My bio:
Margot Magowan is a writer and commentator. Her articles on politics and culture have been in Salon, Glamour, the San Jose Mercury News, and numerous other newspapers and online sites. She has appeared on “Good Morning America,” CNN, Fox News, and other TV and radio programs. For many years, Margot worked as talk radio producer creating top-rated programs. In 1998, Margot co-founded the Woodhull Institute an organization that trains young women to be leaders and change agents. Margot’s short story “Light Me Up” is featured in the anthology Sugar In My Bowl (Ecco 2011) and she is currently writing a Middle Grade novel about the fairyworld. Margot lives with her husband and their three daughters in San Francisco.
About Reel Girl:
Reel Girl was founded in December 2009 and is crossposted on SFGate. Reel Girl posts have also been featured, written about, or linked to major sites around the web including The Week (best opinion), Jezebel, Shakesville, Blogher (Spotlight Blogger), Forbes.com, Wall Street Journal, Adweek, Ms., Common Sense Media, and many more.
Reel Girl’s mission is to imagine gender equality in the fantasy world.
More about Reel Girl:
“A truer nomination for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans.” -Henning Mankell
We’re a storytelling species. The stories that we tell make us who we are. If you ever doubt the power of narratives to shape our lives, beliefs, and values, take a look at one of the most popular historical novels of all time, the Bible, and how it has influenced us. Fiction creates reality and reality creates fiction in an endless loop.
I have three daughters, and I started Reel Girl because, as I read to my kids and saw movies and watched TV and played with toys, I became aware of how heroic female characters are left out of so many narratives. When females are allowed in, they’re often stereotyped. The lack of visible, heroic females in the real and imaginary world sells girls short, affecting who they are and who they will become. I think it’s horrible that the so called imaginary world is so sexist and limited.
Most of the time, I don’t think there’s a conscious sexist conspiracy going on. I just think that for thousands of years women have been living in stories written by men. That’s just warped. I believe that women and girls have got to be the ones to tell our own stories. No one else can do it for us. I’d like women to be writing more, creating more art, making more movies, TV shows, games, and toys for imaginary play. I’d like more women to get much higher up in the power structure so that their stories can get out to influence many more people than they currently are.
I’d like to see these stats change radically:
Only 16% of protagonists in film are female.
Between 1937 and 2005 there were only 13 female protagonists in animated movies.
The female characters in G rated movies are just as likely to wear revealing clothing as in R rated movies.
Women make up 8% of all writers of major motion pictures.
Women are 17% of all executive producers
Women are 7% of film directors
Women are 2% of all cinematographers
Women and girls are the subject of less than 20% of news stories.
Women make up 14% of all guest appearances on the influential Sunday television talk shows; among repeat guests, only 7% are women.
Only 15% of the authors on the The New York Times best seller list for nonfiction are women.
Only about 20% of op-eds in America’s newspapers are by women.
Women hold only 15.2% of seats on the boards of Fortune 500 companies.
Only 7.5% of the major earners at those Fortune 500 companies are female.
Only 3% of advertising’s creative directors are women.
Women are just 19% of partners in law firms.
Women represent 17% of the United States Congress.
There are currently only six female governors.
Throughout our history only four women have held the office of Supreme Court Justice.
There has never been a female President of the United States.
History of Reel Girl
Reel Girl’s mission started out to be a resource for parents to rate and exchange information about media, toys, and products on how empowering they are for girls. But as I blogged, issues came up:
(1) When kids learn through cartoons, books, and toys, that boys are more important than girls, and radically different from them, BOTH genders are negatively affected.
(2) I write more than I rate
So I changed ReelGirl’s tagline. Here’s my blog post about Reel Girl’s newly described mission:
I started Reel Girl because I wanted to create a resource for parents on the internet where they could go to find great stories, movies, and toys that support girl empowerment. I wasn’t able to find the kind of information I was looking for in one place.
I also wanted to recognize how messed up our movie rating system is– and the values associated with that rating system. So many G movies perpetuate the absolute worst kinds of gender stereotypes, yet they are supposedly “for kids.” In my opinion, this kind of repetitive imagery is way more dangerous for children than hearing the word “shit.”
