TWWI's Community Programs and Media Culture

In our afterschool program, Girls on the Rise, lead facilitator Lindsay Miller feels strongly that media affects everyone today, specifically girls and women. Below she discusses the importance of understanding the culture of media and how her program helps girls navigate and understand how this affects their life and to make positive choices.

Why is Womens Wilderness discussing Media?

Since our mission is to strengthen the courage, confidence and leadership qualities of girls and women through the support and challenge of wilderness and community-based experiences we have an investment in the psychological, physical and emotional well-being of women and girls. Research shows that media have a huge impact on the way women and girls feel about themselves and this directly impacts our mission; that is why it is a relevant and pertinent topic for Womens Wilderness and our support of strong women and girls in this world.

Expanding the Narrow Definition of Beauty

In a culture where women collectively spend $101 billion on fashion, $33 billion on diets, $20 billion on cosmetics and $5.5 billion on cosmetic surgery, the message rings loud and clear; girls should care primarily about how they look and shouldn't hesitate to spend infinite amounts of time and money on their appearance.
The identity and self-esteem of women and girls can be deeply impacted by this false and misleading idea that self-worth is determined and based on appearance.
With the idealization of celebrities, skeletal looking women boasting the latest fashion trends on the runway, girls growing up with lingerie Barbie and Victoria Secret women as role models-it's no wonder that Eating Disorders are epidemic and that 95% of sufferers are women.

Why is Girls on the Rise so important?

All of us are impacted at some level by the media; TV, magazines, movies, games and advertisements and young girls are increasingly targeted by advertisers to become life long consumers.
In light of the cultural obsession of perfection it's not hard to understand why programs that teach media literacy to kids are important. We are proud to be addressing this pertinent issue in Girls on the Rise at an age where girls are undergoing so many changes and facing incredible physical social and emotional pressure

Strong Girls, Strong Women, Better World

The more awareness and knowledge girls have about how to look critically at the media, the more they can protect themselves from the damaging effects of the messages being sold to them and the stronger they will be.
In a culture that tries to sell the message that perfection is possible, through diets, cosmetics and surgery, girls need to hear the real truth-There is no such thing as perfection. Perfection is unattainable and beauty comes in many shapes, sizes, colors, ages and forms.
Imagine if girls spent half the amount of energy they put into their appearance and harnessed it to take leadership in the world and be active participants in their life and community. Imagine the incredible change that would be possible.

To learn more about Girls on the Rise and what we are teaching, visit our community programs page. There are still 3 spots available for Girls on the Rise 2009. Sign up now!