Why Blogging Empowers Girls
Some of you may have noticed that I’m new to blogging. One of the reasons it took me so long to get into it was that I was scared. Yep – scared. But overcoming my fear taught me just how amazing blogging can be for a girls and women.
Blogging is a powerful antidote to the Curse of the Good Girl, the pressure girls face to be nice, selfless, and perfect 24/7. Blogging is jam-packed with lessons that push girls away from destructive Good Girl tendencies. Here’s why:
- Blogging helps you get over perfectionism. Blogging is something you do a lot. You write several posts a week. You simply can’t sit there and tweak and refine and grind over every last little sentence. Blogging is also about responding to current events, so if you obsess endlessly about this comma or that word, by the time you come out of your little dark hole, what you’re writing about is old news. PS: The best bloggers write from the heart, and the tone is much more casual. Try to be perfect and, well, you’re doing it wrong.
- Blogging helps refine your convictions. In my work with girls, I see Good Girl pressure forcing girls to dilute their opinions in class. A lot of girls don’t want to stand out with strong convictions. Blogging builds the muscles to hone in on and stand behind an opinion. It connects you to your strongest thoughts and feelings. It forces you to say one thing and say it well.
- Blogging promotes debate and healthy conflict. Web 2.0 is about relationship and exchanging ideas. Blogging is dynamic: you write about what others have posted and respond to comments on your own work. Unless you’ve got a jerk being nasty on your blog, this kind of interchange is ideas-based and respectful. It’s not personal. For girls, this is an incredible opportunity to practice debating opinions, something many of them fear or worry about. It also teaches girls that conflict doesn’t have to be personal.
As a writer who has slaved for an hour over a single paragraph (I hate you, page 247), it’s liberating to write and let it go. Perhaps more importantly, as a recovering Good Girl, I’m so grateful for a medium that pushes me to take risks and get over my Good Girl tendencies. Let’s get girls online. Some great places you can start are New Moon, the Girl Scouts’ new site on cyberbullying, and thefbomb. Let me know if you’ve heard about others, and I’ll post them here.
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Hi Rachel,
This is spot-on! It took me way too long to recognize how perfectionism was actually limiting, not pushing me to be better. Any opportunity for girls to share their opinions, thoughts, and creations and then develop them with time and feedback is the one that might help some girl realize that putting yourself out there with mistakes may be more inspiring and fulfilling than (possibly never) putting yourself out there ‘flawlessly’–if only for the heated and creative debate that can follow.
I’d like to humbly submit the site I work for, SmartGirl.org, to your list of empowering online havens for girls. Our site authors are between the ages of 10 and 19. They peer edit each other’s original stories. Girls are also encouraged to share their experiences and opinions by submitting thoughtful reviews, responding to surveys (one of our recent topics was Perfectionism), and submitting short opines on topics relevant to them. They are welcome to submit poetry, love letters, craft and game ideas, and more.