Leaning In

Sheryl Sandberg, the well-renowned and inspiring woman who just so happens to be the Chief Operating Officer of a little company called Facebook, wrote a book and founded a non-profit around her concept of “leaning in.” The idea is that despite the fact that women face systematic and institutional blocks when climbing the corporate ladder, women can take control of their fates by leaning in—by being more assertive and self-confident. 

Lean In is both the title of Sandberg's book and the name of her nonprofit

This concept of “leaning in” has recently been widely discussed and critiqued in the media. One common criticism is that it is unfair to tell women it is their responsibility to overcome structural inequalities and obstacles. That we should focus on fixing the system instead of essentially telling women just to do it themselves. While I certainly see this side of the argument—I definitely do believe that we need to work to address these systematic issues that keep women down in business, politics and other sectors of society—I also think there is something empowering in telling women not to wait for that to happen.

I went on a retreat this past weekend to train to be a Generation Know Ambassador with U by Kotex and Girls for a Change. The mission of the U by Kotex campaign is to empower girls with complete and accurate information about their bodies and their periods and to eliminate the shame surrounding them. As a Generation Know Ambassador, I will be designing a project (or two, or three...) to break the silence about periods and vaginas, to bust the harmful myths associated with them and to spread the word about girls' health and knowledge of their bodies.

The retreat was absolutely wonderful. There were approximately 28 girls from the US and Canada ranging in age from 15 to 23. All of these girls were clearly passionate, intelligent and ambitious. Although we only had a weekend together, our group leaders led several engaging activities to help us get to know and connect with one another. One of the first small activities we did made a particular impression on me. While we were all sitting in one large circle, one of our group leaders told us to “lean in.” She meant this literally: she wanted us to lean our bodies forward, lingering in this position for a few moments. She had us note the sense of vulnerability we felt in that moment: no longer completely balanced, moving closer into a space of people with whom we are mostly unfamiliar. Then she wanted us to think about times when we feel similar vulnerabilities in our lives, when we venture out farther than we are generally used to, when we take risks and are uncertain about what the outcomes might be. She then described this concept of “leaning in” as making yourself vulnerable, yet therefore more able to learn new things, explore new ideas and even meet new, wonderful people.

To get in the know, visit ubykotex.com

The first thing I thought of as she was explaining this concept was, unsurprisingly perhaps, Sheryl Sandberg's concept of leaning in. I thought about how their conceptions of this idea were different: Sandberg wants women to be more assertive and confident, and my group leader wanted us to allow ourselves to be vulnerable and step out of our comfort zones. When I thought about it more, however, I realized these ideas were really quite similar. The idea behind “leaning in” is about taking risks, putting yourself out there, believing in yourself enough to allow for some chance of failure and knowing that failure will not define you. These behaviors are generally discouraged in women, who above all are expected to be “likable.” Not ambitious, nor assertive, nor risk-takers, but rather nice and inoffensive. And this is an idea I reject, as a woman, as a feminist, and now, thanks to this amazing opportunity from U by Kotex and Girls for a Change, as a Generation Know Ambassador.

As an ambassador, I will be working to empower girls with information about and respect for their bodies and the amazing things that they are capable of. And I believe that the more we are confident about, comfortable with and proud of our bodies, the farther we, as women, will be able to lean in. 

If the World Were 100 People

In my Certified Peer Educator (CPE) training for my job as a peer health educator, we have been reading chapters from the textbook Peer Health Education: Concepts and Content by Hong, Robertson, Catanzarite and McCall. I have had a lot of problems with this text, especially concerning its (mis)information on sexual health and responsibility. For example, the textbook highly recommends the use of spermicides containing nonoxyl-9, an organic compound that immobilizes sperm. However, there are a whole host of problems associated with nonoxyl-9 that the book fails to mention. For example, many women experience allergic reactions to nonoxyl-9; besides being quite uncomfortable and unpleasant, this increased irritation causes more vaginal lesions. This, according to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, can increase the incidence of HIV infection, despite the book's claim that spermicides provide “substantial” STI protection. Indeed, according to kidshealth.org, spermicides alone do not prevent sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In addition to increasing the risk of contracting HIV, regular use of nonoxynol-9 has been shown to increase the risk being infected with human papillomavirus (HPV), which can cause cervical cancer.

