Eve Ensler

I had the privilege of seeing Eve Ensler kick off her latest book tour for In The Body of the World on Friday, April 26 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her absolute honesty about her own suffering through abuse and cancer  and the experiences of the women of the Congo roared through the historic Lensic Theater in such a way that no one could leave there untouched, asleep, still pretending that there is not horrific violence against women and girls in the world. I was inspired to fight harder, more honestly, more radically for the rights of women through the work of The Girl’s Guide to Swagger.

Ensler was sexually abused and beaten as a child.  As a result, she learned to emotionally leave her body so that she wouldn’t feel the pain. While she was writing The Vagina Monologues, she heard stories from women about their sexual experiences. “I wish I could say that the stories that I heard were about pleasure and satisfaction and desire and orgasm, but 99 percent of those stories were about women being abused, incested, raped, being forced to leave their vaginas disconnected, never knowing their vaginas,” said Ensler.  “That was the beginning of whole consciousness radicalization for me…I had no idea of the epidemic proportions of violence on this planet. It is like a hidden story.”

Ensler also said that women are fractured and cut off from ourselves by the trauma that they have experienced; that we are asleep. But rather than staying in this “semi-sleep,” Ensler woke up and came out fighting. She broke the taboo regarding talking about vaginas with her play The Vagina Monologues.

After she had been performing the play for awhile by herself, Ensler became restless. She wanted to do something more.

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Post by Gina Pujols, for The Girl’s Guide to Swagger

Elizabeth Gilbert Speaking at the WRC Leadership Luncheon

I recently attended a women’s leadership luncheon hosted by The Women’s Resource Center in Philadelphia. The organization provides free or low-cost legal outreach, career advice and other various important programs to help benefit women and young girls in the area. If you live in the Philadelphia area, click here to learn more about the center and see if you would like to join them in their volunteer efforts. The luncheon featured awards and highlighted the accomplishments of many significant women who have worked to improve the great city of Philadelphia. It was heartwarming to see so many people working to benefit women’s livelihood in the city.

But the best part was hearing the great author, Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love and Commitment speak. She came to support the center’s mission and spoke about how women helping each other is one of our greatest talents and an invaluable resource. She also spoke about some of the trials and tribulations she experienced living in New York City in her younger years and also reminisced about some of her more solemn moments traveling around the world.

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Sonali

When you speak to Sonali Argade, you can’t help but smile. Her energy is infectious. And when you listen to her music, your smile will grow even wider. When you find out what she’s doing with the profits of her music sales, your heart will smile as well.

Sonali is one of the newest singers in the pop music world. The young Floridian recently moved to New York City this past September to study at the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. Before that, Sonali was involved in music for most of her life. She played jazz guitar at the Players School of Music, attended Berklee College of Music’s Five Week Summer Performance Program for Voice, and then attended the School of Rock Program. At age 18, she is now attending New York University (NYU), while improving her skills at the institute.

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Holly Elle

“No labels everywhere…all around!” That’s pretty much Holly Elle’s motto. And if you listen to her music then you certainly wouldn’t be surprised by that statement. The newest rising pop singer scowls at the idea of regurgitating more of the same and praises individuality among everyone.

Elle’s latest releases entitled Freak and Don’t Come Home from her EP Infinitude, which came out this past August, reveal the creativity of a young woman who is unafraid to challenge bullying and encourages free expression of the heart. Her strong message against bullying promotes individuality and is tremendously complimented by her melodious vocals. She has a knack for inspiring confidence in her music that won’t get lost within the endless reproductions of the usual pop trends.

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October 11, 2012, is the first observance of the U.N.’s International Day of the Girl and will be a celebration of more than a year of advocacy and public policy activism by girls across the United States.

Wondering what International Day of the Girl is all about?  It is the first annual celebration promoting rights and equality for girls everywhere in the world. As Hillary Clinton said: “I believe that the rights of women and girls is the unfinished business of the 21st century.”

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Carrie Williar

When you love the community you live in, you want to make it better.  And when you love what you do, there’s no telling what you’re capable of and what wonderful things you can create from that love. It makes you strong. It makes you brave and it even can help you find things that help others by accident. It challenges you and frustrates you, but you still love almost every minute of it.

Carrie Williar knows something about that kind of love for her community. And her swagger as a TEDxABQ organizer thus far, is taking her to new heights in the world of communication. Coming from a back ground in art therapy, Williar has been involved with social media and creative marketing for several years. “I just genuinely enjoy social media. Sure it’s about reaching people with your message,” Said Williar, “but I think it’s also simply about relationships and communication expressing an interest in the other people around you.”  She began to volunteer for TEDxABQ in 2010 and now has been recently selected to curate a TEDxABQWomen event. Read more…

Have you ever been misrepresented by a friend, family or maybe by a reporter interviewing you for the newspaper or TV news? If so, you know it doesn’t feel good and it might impact your confidence. Imagine if you found out that not only you, but also your entire gender was being misrepresented.  Unfortunately, that is the case, if you are female.

According to the 2011 documentary Miss Representation, by actress and filmmaker, Jennifer Siebel Newsome, 71% of the images shown in the media are of women in their 20s and 30s while these women represent only 39% of females in our population.  It may go without saying that many of those media images show women in “hyper-sexualized” ways, wearing very little clothing and often serving as nothing more than sexual props for male story lines.

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The world can be a difficult place, especially if you’re a teenage girl growing up in America. But every once in a while, a young shining star will rise above all the nonsense and you realize we can make it out there if you keep your confidence up high. That’s what it seems like at times when you listen to Danielle Aument sing. Her charming melodies and inspiring words can maybe help you get through a tough day when you’re feeling low.

Belting out sweet sound waves since childhood, Aument started out out with piano lessons and also performed in local theatre productions.  Soon after, she developed a strong love for pop music and song writing and eventually started creating her own music after receiving her first guitar in eighth grade. She hasn’t stopped since then and now at just 18 years of age, she released her first studio album, Songs for You.  We believe that this young woman shows some signs of serious Swagger on Stage, wouldn’t you say?

Aument also seems to invoke youthful waves of wisdom in her albums as is noticeable in her singles, “Stronger Now,” and “You’re Beautiful,” where she encourages others to stay positive during tough times when teenagers begin to question their self-worth. “Like any other teenager, it’s hard. You go through times when you just don’t feel like you’re worth it.  And I was just having a really tough time with that at one point, and I wrote the songs just as a little pick me up for myself. It’s helped a lot of people. I think,” said Aument.

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I’ve always wanted to go to Egypt.  When I was little, I wanted to be an archaeologist and sometimes regret I  took another path.  But life has shown me that you never truly miss the opportunity for something really important.  I didn’t become an archaeologist, but I’ve been to see Mayan ruins and today I am going to Egypt.  I will see the pyramids and Spinx, cruise on the Nile, and visit many sacred feminine temples. I hope to be able to meet women there and see what life is like for them.  I hope to travel with courtesy, courage, and swagger.

If I am able, I will send back pictures and stories from my trip – if the technology permits.  In Egypt, there is a saying insha’allah - it means if God wills.  So look for my photos and thoughts over the next two weeks -insha’allah!

Cindy Brown, Swagger founder

As part of International Women’s Day, we’d like to feature

Asmaa Mahfouz

Egyptian activist, as a Woman with Swagger.

In case you haven’t yet seen her pivotal vlogs credited with drawing the people of Egypt into the streets during the January resistence movement, here is a montage:

And here she is again, on the streets…and again on TV.

Thank you, Asmaa.  And Happy International Women’s Day!