It’s the UN’s 3rd Annual Day of the Girl! In light of Malala Yousafzai’s Nobel Peace Prize, I’m guessing there will be even more press coverage and think pieces than usual, which in some ways is great. But I think it’s worth making note of the way these stories are framed and pushing back against rhetoric that depicts girls’ education as just an economic investment or panders to people’s emotions or draws on the idea that “she could be your mother/sister/daughter.” Is this mission to educate girls–to educate all children–about expanding opportunities and striving for gender parity or is it just about a feel-good neoliberal agenda?

Today at Ph.D.s and Pigtails Facebook Page I’m working to share the stories of girl activists and historical girls, trying to highlight that there’s a long history of girls advocating for themselves and their communities, as well as a long history of girls being denied the right to equal education. Please join me over there! (And please do share stories if you have them, too!)

You can also check out these documentaries on Netflix:
It’s a Girl: http://goo.gl/m9WM0t
Girl Rising: http://goo.gl/kQY3da
The World Before Her: http://goo.gl/lyGajv
Dark Girls: http://goo.gl/J4FfJd
Half the Sky: http://goo.gl/0FjUz3
Whore’s Glory: http://goo.gl/f2aWKi