Anyway, enough with the rant on nonoxyl-9. My point is, despite the fact that I have encountered quite a few frustrating problems with this textbook, I came across a section that really intrigued me in the chapter about the importance and value of diversity.

“Consider this,” the book says. “If we shrank the world's population to a village of 100 people, it would look approximately like this:

• There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 8 Africans, and 14 would be from the Western Hemisphere (North and South America). 
• 51 would be female, 49 male. 
• 70 would be non-white and 30 would be white. 
• 30 would be Christians, 18 Muslims, 13 Hindus, 6 Buddhists, 5 Animists, 1 Jewish [sic] and 27 would be other (Atheist or no religion). 
• 50% of the village's wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people, and all 6 people would be United States citizens. 
• 70 would be unable to read. 
• 50 would suffer from malnutrition. 
• Only one would have a college education. 
• No one would own a computer.” 

Although the use of the word “Jewish” as noun is somewhat absurd and reminiscent of the Mandy Moore movie Saved (“She was the only Jewish ever to attend American Eagle academy”), the overall concept of representing the world population as a village of 100 people seemed clever and caught my attention. I decided to look into this idea a little further.

Even though this book was apparently updated in 2011, most of its statistics seem quite outdated. With some quick research, I came up with what I believe to be a slightly more modern representation of the world if it were condensed into a village of 100 people today:

• There would be 60 Asians, 11 Europeans, 15 Africans, and 14 would be from the Western Hemisphere (North and South America).
• 50 would be female, 50 male.* 
• I could not find clear statistics regarding the percentage of people who are white/non-white, but several sources indicated that the ratio is closer to 80:20 (80 people would be non-white and 20 would be white), rather than 70:30. 
• 32 would be Christian, 23 Muslim, 16 no religion, 15 Hindu, 7 Buddhist, 6 Folk, .8 Other, .2 Jewish 
• 1 person would have 35% of wealth, 5 people would have 62% of the wealth; 5 people would be from the US, and those five people together would have 25% of world's wealth 
• 16 people would be illiterate**
• 14 people would suffer from what the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization calls “undernutrition.” 
• 7 would have a college education.
• Between 10 and 20 people would own a computer or at least have access to one (statistics on this are vague and vary from source to source) 

Despite its outdated statistics, this textbook has a pretty valid point: “When seeing the world from such an incredibly compressed perspective,” the book says, “the value of both tolerance and understanding becomes glaringly apparent.”

Do with this information what you will (and be sure to check my facts—clearly I don't have a problem challenging information that I read, and neither should you!). Statistics can be misleading, and sometimes they don't mean much unless we know exactly how they were calculated (and by whom). Nevertheless, looking at this (perhaps not entirely accurate but still interesting) representation of the world is certainly thought-provoking.

After I had painstakingly looked up every individual statistic, I came across this website that has posted its own representation of “If the World Were 100 People,” as well as references to detailed research and source information and the 1992 statistics by Donella Meadows who originally came up with this concept. This portrait of the world uses slightly different indicators to represent the population, but the idea is the same. The world is not nearly so big—nor so homogenous—as we are sometimes led to believe. If we could always view the world this way—as a pretty small group of people who, although quite different in backgrounds and beliefs, are just trying to make their way through life like you and me—maybe we would all be a little more understanding, a little more open, and a little more tolerant.

It sounds idealistic. It sounds a little dreamy. But maybe, just maybe, we would.

Disclaimer: Most of the information in this post—if no other link was provided—comes from Wikipedia, which I wholeheartedly support as a source of accurate, reliable information.

*The sex ratio for the world population is about 101 males to every 100 females. This gender imbalance is affected by numerous factors: although women statistically live longer than men, more male babies are born than female babies. This is because the “natural sex ratio” is 1.06 males for every 1 female; that is, without any external interferences, naturally more male babies are born than female babies. However, certain environmental, social and economic factors also contribute to the gender imbalance of the population in which there are a greater number of males. For example, in certain countries female fetuses are selectively aborted, and in more extreme cases, female babies fall victim to gender-based infanticide.