So Reel Girl’s rating system is S for stereotype and H for heroine, 1- 3 possible.
Here’s the problem: I’m a ranter, not a rater. I’m not organized enough to pull this off. I need logos, to go through all the movies, books, and toys out there, and I don’t have the time. Any free moment I get, I usually have something new I want to write about. So while I will continue to rate media and products, I’m going to recognize that mostly, I haven’t been.
I’m changing ReelGirl’s tagline from “Rating kids media and products for girl empowerment” to “Imagining gender equality in the fantasy world.” That’s mostly what ReelGirl is about. My hope is that ReelGirl supports and encourages real imagination (ha ha) instead of the same old recycled stories.
Since having these three kids, I really get how fantasy creates reality and reality creates fantasy. That’s pretty much what this blog is about, fantasizing gender equality in the real world. If we can’t imagine it, we can’t realize it.
If you have recommendations for Reel Girl for books, movies, TV, or products that promote strong girls and gender equality, I want to hear about them! Please go to Reader Recs in categories and leave your comments there. I will add them to Reel Girl’s to read and watch and play with list. If you are looking for Reel Girl’s recommendations go to the following categories: Reel Girl Recommends, Most Heroines (formerly GGG) and Cool and Radical Girls.
Ratings key
HHH (formerly GGG) Excellent role modeling, great for girls
HH Great role modeling, good for girls.
H Positive role modeling for girls.
T Traditional themes of girls or women present i.e. beauty, marriage, passivity, but probably in an original, insightful way that twists conventions, though maybe not as much as I would like. A Reel Girl T is sort of similar to PG meaning parental guidance suggested. If your child is reading a book, watching a show, or playing with a toy that gets a T, your kid may benefit if you ask her some questions or dialogue with her about the traditional themes presented.
S Gender stereotyping
SS Mostly gender stereotyping
SSS A lesson is how to stereotype.
Is there a way to sign up for automatic emails whenever you update or post new?
Thanks!
There is a way..but I have yet to discover it. I will keep you posted!
Best,
Margot
I added a blog widget on the front page, right side, to subscribe.
Thanks!
Margot
Looks like I great site… look forward to your thoughts on more children’s shows. I always look for this type of resource with the kids. Esp. with new movies. Can’t wait to read more.
Thanks for reaching out to me. Have another bookmark! 😉
Nice page, keep it up 🙂
Melissa/Margot: Look at the top right of the blog. You’ll see “RSS Posts,” which is precisely what you are looking for. It allows you to “subscribe” to every entry as they come in. Most people use this process. You’ll need a “reader” — like Google Reader” — or something that will collect all the subscription (and any other blogs you want to follow that way), but that’s pretty easy. Then you just open up your “reader” and there are the latest entries…and generally the ones you’ve not yet read are ‘bold’ (whereas those you have read no longer are). Hope this helps.
Christian,
Thanks for your help. I am slowly catching on. I wish I had more time to just figure this stuff out.
Margot
I just love your site and reference it frequently for my business! Great work on here!
Hey Margot,
I absolutely love your ReelGirl blog and your blog on SF Gate. I am so glad they picked you up because that’s how I discovered your writing. I am always looking to live my life away from gender stereotypes. So I am always looking for support and encouragement to ignore and critically interpret the cultural barrage of women subordination and you help provide that.
Anyway, what do you think of Emily the Strange? And Hello Kitty? Emily the Strange purports to be an example of female empowerment, she was created by a man. She usually does not care about what others think, can be antisocial, and sometimes tends (annoyingly) to the cute side of femaleness – seems like the guy’s fantasy in those cases. …Hello Kitty – I don’t really get – except for some insight from Asian Pop columnist Jeff Yang’s explanation about post-war cutesy Japan as marketing to change it’s evil WWII image. Still, Hello Kitty is popular even now with adult women – huh?
Thanks and please keep writing!
Stacy,
Thanks for your comment.
I love Emily the Strange! My husband thinks she looks like me– maybe that gives some weight to the guys’ fantsay theory, ha. But I don’t think she’s for kids– she’s too strange.
