This year, the theme of International Women’s Day (March 8) is ‘Connecting Girls – Inspiring Futures’.
If we can reach our girls, we can guide them away from some of society’s harmful expectations of them.
The powerful message portrayed by media in all its forms - “girls, be obsessed with your looks; guys, idolize what a woman looks like” - bombards us.
Statistics tell us the average teenager spends almost 11 hours daily involved with some form of media - TV, movies, music and the Internet – much of it portraying the sexualization of women.
Sexualization is what happens to a person when one’s main value becomes sexual appearance rather than intelligence or other qualities. This is what happens to our children watching media images of women wearing very little, and having very little to say, or listening to music about money and a ``hot`` girl on your side as the definition of success.
Sexualization is linked to the three most common mental-health issues for girls: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.
The more images girls see that are sexualized, the more they think that’s what they should strive for.
It’s no wonder our girls grow up with the idea they are not as important as boys. It’s no wonder violence against women isn’t going away.
So why are we focusing on girls? It’s because we want to empower girls to question stereotypes and to believe in themselves at a young age.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said improving gender equality creates immediate benefits for families, communities and, eventually, the world.
We want to teach all young people to build strong relationships and to stop the violence in our world. We want them to know what it takes to end poverty, to have new skills, a job, how to attain affordable housing and reliable child care, and how to have the confidence to do what they want.
Everyone is invited to join the 100 Mile House & District Women’s Centre Society at 102-375 Birch Ave. to celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 from 12:30 to 4 p.m., for cake, coffee and conversation.
Karen Beresford is the Stopping the Violence counsellor at the Women’s Centre.