**According to the CIA World Factbook, “There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Most presented rates are based on the ability to read and write at a specified age. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.”

Girls Impact the World Film Festival Winners

Today, I received this email from Lila Igram, founder of Connecther, an organization that “helps women help themselves.” 

The Girls Impact the World Film Festival held its inaugural awards ceremony honoring girls who are impacting the world through film at Harvard College on Saturday, February 23, 2013. The Girls Impact the World Film Festival, co-sponsored by Connecther.org & the Harvard College Social Innovation Collaborative called on students to submit 3 - 5 minute films on issues related to advancing women and girls globally. The GITW Festival Awards Ceremony screened phenomenal films, all made by students, addressing global health, education, child marriage, sex-trafficking, women in media and many other issues. The winning film, International Boulevard by Zoë Simone Yi and Rebecca Dharmapalan, Oakland School for the Arts - was a shocking documentary about sex-trafficking in Oakland, CA. 

Christy Turlington Burns, founder of Every Mother Counts had this to say about International Boulevard, "Great job bringing a global issue closer to home. Great use of experts, great film production. Had a very cohesive message and was informative all the way through."

"This film was excellent. The message was very clear and the use of interviews with people on the front lines was a strong mechanism to frame the issue." Jean Oelwang, CEO of Virgin Unite

Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus said, "Informative and insightful. Makes you think deeper into the issue of sex trafficking."

Other judges include Maria Eitel (CEO Nike Foundation), Nobel Laureate Leymah Gbowee, Pat Mitchell (CEO of the Paley Center for Media), Robb Moss (Harvard film-making professor), Zainab Salbi (Founder of Women for Women) and Jeff Skoll (Founder of Participant Media).

1st Runner up went to Teen Pregnancy Second Runner up & Cisco's Most Innovative Film Prize went to This is a Girl.

People's Choice went to Because I Am a Girl.

Please see what Jean Oelwang, CEO of Virgin Unite had to say about the event here.

We would love to hear from you. Please do write with comments and/or feedback. Also, check out & like our Facebook page for pictures of the event at: www.facebook.com/connecther

Looking forward to next year! This is only possible with your support!

The GITW Team

Lila also told me in the email that "In many ways, watching It Only Takes a Girl inspired us to do this . . . you continue to make a huge impact!" I am very honored that Connecther feels that my video played a role in inspiring this amazing project. This festival was a truly wonderful way to get girls involved in issues that affect all of our lives. For more information on Connecther, please check out my blog post “Highlighting Charities.” They are a great organization that I have been following for a long time. Please take a moment to watch some of these incredible winning videos, and spread the word!

Newcomb Scholars

First of all, exciting news: as of the writing of this post, we only need about 2100 more views on the video to reach the big FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND. Woohoo! (Tell your friends!)

Next, I wanted to fill you in a bit on what's been going on with Newcomb Scholars. I guess I should begin by saying—I got in! Indeed, I have been a Newcomb Scholar since late November, but I haven't brought it up since I told you all about the program back in October.

We began our career as Newcomb Scholars on December 1 with a day-long “retreat,” in which we played some icebreaker games, came up with general rules and guidelines for our cohort, and generally got to know one another better. Since that time, we twenty girls have been meeting every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:00am for a seminar on “The History and Philosophy of Higher Education.” Basically, we have been reading about and discussing women in college through the years.

I have gotten to know some of the girls in my cohort quite well, and they are all wonderful women. Today we turned in our first major assignment of the semester, a short essay on some aspect of the history of Newcomb College. I chose to write about the Newcomb Women's Center—a center for women formed in the 1970s whose purpose was to counsel Newcomb women on career planning—and its involvement in Second Wave Feminism. Below is an excerpt from my essay:

“A Woman's Place is Every Place.” This popular 1970s slogan, which was often seen on bumper stickers and buttons across the nation, encapsulated the spirit of the mid- to late-twentieth-century women's movement known as the Second Wave of Feminism. This feminist movement began in the 1960s and lasted until the 1990s, and it's message was clear: women must no longer be confined to the home but must instead be free to explore their capabilities and ambitions without the oppressive restraints of patriarchy. Some of the most important issues of Second Wave Feminism, which questioned the dominant conception of a woman's role in society, included educational and career equality, women's reproductive health and sexuality, and laws and politics concerning women.

