement which stated that "boys are being shortchanged by the nonsense about girls being shortchanged". There may be "plenty of evidence" showing that there are women in thought to be male-dominated fields, but are they being paid the same wage? Take a man and woman with the same education and experience and do you think that they will be paid the same? That is discrimination. Do your research (and that doesn't mean quoting stories out of the Jackson Daily newspaper, ie. Willa Chen). This program does have a place in this community (any community) and they are doing the best they can with as little as $22,000 a year. If you really want answers about their spending, go to the schoolboard and ask. I am not affiliated with this program, so I don't have those numbers. What I do know is that I support programs that break the "gender stereotypes" for young women (and youth in general). You also asked, "Where is the evidence that this program has accomplished anything?" "Since its inception in 1997, GAP has reached more than 400 sixth- through eighth-grade girls, most of whom think they will continue next year." They explain, "Let’s try all this stuff and if one thing fits and one thing doesn’t, great. You’ve been exposed to it and yeah, maybe droves won’t go into technology, but that one girl who is interested in it knows now that it’s OK to do so." If you need more "evidence", again, go to the schoolboard and ask. You wrote, "the administrators pretend that this program is going to fix problems girls face" and from I read they're not trying to fix "problems girls face" but give them an outlet to try things that they may not actively participate in due to the fact that "...sometimes, boys make fun of you...". The last quote in this article says, "If we can be the springboard to that, that’s great. I just feel like we’re the baby step to doing bigger things." This program is obviously not the be-all-end-all to "bridging the gap", but it's a great start. Equality
EQ: Well, we won't see eye-to-eye about this program--or women being responsible for their lack of earning power--but I appreciate your efforts to convince me that I'm wrongheaded. Few step up to the plate and you dish it out very well. eyeson jackson
Nice little jab..."women being responsible for their lack of earning power"...that is exactly why this program exists. Youth empowerment programs are something that I am very passionate about and will continue to, not try to "convince" people, but to support and create an awareness about the discrepancies in gender-related professions. These programs are specifically developed to enable young women to take "responsibility" for themselves and be whatever it is that they want to be (no matter the so-called "-add gender- dominated" field). Hopefully one day, this will all be a moot discussion. Equality
That wasn't a jab...I predict women will surpass men in pay in short order given their higher graduation rates from college. If they fail to surpass men, then that's a choice they make. I think these little girls know full well that they can do pretty much anything they want with a career if they put their minds to it....all kids do. A few adults think otherwise but not me. eyeson jackson
I sense a slight change of heart since some of your earlier comments, ("these young girls, they take more pride in what they can do with hair than what they can do with minds") to your last comment of "these little girls know full well that they can do pretty much anything they want with a career if they put their minds to it". Now you're starting to understand what this program is all about. Young women don't always know or feel comfortable going in to so-called "male-dominated" professions, and unfortunately, simply graduating from college doesn't guarantee an equal salary rate. "Surpassing" is not the issue at hand, "equality" is. I know you read the editor's opinion in this weeks' PJH issue and his research included, "2008 U.S. Census Bureau stats show that, on average, women earn 78 cents to every man’s dollar, and in Wyoming (The Equality State, you’ll remember), the wage gap is the highest in the nation: 37 percent, according to the Wyoming Council for Women’s Issues." I also read an article that stated "the Institute for Women's Policy Research estimates that it will take until 2057 to close the wage gap." Once again, these programs are designed to give young women the opportunity to learn about career choices and be supported in whatever they choose, "...bridge that gap a little bit." Equality
I'm all for higher wages for women---especially minorities. I just have a different point of view about how to address the problem. eyeson jackson
I'm happy (sincerely) to hear it. By all means, if you have solutions, please address them. There would be a lot of very appreciative people. But just realize that it takes the support of many groups of "people" not just women, to address such a large issue. Equality

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Being a Girl

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

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