Hello Kitty is, at least, often action oriented. She does do stuff in her many pictures– rides bikes, skis, climbs trees– as opposed to gazing at herself in the mirror brushing her hair as Barbie and the princesses are often shown. But even so, its always like her photo is being snapped while she’s frozen there, just smiling withth her enormous head. My six year old loves her.
Thanks so much for reading the blogs.
Margot
Hi – I too found you on SFGate. Love the feminist reviews of media — sounds like we think along similar lines! (In our house, Goodnight Gorilla is female – no silverback, she.)
A few kids’ shows you might take a look at: Martha Speaks — sure, she’s a dog, but there are a number of female roles and it seems to be pretty evenhanded. Ditto Word Girl. We also like SuperWhy — yes, the lead is male, but the two girls have strong roles. One is a princess (sigh), but at least she’s not the standard-issue useless type of princess.
W/r/t Rainbow Magic, they are a hit in our house (nearly 5yo girl + 3yo boy, who love to play “Rachel and Kirsty”), so there are boys who like them – but I agree, the fairies and girls are so passive and fearful of the goblins! (BTW, there are definitely several fairies of color – check out the Jewel and Pet Fairies.) And the lookism is also a minus; when I read them aloud, I edit out most of the appearance comments, but as the kids get older, there will be a lot of editorializing about how looks and character don’t automatically match. One positive is that the goblins always fail because they are selfish and don’t work together as a team. (D’oh – foiled again!)
Anyway, enjoyed the posts so thought I’d let you know.
Hi Margot,
I had a wonderful experience at the Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership a few years back. I’m not sure if we’ve met but I’ve been working for years in different capacities with GirlSource (rt now as Interim Executive Director). I’ve also worked with Feminist.com and write for the blog loveisntenough.com (aka anti-racist parent).
I’m also the co-founder and editor of Adiosbarbie.com. I am creating a youth section and would love to discuss cross-pollinating in some way. Would you be available to chat offline about ways we may collaborate?
Just read your blog on SFGate for the first time and just signed up on your site. Great Work!!!! I always get the chills when I go to Toys R Us/Babies R Us and other stores catering to kids. Even toy stores — they are so based on sexual stereotypes. Stuff for boys here, stuff for girls there – it’s nauseating! Most folks know the sex of their babies these days before the baby is born. I stay away from the blues/pinks and go for yellows/greens even if I know what gender the baby is going to be. My REAL PET PEEVE is when girls are young and don’t have much hair and the parents put a bow in her hair or some other such thing to make sure everyone knows she’s a girl. That for some reason makes me crazy!
Glad to hear you were able to give birth vaginally after your C-section. My sister-in-law’s first baby was a C-section and then she delivered the next 3 vaginally — it can be done.
I disagree a bit with you regarding rap music. I was in the Virgin Mega Store in SF years ago and had to leave because I was so tired and irritated by the word “bitch” being used continuously in the rap songs being played over the speakers in the store. I just couldn’t relax enough to think about what music I wanted to buy.
It’s so nice to see an out-there feminist blog. When I taught an Intro to Women’s Studies class in the ’80s, so many women were for equal pay, pro-choice, etc but weren’t the F-word, feminist. Sorry — I got a little carried away — didn’t mean to write so much.
Eileen,
Thanks so much for joining ReelGirl. The bald baby hair-dos drive me crazy too! I agree that the lyrics in rap music (and a lot of music) can be horrfying. I just think it’s hypocritical when critics only focus on hip-hop and generalize about it.
Margot
Hi Margot,
What a great mind and authentic voice. I really appreciated many of your recent posts and would love to interview you about your interest in your reel girls blog and rating media for kids. As the mother of four myself, the challenge is increasingly daunting. I write and teach about love, relationships, healthy intimacy and have a radio show on LA talk radio every weds. Let me know if you could pick out a noon hour to share your ideas.
best,
Wendy
Wendy,
Mother of four, wow!
Sorry for the delayed reply, I am just back from traveling.
I would love to be a guest on your radio show. Thank you for the invite. I could do 10/25.
All best,
Margot
really interesting article about Disney movies and the pulling by execs! Just read about you in the Chronicle. I’d love to share with you information about my dvd series Adina’s Deck, for you to review. It looks like it would be up your ally!
