Tackling gendered LEGOs with two ads--spaced 33 years apart

Hey iGirl campers! With Camp iGirl about a week away I wanted to make a post directed towards the Project Redesigners among you, as well as anyone else interested in advertising. Depending on the circles you're in online you may have seen this image pop up on your dashboard or newsfeed in the past couple months:

These are two photos of the same person--her name is Rachel Giordano and in the photo on the left Giordano was a four-year-old little girl who posed smiling proudly with the creation she made in a LEGO ad in 1981. Over the course of the past few decades LEGO has gone from largely gender-neutral sets, kits, and colors to making some toys that specifically target girls and others that specifically target boys. In the photo to the right, Giordano sits with a LEGO Friends kit that's targeted to appeal to girls. The vehicle is a news van kit with a beauty parlor on the inside--something that Giordano took issue with, stating that, "it seems that a lot more toys already have messages built into them before a child even opens the pink or blue package." She also spoke about her love of LEGOs as the little girl on the left, and how whatever she built created a message and that, "in 2014, it’s the reverse: the toy delivers a message to the child, and this message is weirdly about gender.” You can read the rest of the interview over at Women You Should Know.

A quick trip down the toy aisles at a local Walmart, Target or Toys R Us will show how toys are separated by which ones advertisers think boys will want to play with and which ones girls will want to play with. This is called gendered advertising--separating products by the gender they're supposed to appeal to. Do the advertisers always get it right? Absolutely not! Is it okay to still like and want to play with pink princesses and stereotypically "girly" things? Absolutely yes!

The message that Giordano and others not in favor of gendered toys and advertising want to get across is that this is not the only way to play and that it's okay and encouraged to play with toys that aren't the "correct" colors or characters. It's play--you can't go wrong!

Have you ever experienced someone telling you that you can't play with something because it's "for boys" or "not for girls?" Let us know in the comments!

Til next time...
Ashley

Girls and Media: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

 



Media in its many forms--television, internet, magazines, and on and on--have an effect on how girls view themselves and those around them. This is a statement that sounds pretty obvious but I'm sure a question you may have is, "Yeah, but how?" How does the media we consume get into our heads and alter the way we see ourselves and others? What do they do? What do we do?

The Girl Scout Research Institute conducted a number of studies to look at this very issue of how various forms of media influence the ways in which girls see and treat their own bodies, their own minds, and the bodies and minds of those around them--particularly other girls.

This research is broken down into four areas: Real to Me, how girls relate to reality TV in their own lives; Who's That Girl?, a survey focused on what girls show on social media sites; Beauty Redefined, that talks about fashion and body image; and The Net Effect, which asks girls how they're spending their time online. Each area has useful tips for both parents and girls to talk about these topics, address important questions that come up and use the media for good, rather than not-so-good.

So the next time you flip on the television and watch an episode of reality TV or catch a commercial, or go online to look at a music video, or even plug into your favorite playlist think about what you're listening to or seeing and how it affects you--do you judge other girls for not looking a certain way? Do you feel left out because you don't see girls or women who look like you? Do you sometimes leave out parts of your personality in what you show your online friends? Always keep asking those questions and open up a dialogue with adults you trust when you feel the need to.


Til next time...
Ashley

GSWISE Blog: I can't wait until next year's Camp iGirl!

Hey everyone! Hopefully this gorgeous weather has finally put you in the mood for summer fun and excitement! Over on the GSWISE blog iGirl camper Ananya wrote about her experiences at camp last summer. She talked about how choosing to focus on Newsletters improved her skills at writing and editing her school's newspaper, and how the mentor luncheon gave her an oppotunity to chat with professional businesswomen about their careers, as well as her own life goals. She also talked about how fun Camp iGirl was for her and, as the title says, she is super excited about returning this year!

You can read the article in its entirety here. For returning campers: what were some of your favorite parts about camp in previous years? For all campers: What are you looking forward to this year? Let us know in the comments below this post!

Til next time...
Ashley

One Square Inch of Silence

Those who are familiar with the Breathe Journey book may recall reading about noise vs. noise pollution. Noise happens all the time all around us--and we contribute to it too. But noise pollution comes from having so much unwanted noise in your environment that it makes it hard to concentrate, to focus, and to enjoy the atmosphere you're in. It's, to be blunt, really frustrating!

As the Journey book states, "noise pollution goes away as soon as the noise stops" and the One Square Inch of Silence project aims to maintain a place where there is so little noise those who visit this place can truly relax and take in the tranquility of the world around them.  One Square Inch of Silence is said to be the "quietest place in the United states" and is located in the Hoh Rain Forest at Olympic National Park.

 

One Square Inch of Silence was created on April 22nd, 2005 (Earth Day) to protect the natural soundscape in Olympic Park's forest. The website describes the science behind the project:

 

"The logic is simple; if a loud noise, such as the passing of an aircraft, can impact many square miles, then a natural place, if maintained in a 100% noise-free condition, will also impact many square miles around it. It is predicted that protecting a single square inch of land from noise pollution will benefit large areas of the park.