The feminism associated with the Second Wave permeated all levels of society, including the university. Although Newcomb College was, in some respects, a typical conservative Southern school, as an all-women's college it inevitably became involved in this social movement. In particular, the Newcomb Women's Center, today known as the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, was active in the feminist ideals of this time. This center, though initially intended as simply a lounge, art gallery and career counseling center for Newcomb women, became involved in different aspects of Second Wave Feminism through its various programs, courses, events and resources. . . .

Women's centers like Newcomb's began forming in various universities around the country, and many of them had a particular focus on identifying and combatting obstacles to women's participation in society. As Mariam Chamberlain explains, many of these centers “went beyond [the education of women] to include some of the radical ideas of the growing women's movement . . . women's lives, roles, and expectations.” The Newcomb Women's Center was no exception. Indeed, in March 1975, Newcomb invited the famous anthropologist and author Margaret Mead to speak at the center's dedication ceremony honoring the Newcomb alumnae who raised over $50,000 to fund the center. Mead, an important feminist thinker in the 1970s, delivered a talk to over 400 people in the second-floor lounge of Caroline Richardson about “The Changing Role of Women.” According to the Newcomb Women's Center's print publication Womentalk, Mead explained that “now men and women are all doing most of the same things. Women are becoming more active in public life and men are more active in the home.” However, she said, “On the whole, many women are stuck still. College-educated homemakers are the cheapest form of labor we have in the United States.”

I went on to describe how the women's center promoted women's advancement in careers, women's health and reproductive freedom, and political and social equality for women, concluding with:

Today, the Newcomb Women's Center has become the Newcomb College Center for Research on Women, but its importance and influence are hardly lost. The Center was created in the height of the Second Wave of Feminism, and there could not have been a better moment for it. Overall, this era of feminism saw the “development of women-only spaces and the notion that women working together . . . would ultimately work for the betterment of the entire planet,” and the Newcomb Women's Center certainly proved this point true. With its emphasis on career counseling, sexual health and freedom, and political equality, the Center provided a space for Newcomb women of all ages to come together and work toward a brighter future for womankind. A woman's place truly is every place, and the Newcomb Women's Center saw to it that every woman found hers.

I am thoroughly enjoying this class, and I am loving getting to know my fellow Newcomb Scholars. I look forward to the next three years we will spend together—even if it does mean waking up for an 8am seminar!

Newcomb Scholars Class of 2016

First Anniversary

One year ago today, I posted a video that I had made for a scholarship project online. Today, on the anniversary of It Only Takes a Girl, I would like to reflect on some of what has come of that video, which I never imagined would be seen by more than a few hundred people at most.

One of the women in my video holding a sign

In the fall of 2011, my sister Sierra and I spent hours making signs, and my sister Celeste and I filmed almost fifty girls and women holding the signs. My mom helped me with the website creation and the video editing, and on December 11, 2011, we posted the video online. By the end of night, it had gotten over 300 views on YouTube. Within 36 hours, it had 1500. After a week, that number had climbed to 100,000. Emails started pouring into my inbox, mostly from strangers who were inspired by the video and wanted to know how they could help.

I also got emails from some pretty cool people involved in organizations whose missions lined up with the sentiments I expressed in the video. For example, Tammy Tibbetts, president and founder of She's the First, connected with me via email. She told me that She's the First started as a YouTube video and grew into an organization that sponsors girls' education around the world. (See my contribution to a blog post for She's the First here.)