Hi, I just started checking out your website & I think its really cool! I have a 3 month old baby girl, she is my first child. What do you think about the baby einstein dvds? My neice always liked them a lot & I think they are pretty good but just was wondering your opinion. Also I was laughing about the comments about baby girls who dont have hair & parents who out bows etc on their head. My daughter doesnt have any hair yet & I love her cute soft head, lol.
Just found you via the crosspost on MsMag…EXC! Looks like we share plenty of mutual friends, focus, and femme forward analysis. Ping me if you ever want to guest post or crosspost on Shaping Youth…we’re in the process of expanding and I could use some back up!
I didn’t know where to put this, but I wanted to suggest a film to you. MirrorMask is not particularly well known, but it is probably my favorite movie for many reasons, not least of which is the existence of a very strong, brave young female protagonist. It may be a little too creepy for young children (it is reminiscent of Coraline) but I feel it would be a great movie for you to review for your readers.
I actually think some of this is over the top! I am a pediatrician and mother of two daughters. They are very independent, free spirits. But I don’t care for them to grow up to be on an equal basis with men in a man’s world; who wants to live in a man’s world, showing how great and tough you are. I want them to grow up being happy, compassionate people, who know how to love and be loved, have a family, and follow passions. My 7-year old seems to go about tackling her interests without me or anyone having to go on rampages on what is out there in the world! Be happy for what is there! Rampages against the world do not lead to a happy place!
Hi Lori,
Sorry, don’t understand your point? I’m all for independent, free spirits who are happy, compassionate, and know how to love and be loved, have a family, and follow passions– boys and girls alike. Asking Hollywood to stop resticting boys and girls to limited gender roles.
Thanks for visiting ReelGrl.
MM
I read a book series with my sons, called Maximum Ride. It’s not a movie–yet, but it’s supposed to be a movie by 2013, with a male producer and female director: http://www.squidoo.com/maximum-ride-movie
The books involve a group of young kids who have been genetically experimented on, and who have bird wings. Their leader is a female, even though two of the other kids in the group are her age and male. The blind boy her age is the cook, (and one of the explosive experts) and the girl who’s a bit younger than her is the computer hacker.
Sadly, we went to buy it at our local progressive-minded bookstore, because my son wanted to get it for a friend’s birthday because he thought she’d like it… and the store clerk questioned whether a girl would like it because it was “kind of a boy’s book” because it was an action/adventure story. (sigh)
I’m sure they’re getting a lot of input from the many fans of the book, wouldn’t it be nice if we could nudge them (no pun intended for those who know what I mean) into a GGG rating?
Hello Margot,
Would you be interested in spreading your writings in your own Android application (for free)?
If so, please contact me,
BR,
Benjamin Piette
Um, what is that?
just discovered your site today and am loving it. have signed up for your posts. I have no kids, but an almost 9-year old niece and 5 year old nephew whom i am close to. love seeing how kids develop, but want them all to have a good range of role models. Am trying to launch a women’s role models project website and will be keeping in touch with your site!
Hi Kristin,
Your site sounds great. Keep us posted.
MM
From the picture at the top of the page it looks like you follow gender stereotypes as well. That of mother and being female. It’s scientifically proven that women are nurturers, and therefore they fill the “mother” role better than men because they are programed to do so. Some gender stereotyping is bad, but there is a great deal of it that comes from scientific reasoning and from nature. Don’t mess with nature, it bites back…hard.
Now that I’ve seen your pic I know why you cry and whine about nothing.
There’s a rational post for you. I think Dan’s ovulating.
If you are looking for real media ratings for your children, go to commonsense.org I’m not finding any value here; only spotlighting the fact that some cartoon characters have penises.
Love this idea! I watch a wide range of movies with my daughter (she is 6 now) without regard to a lot of ratings because they are so out of touch with my priorities for her and her interests. It is tough to raise empowered girls without running into walls and bumps – thank you for putting this out there!
I really like your blog! great idea and much needed I think 🙂
Hi Margot,
I left a message on Facebook on you. If you might be interested in being part of a panel of MA writers during our Literary Festival in February let me know. Check your messages on FB for more details. Nice to see you and your family!
