Hannah Witnessed the Empowerment of the Next Generation

This is about Girl’s Day at the State House in Augusta, Maine –

As explained by Gerda Lerner, knowledge is the key to creating new reality and changing existing misconceptions; women must be informed and educated in order to have the power to teach and ultimately create knowledge, which is the supreme goal. The girls that attended Girl’s Day were given some of the knowledge they needed about what steps to take to gain this ability and develop the power to create change. At this age these girls are dealing with issues of autonomy and starting to pull away from their parents and towards their own friends and peers as explained by Mary Pipher in her book Reviving Ophelia. This is the perfect age to distract girls from drugs, gangs, violence, negative views of body image, negative peer pressure, etc. with opportunities and goals that they will be proud of.

Even as a twenty-one year old woman I felt deeply what I saw in the eyes of these girls. I saw how empowered they felt and I sensed a dream of being in the State House was no longer out of reach for these young women. This opportunity enabled these girls the chance to explore a place once seeming out of reach and distant. The women facilitating this event made these girls feel at home and comfortable in a place where women are unfortunately still a great minority. They explained to the girls that they were counting on them to take over their places and to command respect and equality. Talking about the Equal Pay for Equal Work bill really opened up the eyes of these young women to the ways the world still lets us down and leaves women to fight for every inch of respect.

After leaving Girl’s Day at the State House in Augusta, Maine, I felt overwhelmed with enthusiasm and pride towards the hundred young girls who had just experienced something that very well might change their lives. These seventh and eighth grade girls spent all day with female figures of empowerment and change. They were able to explore and ask questions about the State House and had the chance to imagine themselves in the seats of our legislature, especially because they actually got to sit in them. It was apparent that many of these young women felt larger than life yet some looked right at home and I wondered how many of these girls will now continue on to really make a difference in the lives of the next generation of girls.