Kevin Conroy, the Director of User Experience at GlobalGiving, also contacted me by email. GlobalGiving is a sort of umbrella organization that helps direct people to various charities they might be interested in, including the Girl Effect. Mr. Conroy sent me an email saying my movie was “one of the most incredible videos [they've] seen in a long time.” He told me that they forwarded my video to the team at the Nike Foundation that created the amazing Girl Effect video and shared it with their 30,000 Facebook and Twitter followers.

I made the front page of MoveOn.org!

CEO of the Fistula Foundation Kate Grant emailed me to say they were getting increased traffic to their website because of my video. Two women making a sort of feminist documentary on a cross country bike ride said they'd be in my area and would love to interview me. Teen life website PopCosmo interviewed me for their site.

Other websites started posting my video without my knowledge (which was great!), like the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website, the US Military Violence Against Women website, Shape Magazine Editor Valerie Latona's own personal website, and MoveOn.org.

In February, GlobalGiving posted on their Facebook page that my video had directed over $30,000 in donations to the Girl Effect. Not long after that, Peter Hall, president of the organization Hope-2o, contacted me about partnering up to sell water bottles to raise money for both of our causes.

Zoë Keating's "Optimist" was the music for the video

Zoë Keating, the amazing cellist whose music I used in my video, wrote a blog post about me, and Paula Grieco emailed me about contributing to the What's Your Brave? project.

I did get the full-ride scholarship to Tulane, and in April, I was nominated to speak at the TEDxTU event in the fall. I gave a speech about my video and what I had learned at the summer program I worked at over the summer, and I started at Tulane in August. Once at Tulane, I was chosen to speak at TEDxTU, and I gave my five minute talk to over 500 people in October.

After nearly a year, my video was still getting hits on YouTube (the viewership is at over 390,000 today) and positive feedback from the activist community. Connecther used my video as an example for their Girls Impact the World Film Festival call for entries (look under the "for filmmakers" tab). The Seed Africa named me as a Girl Champ on their website. A group of women from Principia College recently began selling my Hope-2o bottles at their school to raise money for the Girl Effect. I have continued to contribute to the What's Your Brave? project; most recently, I was featured in the new free e-guide, Getting It Right the First Time.

I reconnected with Katie Meyler, founder of More Than Me, and volunteered as an outreach coordinator to try to help them get votes in the Chase American Giving Awards contest. After the amazing team at More Than Me and their wonderful supporters worked tirelessly publicizing the contest and acquiring votes, More Than Me indeed won $1 million dollars to get girls in Liberia off the streets and into school.

It's been a pretty cool journey so far, but we still have a long way to go. Thank you to everyone who has supported me since the beginning, and to everyone who has joined the cause along the way.

I'll just end this reflective post with a fun quote from Dr. Seuss, which pretty much sums up what I have learned in the last twelve months: 

Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

“Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, 

Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

Update: My sister has started a parody of It Only Takes a Girl, "It Only Takes a Squirrel." Follow her on Twitter @OnlyTakesASqurl. She's pretty funny.

More Than Me

Katie in Liberia with one of the girls

Back in February, I got an email with the subject, “Not a super hero or a celebrity just a girl.” The email was from a clearly passionate and inspiring woman named Katie Meyler who had seen my video on YouTube, recognized our shared passion for girls' education and wanted to reach out to me. She told me a little about her organization, More Than Me. “I live and work in Liberia, West Africa which just so happens to be the third poorest country in the world,” she explained. “It's kinda nuts—60% of the kids are out of school and more than half of them are girls.”

What More Than Me does for these girls, she told me, is get them off the streets and into school. More Than Me especially targets child prostitutes—girls who have no other option than to sell their bodies as young as nine or ten years old—or girls who have a high risk of being pulled into that life. Indeed, as many as 80% of girls in Liberia resort to prostitution to survive (according to gvnet.com).

There is only one government school in West Point, the 75,000 person Liberian slum in which More Than Me works. Even when families can afford to send their daughters to school, the girls often face various forms of abuse and exploitation, including “sex for grades.” Because of this problem, More Than Me not only helps the girls get an education, but it is also working to provide them with a safe place to go after school. In this center, girls will learn how to bead, sew, bake, and other skills that could help them make money.