Change.org
Tell the AIBA: Don’t force female Olympic boxers to compete in miniskirts
Sign the Petition
Here is the link:
http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-aiba-play-fair-dont-ask-female-boxers-to-wear-skirts
Women’s boxing will make its debut at this year’s Olympic Games in London — a huge victory for female boxers who have fought for years to be taken seriously. But now it seems their participation will come with an outrageous catch: female boxers might be required to wear miniskirts in the ring.
The Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA) is reportedly considering the new dress code because it thinks skirts will make the female athletes look “elegant” and help “distinguish” them from their male counterparts.
Elizabeth Plank, an amateur boxer based in London, is petitioning the AIBA to abandon the miniskirt regulation. Click here to sign Elizabeth’s petition right now.
Elizabeth says, “The idea that female boxers should be made to wear skirts reduces these skilled athletes to sex objects. It undermines the respect they have long fought for.” Worse, competing in unfamiliar clothing could even negatively impact the boxers’ performances.
And Elizabeth isn’t the only boxer speaking out against the proposed dress code. When asked about the policy, three-time world champion Katie Taylor says, “I don’t even wear miniskirts on a night out, so I definitely won’t be wearing miniskirts in the ring.”
Fortunately, the AIBA will be considering public opinion and feedback from the boxing world before making its final decision next week. That means if enough people sign Elizabeth’s petition, you can force the AIBA to abandon the proposed dress code for good.
Again, here is the link: http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-aiba-play-fair-dont-ask-female-boxers-to-wear-skirts
Thank you so much for your blog!
Eric
Hi eric,
I will sign this petition. I know about it.
Thanks
MM
I am so happy to have found your site! My blog, Yo Mama, has very similar aims! I plan to link to your blog, and look forward to reading it!
Elizabeth Magill
Hi Elizabeth,
happy to find you as well! Will check out your blog. Thanks for the link.
Margot
I love reading your posts. They are so insightful. I put this blog down on a blog award list because I like it so much. Thanks for all the work you’ve done and continue to do!
miq,
Thank you so much!
MM
Hi. I am just reading a review of a book, Tuesday’s at the Castle by Jessica Day George and looks fantastic!! Please let me know if you have read it, or know anything else about it.
Thanks.
Debbie,
Havent heard of it, will add it to my list
I really love this blog, it points out things which I don’t always notice in the media and entertainment.
From curiosity I’ve searched for posts concerning ponies, and I see you’ve described previous, stereotypying generations.
Are you going to write an article about new ponies and the whole brony phenomenon? In G4 the toys are still pinkish and shallow but the animation produced by Lauren Faust is just awesome.
Hi Kate,
Yes, I want to write about the Brony thing. Interesting about Faust. Any other thoughts?
MM
Concerning ponies? Well, I may only give a few links tackling this issue 🙂
1) fresh opinion about bronies from Lauren Faust taken from her deviantart account: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-M2E7mFY4K4U/TzGnbOU6MII/AAAAAAAAeAs/33qgjXMkdMQ/s1600/1.PNG
2) interesting article: http://stormingtheivorytower.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-little-feminist-cartoons-are-magic.html
3) Faust’s rebbutal to an attack on the series: http://msmagazine.com/blog/blog/2010/12/24/my-little-non-homophobic-non-racist-non-smart-shaming-pony-a-rebuttal/
4) Exclusive Season 1 Retrospective Interview with Lauren Faust on Equestria Daily: http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/09/exclusive-season-1-retrospective.html
and if you want some more information I think that admins from Equestria Daily (http://www.equestriadaily.com/) may be helpful.
and I’d like to add that I’m a girl fan of new MLP, and there is a term “pegasister” for it (pegasus and sister) but I prefer a “brony” term (and many more girls from the fandom). It just sounds cooler. ; ) So I think that “brony” is a collective term for female and male fans, but media mostly emphasise “sudden grown men’s obssession over ponies oh no they must be an unemployed pedophiles that is not normal” thing.
Great, thanks Kate
Happy Sunday! Love love love your blog and appreciate your writing – you’ve inspired me to start my own with a friend http://ryverbugsbutterfliesandalliecats.wordpress.com/ . I watched a movie last night with my daughter that I thought you might want to review – Little Giants. 🙂 Have a great day!
