A love letter from the Editor
Landry and me
On the day I found out I was pregnant with a girl, I was out for a walk with our dog. I was about a block from our house when I had this moment I won’t ever forget. “I’m going to have a daughter,” I said out loud and stopped. I felt a mix of emotions from excitement to the weight of the responsibility that would come with raising a girl.
Three years later, that responsibility amplified as I sat in a screening of Miss Representation, a documentary about girls and women and their portrayal in the media. That moment set me on a course, one that would take me on a journey to do everything I could to empower girls and do my part to create change.
Two years ago, I read the book Reviving Ophelia – originally published in the nineties and recently updated and re-released on its 25th anniversary. The book chronicles one therapist’s experience working with young girls and the challenges they face. It offers insights into what girls need to discover their sense of self and thrive in adolescence. Among those insights: girls need a secure support system of people who will listen and encourage them.
It is out of these experiences and learning that Her Guide was born. I wanted to do something that could have a broader impact, that could help moms (and other caregivers of girls) like me do all we can to help our daughters grow and thrive.
My daughter, Landry, is now 11. She is on the cusp. She’s at the age when the data says she will start to lose her confidence, when she’ll start to develop a negative body image, when she’ll start to shut her parents out, when she’ll start to see herself as inferior to boys, when she won’t want to dance around the living room singing at the top of her lungs, when she’ll set too high standards for herself, and in the worst possible scenario, she’ll consider suicide.
The thought of even one of these things is more than I can bear, so my focus is on doing everything I can to ensure that isn’t the direction she heads. Instead, to guide her towards a life where she feels confident, strong, healthy, and proud of who she is and what she brings to this life. It’s not going to be easy, I know, and I won’t be able to do it alone, and so this is where you all come in.
Let’s not do this alone, let’s do this as a community, let’s share resources, let’s share stories of success (and of struggle) and together let’s lift up our girls and be Her Guide.