What do you wish your younger self knew? What do want your daughter to know? What do you want girls to know?
I knew that young adult author Courtney Summers had a new book coming about shame. And how those who are shamed are silenced. I don't have to go far to look at how our society fails to protect girls against shame. We've seen in the news what that does to girls. How it slowly destroys them. I live in a society where everyone knew Rehteah Parson's name, but no one was allowed to say it.
I want to see change. I want girls to know that they have worth. I want to go back in time and tell my teenage self that I have worth and that other people's definitions of who I should become will not define me unless I let them. I want girls to stand up and say, "I am me. I like who I am. I am proud of who I am."
That is why I love Courtney Summer's #ToTheGirls movement, which is happening right now on Twitter. I knew it was coming and I made a note of it. I forgot about it until I saw this tweet pass through my stream.
It's okay to want things. To be ambitious. To fuck up and fail. To be the best. #tothegirls
— Kat Howard (@KatWithSword) April 14, 2015
That tweet plunged me into the #ToTheGirls hashtag and I proceeded to retweet so many things I had to stop before I got put into Twitter jail. All these things are things I want girls not to just know, but to live. I want them to carry these messages—the messages that tell them they are enough just as they are—around with them always. I want them to own who they are and shout it from the rooftops.
I do not have a daughter. I don't have a lot of young girls in my life. But here's what I want them, and your daughters, to know:
Take up so much space. <3 #tothegirls
— Shari Slade (@ShariSlade) April 14, 2015
#ToTheGirls with dysphoria, who look at their bodies with dismay, disjointed between brain and flesh. You will create yourself.
— Vanessa Rose Phin (@wordfey) April 14, 2015
Do what makes you feel good, not what you think will make you look good to others #ToTheGirls
— Rachel Maria Cox (@rachelmariacox) April 14, 2015
Somewhere out there, someone can't find words how thankful they are because you exist #ToTheGirls
— Paula M @ HBT! (@herbookthoughts) April 14, 2015
#ToTheGirls biting their tongues & worrying what they have to say isn't good enough. It IS. I promise.
— Tiffany Schmidt (@TiffanySchmidt) April 14, 2015
#ToTheGirls Be yourself. Be fearless. And if people have a problem with that be the one who walks away.
— Janine Mimi De Jesus (@LoveJanineMimi) April 14, 2015
#ToTheGirls There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Nothing.
— Delia Moran (@AlphaDelia) April 14, 2015
There's nothing wrong with loving romance, it doesn't make you one of "those" girls bc there's no such thing as "those" girls #tothegirls
— that meg girl (@megsaysthings) April 14, 2015
be bold even if that means possibly scaring and confusing people with your boldness. #ToTheGirls
— Samantha Mabry (@samanthamabry) April 14, 2015
Crying easily doesn't make you weak.
Being emotional isn't the same as being irrational.
#tothegirls
— Leila Roy (@bkshelvesofdoom) April 14, 2015
#ToTheGirls: Perfection is overrated. Love yourself flaws and all.
— Mary Dunbar (@MaryCDunbar) April 14, 2015
There is no such thing as too tall for a girl. It’s something I wish someone had told me when I was growing up. #tothegirls
— Jodi Chromey (@jodiwilldare) April 14, 2015
Love yourself. Accept your differences. Find your strengths. Rely on your true friends. Ask for help. #ToTheGirls
— Michelle (@winelibrarian) April 14, 2015
What do YOU have to say #ToTheGirls?
BlogHer Community Moderator Karen Ballum also blogs at Sassymonkey.