Fraser Tatiana - Girl positive: supporting girls to shape a new world

We spent many hours talking with girls and really listening to what they had to say. We wanted to find out how they see themselves, how they make sense of their worlds and how they are livingif they are thriving, coping or struggling (hint: its often all of the above). We wanted to understand their relationship to pop culture; we wanted to know what they think of social media, sexuality, the Internet and the changing world; we were curious to hear from them on social and environmental issues such as emerging technologies, poverty and climate change. We wanted to discover how these forces are shaping their experiences and concerns, and how they, in turn, are shaping these realms.

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR GIRL POSITIVE

This book is about the real, sometimes awkward, essential conversation that can be a life-altering opportunity if we as parents, youth, mentors, teachers and citizens take an honest look at ourselves. In 2016, here in Canada and abroad, women still cant walk their journey through life with the same feeling of freedom as men. The objectification of the female body, the normalization of pornography, and rape language and culture is destroying the self-esteem of our girls and is an insult to the spirit of our boys.

This inequality takes a toll on the health of womens and mens psyches as well. The world is paying a high price for this imbalance on economic, social, and spiritual grounds. The human soul has no gender; girls and boys, women and men must come together to build a more just and peaceful society. This is a call to action. Words matter. Actions speak louder. Lets get moving.

SOPHIE GRGOIRE TRUDEAU

Timely. Generous. Accessible. Provocative. I hope every parent, teacher, health-care professional, social worker and policy-maker will read this book.

MICHAEL KAUFMAN, author and co-founder of the White Ribbon Campaign, and author of The Possibility of Dreaming on a Night Without Stars

Equal parts smart, sassy, and savage, Girl Positive will inspire girls around the world.

SAM MAGGS, author of The Fangirls Guide to the Galaxy

As exciting and candid as a late-night dorm room discussion, Girl Positive knows the issues young women face today are similar to previous generations, but on a much more complex levellike a video games highest difficulty setting. Anyone reading this book, no matter how alone they might feel in real life, will become totally enveloped by the community of funny, smart, and inspiring young people who populate it. Best of all, Girl Positive, which treats young women with respect for their intellect and choices that is all-too-rare these days, proves the kids are all rightand will be, as long as they can benefit from the celebration of strength, intelligence, and positivity that Tatiana Fraser and Caia Hagel know is at the core of every teenage girl navigating the world today.

DUANA TAHA, author of The Name Therapist and contributor on LaineyGossip.com

I was moved to tears first at the possibility of a world where girls can grow up individual, different, free, safe and proud. A world where a female president is not an aberration, a world where little girls can be little girls and dream out loud. A world where girls have a voice and can become women without guilt or fear to shape the lives that become them best. Fraser and Hagel make a strong case for such a world. But Girl Positiveis all about the girls, their voices, their particular visions and stories. Its in their words, all together, in one voice coming in loud and clear. Its that voice that we can no longer ignore. Its that voice that will win in the end and when it does, we will all win.

AGATHE SNOW, artist and performer

PUBLISHED BY RANDOM HOUSE CANADA

Copyright 2016 Tatiana Fraser and Caia Hagel

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published in 2016 by Random House Canada, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Distributed in Canada by Penguin Random House Canada Limited, Toronto.

www.penguinrandomhouse.ca

Random House Canada and colophon are registered trademarks.

constitute a continuation of the copyright page.

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Fraser, Tatiana, author

Girl positive : supporting girls to shape a new world / Tatiana Fraser, Caia Hagel..

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN9780345808394

eBook ISBN9780345808417

1. GirlsAttitudes. 2. GirlsPsychology. 3. Self-esteem in women. 4. WomenIdentity. I. Hagel, Caia, author II. Title.

HQ777.F724 2016 305.23082 C2016-902562-4

Book design by Leah Springate

Megaphone art by Leah Springate

v4.1

a

To all girls everywhere, with love