There I was out shopping with my 6, soon to be 7, year old at the weekend and she pipes up "Girl Power!" with a fist pump. So, obviously I'm delighted that she's on message (!) and I told her that I first heard about "Girl Power!" when it was summer 1996 and through the medium of the Spice Girls she said "I know who they are, Geri is a Spice Girl". (She is a fan of that recent BBC1 early Saturday evening show). Anyway it got me thinking, how do get these positive messages through to our children? Other than as a slogan on a T-shirt, how do we get them to understand what "girl power" means and why they need to understand it as they grow up?
And its not just for girls, I want my son to know that he is an equal too and for him to grow up respecting women as equals. I'm finding it hard to navigate all the messages they get and helping them to understand their place in the world. When it comes down to it the clearest message I want to give them is to be kind, we are all human beings. But some people come from a position of privilege and others don't; be it gender, ethnicity, ability, class, whatever it is I'm hoping I'm helping my children to understand theirs and that of others. There is a loooonngggg way to go before human beings are equal. Here are just a few of the girls I've photographed lately who will be part of that change... may your voices be heard, loud and clear...