"The hope is that this simple and inexpensive method of soundscape management will prove to be a valuable resource management tool towards fulfilling a goal of NPS Management Policy, Chapter 4.9 Soundscape Management. The National Park Service will preserve, to the greatest extent possible, the natural soundscapes of parks. Natural soundscapes exist in the absence of human-caused sound. The Service will restore degraded soundscapes to the natural condition wherever possible, and will protect natural soundscapes from degradation due to noise (undesirable human-caused sound)."

 

Sounds (or doesn't) pretty neat, hey? Can you think of some ways to eliminate or minimize noise pollution in your own community? Would you be interested in visiting a place like Hoh Rain Forest? I know I would.

 

If you're interested in learning more about the One Square Inch of Silence project check out their website here. You can also connect with the project on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Til next time...

Ashley

Tom-Tom Magazine & Girls Rock MKE

Hey all! Today I'm going to profile two awesome groups that both focus on women and girls in music. Even better, they pull in aspects of technology and media too.

ATTN campers in the Magazine Editor track! I was browsing through Autostraddle's article 15 Women's Magazines that Don't Suck, Are Awesome for inspiration for this post and I came across Tom-Tom Magazine (#8 on their list). Tom-Tom Magazine focuses on female drummers and includes profiles of talented drummers from a variety of musical, social, and geographical backgrounds--including this article on 12-year-old Paulina Villarreal Velez aka Shredder.

 

Each of their issues has a theme, such as Drummers Who Sing or Religion & Spirituality. Their current issue is titled, Body Issue. So if you're interested in music or magazines that aren't the standard ones you see in the checkout lane at your local grocery store be sure to check out Tom-Tom Magzine, or any of the magazines on that Autostraddle list.


The second group I'll be telling you all about is Girls Rock Milwaukee, which was founded by music lovers and players Valeri Lucks and Ashley Smith when they realized there was a serious lack of venues for young girls to create their own music, write their own lyrics and have the equipment and mentoring to be able to smush all of that together into their very own song. Their mission is to "empower girls of all backgrounds through music education and performance. We are dedicated to creating a positive environment that builds girls’ self-esteem and fosters leadership, life-skills development, and independent thinking while cultivating a supportive community of peers and mentors that demonstrate it’s ok to be who you are!" If you ask me, that's a perfect message to send to young girls and teens in Milwaukee and across the country!

You can check out the songs created last summer, as well as photos of the bands on their website. Unfortunately, all spots are filled for their camp this summer but they have a waiting list. You can also like them on Facebook and see what cool things they're up to throughout the year!


Til next time...
Ashley

STEM in Action: BlackGirlsCODE

BlackGirlsCODE launched in April 2011 and works to reach young girls of color who may not otherwise have opportunities to try their hand at STEM activities.

During her own college career as an Electrical Engingeering major in San Francisco, CA, BGC founder Kimberly Bryant noticed the lack of other students, particularly women, who looked like her or could share similar challenges as a person of color. She agrees that many advances have been made to include underrepresented groups in STEM fields but writes, "there’s still a dearth of African-American women in science, technology, engineering and math professions, an absence that cannot be explained by, say, a lack of interest in these fields. Lack of access and lack of exposure to STEM topics are the likelier culprits."

The mission of BGC, according to Bryant, is, "to introduce programming and technology to a new generation of coders, coders who will become builders of technological innovation and of their own futures." She hopes to extend her organization's reach to as many young and pre-teen girls of color as possible in order to inspire creativity, imagination and curiosity about these fields and to give girls the education and resources to act and craft amazing technology.



BGC has visited the University of Texas at Dallas, Google New York, Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and South Africa! Can you imagine the new and unique technology that these fresh perspectives will bring to the STEM field??

For more information about BlackGirlsCODE please visit their website at blackgirlscode.com
Other media contacts:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BlackGirlsCodeOrg
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blackgirlscode

Til next time...
Ashley

Mic check! 1, 2, 3...

Hello and welcome to campers new to camp iGirl this summer! For returning campers, welcome back! My name is Ashley and I'm the Program Coordinator for Camp iGirl. It's nice to meet you!

Things are gearing up for camp iGirl this upcoming summer and with that the staff want to keep you all updated on all of the exciting events and activities we will have this year. This blog will serve as our connection with each of you as we count down the days until camp. Here, we will be featuring new and improved aspects of iGirl such as tracks (your week-long focus area during camp), brief information on our partner collaborators (Discovery World, First Stage, and more), fun and intriguing articles about world-changing girls in STEM related areas and the media, and much more! So whether you choose to be a Magazine Editor, Digital Storyteller, Project Redesigner, Bio Investigator, or a Filmmaker as your track for the week (or for life!) you will learn the tools of the trade and how to reshape current media to represent real girls like YOU.

Make sure to check this space often for new posts! If you read a post that inspires you please feel free to leave a comment as well. For more information please visit the Camp iGirl section under the Day Camp section at gswise.org. The staff of Camp iGirl are looking forward to seeing you all in June!

Til next time...
Ashley

Welcome to the Girl Scouts i-Girl 2014 Camp.