Hi Julia,
That’s so great you started a blog, I will check it out.
MM
I just wanted to thank you for being here and for sharing your thoughts. It’s such a relief to see that my thoughts/concerns that I struggle to give words to are being voiced here. I look forward to perusing your blog more. Rock on.
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks you for your comment. Not wanting to feel alone in the universe (that I KNOW I can’t really be alone in) inspired me to start blogging.
MM
Hi Joan,
I’ll check these out.
Thank you
Hi, I’ve nominated you for the Kreativ Blogger Award because I love your posts. You can see the details about the award on my blog. Keep up the good work!
Thanks so much Nicola! I’ll check out your blog.
Hi Margot
I wasn’t sure where on your blog to post this, feel free to move this comment. I have been investigating books with positive female role models to read to my daughters and came across this great list:
http://www.wnba-books.org/anniversaries/80women.html
I thought you might be interested!
Fiona.
thanks Fiona
If you have not seen this:
http://news.yahoo.com/pole-dancing-robots-wow-worlds-biggest-high-tech-113038782.html
I am a Mechanical Engineer. At some trade shows, companies use scantily-clad women doing weird things to attract people to their booth. Apparently the customers (i.e. Engineers) they are looking for are heterosexual men and homosexual women. It’s absolutely disgusting! It has gotten better over the years (the last show I went to was 100% professional), so I was shocked to see this article.
I love reading your blog. Some of it I don’t “get”, but I whole-heartedly agree with a lot of it. As children, my sister and I wanted to emulate our 2 older brothers, and fortunately, our parents did not encourage/discourage that. I did NOT know what to do with the hair-styling dummy head that one of Mom’s friends gave me. Instead, I was playing with toy soldiers, killing off the “enemy” (Ha! Ha! Probably not a good thing either)
Hi M. Ying,
I had the hair styling dummy head! What a fucked up toy. I hope they don’t make that one anymore. I’ll check out the link. Thanks. It’s bad enough that they use half naked women to market to adults, but kids? I guess all the toys come from the same place. We need more women in power and to liberate imagination.
MM
I’m all for gender equality, but don’t you think you’re going a bit too far?
I don’t think girls should be forced to play with barbies and other “girl oriented” toys, BUT if they want to, what’s wrong with that? And what’s so “fucked up” about a toy that teaches/allows children to style hair? Have you ever gone to a salon? Would you chastise your hair dresser for allowing his/her child to play with a toy that emulates what they do at work? Would you have as much of a problem with a boy playing with one as you obviously have if the child is female?
Hi oh my,
there are no free choices to be made because the roles for females are extremely limited
MM
Hey! I have nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award. Further details are at: http://threedescriptors.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/the-versatile-blogger/
I hope you accept the award in the spirit that I nominated you. And I love your blog; it has prompted so many discussions in our household. Thanks!
Miq
miq,
thank you!
MM
Hi-
Great blog! I really enjoy your thoughtful, fact-based responses. As an academic, writer, blogger and mom of three girls, I can relate to your concerns and insightful responses. My older two (twins) are 12, so I am now navigating the tricky waters of teen girl adolescence. I thought you might enjoy this amazing documentary from CBC’s DocZone called SextUp Kids. (http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/sext-up-kids.html)
After watching it, I was chatting with a group of other moms of tween girls, and we were trying to imagine what alternative narratives of healthy teen girl sexuality might exist. What can we show our daughters that isn’t just about the current pop culture options of being hot or being invisible? We racked our brains and couldn’t come up with anything. But i haven’t given up. Thought you might have some ideas.
Hi Alissa,
I will check out this link and your blog. I do not know any narratives about healthy sexuality for teens, but I am not there yet and have not looked. Sad to know you haven’t found anything. Please let me know if you do.
MM
Hi Margot,
I’ve done a bit of poking around and haven’t found too much, aside from an amazing website/ movement called Spark. There is some great stuff coming out of the LGBT movement, which is wonderful, but it won’t reach most straight tweens, teens. Communities that try to subvert the dominant paradigm (like Goths or the Purity Movement) really just end up reinforcing the same old stereotypes. I’ve written a bit more about this in today’s blog post, with links to Spark: http://www.risk-within-reason.com/2012/03/22/healthy-positive-teen-sexuality-imagine/
Always on the look out for more, in case you come across them.