I have stayed in touch with Katie since February, and now I am participating as an outreach coordinator for their biggest project ever: More Than Me is a contestant in this year's Chase American Giving Awards competition, and they have the chance to win $1 million. With this kind of money, More Than Me could help thousands of Liberian girls work toward a better future—one that does not include prostituting themselves at a very young age.

This girl started selling herself at age 10, and she's
now in 2nd grade and top of her class!

The way More Than Me wins is simple: they need the most votes. To vote, you can visit voteabigail.org, which will direct you to the Chase voting page. All you have to do is sign into your Facebook account, click the blue “vote” button, allow application, go to app, then click the same blue vote button one more time. It seems a little convoluted, but the whole process takes only thirty seconds. That is a small price to pay to raise your voice against the injustices suffered by Abigail—the face of More Than Me's campaign—and thousands of other girls just like her.

More Than Me is a relatively new organization—about three years old. But already Katie and the team at More Than Me have made an enormous impact in the lives of so many vulnerable girls. It is easy to see that with a little help, they could make a truly incredible difference in Liberia and in the world.

“I don't know much about you,” Katie ended the email back in February. “But it is obvious we share a passion for girls' education.” Educating girls is one of the most important things we can do to build a brighter future for everyone on the planet. Abigail and the other girls in West Point may be thousands of miles away, but they are just like you and me. The only difference is that because of where they were born, they may never be educated, never even have a clean glass of drinking water or a satisfying meal, without having to sell their bodies on the streets of Liberia. I do not think this is okay. Katie doesn't think this is okay. Thousands of people are standing up, writing “I am Abigail”on their foreheads, because they do not think this injustice is okay. We all need to come together to take a stand. What will you do?

VOTE on Facebook.
READ more about More Than Me and the Chase American Giving Awards.
WATCH the video that will air on NBC on December 8th.
JOIN Abigail's Tribe and help us get the most votes! Email pam@morethanme.org with the subject “Tribe”.
WRITE “I am Abigail” on your forehead (or anywhere) and tag More Than Me Foundation on Facebook.
SPREAD the word—every last vote counts!

Some More Than Me supporters

Shanti Bhavan

Dear Readers,

Today I would like to talk to you about the Shanti Bhavan Children's Project. Shanti Bhavan is a school in Tamil Nadu, India, founded with the mission of helping the most disadvantaged children from the lowest "untouchable" caste to develop into educated and empowered adults. To that end it provides them with a world-class academic and personal education. Most importantly, it provides these children with a safe and secure home such as they could not otherwise find. You can learn more about the amazing work Shanti Bhavan does on their website.

Boys study at Shanti Bhavan

The founder of Shanti Bhavan, Dr. Abraham George, believes that, "If we can take a few children and give them the best care and the best education, and they become leaders of tomorrow, they will carry with them hundreds of others." In so doing, we will begin to break the cycle of poverty.

I have recently become involved with Shanti Bhavan through a club I am part of here at Tulane. We are working towards the goal of raising $1,600 for Shanti Bhavan, which covers the cost of supporting 1 student for 1 year. If we succeed in this goal we will sponsor Shilpa, a 6th grade student who shows a lot of promise. You can learn more about Shilpa's personal story by following this link.

I would really like to encourage you to donate to Shanti Bhavan. As the holidays draw near, it is important to be thankful for what we have, and to remember those who have less. We are lucky enough to live in a country where disposable income is a reality, and where even if we carve out a little money to give away, we can still depend on getting our next meal. Shanti Bhavan is an amazing cause because it not only changes the lives of its own students, but it prepares them to lift up the entire Indian nation along with them. I cannot think of a better use for some extra cash.

Please donate here, and let me know when you do so we can track progress toward our goal, either by leaving a comment, emailing me at gabriella@itonlytakesagirl.org, Tweeting me @OnlyTakesAGirl, or messaging me on Facebook!

Thank you for your support and commitment to improving our world,

-Gabriella

P.S. I encourage you to share this message with your friends, your family or anyone else you know who wants to support children's education in India and build a brighter future for our entire planet. :)