Drawing from a diverse collection of interviews with women and girl activists, Powered by Girl is both a journalistic exploration of how girls have embraced activism and a guide for adults who want to support their organizing.
Here we learn about the intergenerational support behind thirteen-year-old Julia Bluhm when she got Seventeen to go Photoshop free; nineteen-year-old Celeste Montaño, who pressed Google to diversify their Doodles; and sixteen-year-old Yas Necati, who campaigns for better sex education. And we learn what experienced adult activists say about how to scaffold girls’ social-change work.
Brown argues that adults shouldn’t encourage girls to “lean in.” Rather, girls should be supported in creating their own movements—disrupting the narrative, developing their own ideas—on their own terms.
INTRODUCTION
Digging Deep
PART ONE: CULTIVATING DISSENT
CHAPTER ONE
The Myth of the Special Girl
CHAPTER TWO
Everyday Rebellions
CHAPTER THREE
Activism Is Good for (All) Girls
PART TWO: NECESSARY CONDITIONS
CHAPTER FOUR
Beyond Gloria Steinem: A Rich Feminist History
CHAPTER FIVE
Good Intentions Aren’t Enough:
Genuine Relationships
CHAPTER SIX
Experts on Their Own Experience:
Respect for Girls’ Knowledge
CHAPTER SEVEN
Wide Awake and Calling BS:
Critical Consciousness
CHAPTER EIGHT
A Witness in Their Defense: Loyalty
CHAPTER NINE
“A Politics of Participation”:
Supportive Coalitions
CHAPTER TEN
Trust and Transparency: The Possibility
of Intergenerational Partnerships
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Scaffolding Girls’ Activism:
Meeting Girls Where They Are
CONCLUSION
Wicked Problems and Willful Girls
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
RESOURCES
NOTES
"If you’re committed to working with girls—and I mean really working with them in every respect, through all the messy beauty of their activism—Powered by Girl is an essential read.” —Loretta Ross, Co-founder of SisterSong
“Highlighting the collective dimensions of girls’ activism, Powered by Girl is an important corrective to over-simplified discussions of girls’ empowerment. Brown’s passionate call for intergenerational collaboration engages with the challenges and rewards of this kind of activism, demonstrates a profound respect for girls’ knowledge and expertise, and asks all the right questions about how adults can better support girls in the struggle for a more just world.” —Jessica K. Taft, author of Rebel Girls: Youth Activism and Social Change Across the Americas
“Behind every ‘exceptional’ girl is...a movement! Kudos to Lyn Mikel Brown for identifying the architecture that lifts up the next generation of feminists!” —Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards, authors of Manifesta and Grassroots
“If you teach, mentor, or work with girls, you need to read Powered by Girl. Full of stories and strategies, it’s a must-read manual for nurturing agency, sisterhood, and critical consciousness in girl activists. Adults will learn when to step up and when to step back, how to cultivate inclusiveness and truth telling among girls, and how to develop the most fertile conditions for girl activism to flourish.” —Rachel Simmons, author of Odd Girl Out and The Curse of the Good Girl
“I am a huge fan of Lyn Mikel Brown’s; her partnerships with girls and support of their activism are nothing short of revolutionary. Powered by Girl explains how she joined forces across generations to make change—and, even better, how we can too!” —Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape
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