Thanks – love your site btw.
Alissa
Margot – just to let you know, I’ve nominated you for the Versatile Blogger Award! 🙂
Thanks so much mskatykins!
No problem, your blog is ballsy and thought provoking and pretty inspirational – hence, you deserve the nomination! 🙂
What are your thoughts about this link?
http://www.thelivingbrick.com/2012/04/brickchicks-2013-calendar-sneak-peek.html
[…] girls for being their authentic selves,” and that the publication presents them in the same way. Margot Magowan, a blogger and writer for The San Francisco Chronicle, expressed disappointment, stating that the […]
[…] girls for being their authentic selves,” and that the publication presents them in the same way. Margot Magowan, a blogger and writer for The San Francisco Chronicle, expressed disappointment, stating that the […]
Hi there Margot
Do you think my project is something you would be interested in getting behind/promoting?
http://www.pozible.com/clarity
Your time is precious and I appreciate you checking it out x
Hi Margot,
send me your mailing address and I will send you some stickers!
Jamie/Skiier and Soccer player
Be A Girl Today.com
info@beagirltoday.com
I love this site
Hi Jamie,
Great idea, I will give some stickers to my daughter’s doctor’s office. Action, action, action! So much better than stewing…
MM
I really, really enjoyed you blog. I read several articles before I made a decision to subscribe, and I’d have to say that I am thoroughly happy that I did. I think that you are filling a very important, and very neglected niché in the fight against sexism. I’d have to say that I have a greater appreciation of your work after reading because you really take time to dissect the cultural concept of gender, and sexism, and show how they are limiting to us as people. That is the part that I appreciate the most. I will keep myself updated on your writings, and thoughts looking at our culture.
I’d have to share, that I was once quite in the dark about sexism until I started really paying attention. I’d have to say, I was appalled at out pervasive the issue is, and I see sexism everywhere now. I hope and believe that one day it will be a bygone fact of an era in our history, rather than a painful fact of our present reality. Keep doing what you are doing.
Rene
Hi Margot,
I’m loving your blog. Thanks for the work you do.
I just started following your blog recently, so I’m not sure how you pick what books you read/review/recommend, but I have a series you might be interested in (maybe you’ve heard of it, but I searched your blog and you’ve never posted on it).
It’s the Kiki Strike series – Inside the Shadow City, The Empress’s Tomb, and the third book is slated to come out next year, The Darkness Dwellers.
I was turned on to the books by a review (which, sadly, I can no longer find online) written by a librarian who said she loves the books because she can (and does) recommend them for boys and girls, which stands out in this situation since all the protagonists are girls.
I have no relationship with the author or publishing company, I just think they are great books. I’m a 35year old mother of 2 kids under 4, so they aren’t reading this stuff yet. I read them about two years ago, and I can’t wait for the third one.
Hope you read them and enjoy. I’d love to hear what you think of them.
Renee
Hey,
I’ve been seeing your blog linked by Pigtail Pals a lot, and I want to thank you for what you write. The subtle ways in which girls are taught to be smaller, weaker, and less capable than boys are shocking, it’s not rare for the most resilient of children to fall prey to those messages. I know I spent many, many years hating being a girl, until I realised there was nothing to hate, that the limitations imposed upon me were LIES.
Anyway, I wanted to draw your attention to this little book from my childhood. http://www.alisonlester.net/monsters%20are%20knocking.html
I remember to this very day looking through it and going ‘Huh! Why is the woman a carpenter, and the man a house cleaner?’ It just didn’t seem right to me, when I was young. Even though my parents and family had never ever suggested anything of the sort, I had absorbed this message from society.
The book is made for very young kids, it’s a very short read, but besides being charming, it challenges traditional gender roles in a very subtle, very non-preaching way. The kids open the door- there’s a woman outside, coming to ‘work with her saws’. That’s it.
I wish it wasn’t such a big deal to see stuff like that in a children’s book.
I love your blog, I’d like to show you my movies? Can you send me your postal address?