Girls Just Like Us

Hi, we’re Girls Like Us, an eighth grade group from LREI fighting to get respect for women in the media. Women and girls are misrepresented in advertisements, commercials, movies, and more. The media sets unrealistic and unfair standards for girls of our generation. These standards can make girls feel uncomfortable with their bodies, and make their self esteem drop drastically. Not many people realize how much the media affects our society, so we are trying to raise awareness. We want to make a change, and empower girls like us.

Interview with Crystal Renn

by 18sophiac

On December 12th, my group and I went to Jacks across the street from school to meet with model named Crystal Renn. Crystal was amazing to talk she had a very interesting story to tell as to how she became a model. Crystal Renn never aspired to be a model when she was younger, she…

by 18dariar

On Monday, January 27, our group went with the other women’s group to the Paley Center for Media. We learned a lot about how women are represented on TV and in the movies. Usually women are represented as weak and not able to do things themselves. They are often saved at the end by a…

by 18evev

On January 13, Sophia, Bella, Daria and I went to ABC News to talk to Tamar Gargle. Lexi wasn’t feeling well, so she stayed at school. When we first got to the ABC studio, we were told to go to the other lobby. We ended up going to two other lobbies before getting to the…

by 18evev

On December 17, My group and I ventured up to McCann Worldgroup, to visit Martha Brooks at the L’Oreal advertisement agency. We quickly made our way there by taking the 6 train from Bleeker st. Station. When we got there, we went upstairs, and Ms. Brooks gave us a tour of the floor she works…

by 18dariar

On Tuesday, December 10, we went to City Hall to meet with Samantha Levine, the woman who came up with the idea for the I’m a Girl Campaign. Samantha had been affected by women in the media from a young age. She was always conscious about girls that were struggling with body image. These things…

by 18evev

On December 12, my group had an interview with the model Crystal Renn at a coffee shop. Early in her career, Ms. Renn developed the eating disorder, anorexia. She became a model at a young age, without a complete understanding of what modeling was. She thought that to be a model you have to be…

by 18alexandriaj

My group and I visited The Paley Center For Media where we met Rebekah Fitz and participated in a Women in the Media class. Rebekah told us facts about how many girls suffer from eating disorders or how many girls struggle with the way they look. I learned that 80% of ten-year old girls are…

by 18alexandriaj

It is very surprising to hear that someone like my mom suffered from self esteem issues when she was my age. She shared with us that in somalia she was not considered a beauty. She was very skinny and the standard of beauty in somalia was more full figured women. She was very skinny with…

by 18sophiac

1/29/14 Yesterday both women’s groups headed up to the Paley center to attend, Girls, Self Esteem and the Media class. The class originally was supposed to be for 30 people, but we decided to only go with the other women’s group so we could learn things that we could put in our teach in. I…

by 18bellar

On Monday, January 27, my social justice group doubled up with the sexual violence group to go to a class at the Paley center about women’s portrayal in the media. The woman who talked to us, Rebecca, was really nice, and shared with us many interesting, and some very horrifying facts about women in the…

by 18sophiac

TAMAR GARGLE 1/13/14 Today, Bella, Daria, Eve and I went to go visit Tamar Gargle at ABC studios. Lexi hasn’t been feeling well lately so she decided to stay at school while we went. Getting to ABC studios was fairly easy, we just took the 1 to 66th street, but finding the Tamar’s lobby was…

by 18dariar

On Monday, January 13th, we visited Tamar Gargle at ABC. We left school at 11:00 so we could get there at 11:30. When we got there, Tamar gave us a tour. First, we saw a woman who designed the title pages for news shows. She showed us her workspace and how she had to…

by 18bellar

Today our group went to ABC News to interview Tamar Gargle, and get a tour of their workspace. We took the one train to 66th street, where ABC was across the street from the subway exit. When we got there, Tamar talked to us a little about herself, and what she does. Tamar is the…

by 18bellar

On December 17, my social justice group and I went to the advertising center of L’Oreal to meet with a creative director for their advertising who is also an LREI parent. Getting there was by simple, despite the snow, and the subway ride was quick. Being in the center was amazing. Martha showed us a…

by 18bellar

On December 12, my social justice group and I went to Jacks to talk with a model who is considered plus sized named Crystal Renn. Crystal was an amazing person to talk to, with a very interesting story and idea on modeling. Crystal was anorexic (she was starving herself to fit the modeling qualities) when…

by 18evev

On December 10, my group went to City Hall to meet with Samantha Levine. She worked for the former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg. Ms. Levine started the “I’m a Girl” campaign. If you have read my earlier blog posts, you know that we have already had an interview with Denis Ahlgrim, the designer…

by 18bellar

On December 10, my social justice group and I went to meet with Samantha Levine who works for city hall. Samantha was the second person we interviewed about the I’m a Girl Campaign, the first being Dennis Algrim, the designer, but she is the manager, so it was great to see where the idea came…

by 18bellar

On November 25, my social justice group and I met in a cafe near school with Iman Abdulmajid. Iman said in her early years she was a refugee from Somalia because her mother had feared for her fathers life. She was a major in political science and had never worn makeup, heels, fancy clothes, or…

by 18evev

On November 25, we interviewed Iman Abdulmajid, the former model who now has a top selling line of make up advertised for women of color. We had a great conversation with her, and learned a lot about her opinions and experiences. One thing that I definitely want to remember for my teach-in is a line she…

by 18dariar

On Tuesday, December 17th, we had an interview with Martha Brooks, the Executive Creative Director at L’Oreal. She told us about what she has to keep in mind while designing posters and commercials for products, and who the target audience is. They have to make their posters appeal to their audience, whether it’s young, middle…

by 18dariar

On December 12, 2013, our group had an interview with Crystal Renn, a “plus-sized” model. The most surprising thing was that Crystal is considered a “plus-sized” model, and she’s only a size 8. Crystal didn’t want to be a model at first. She didn’t even know what models were. Her standard of beauty was looking…

by 18evev

On Tuesday, November 19, my group went to see the film Wadjda. It is about a ten year old girl living in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This film was directed by the Saudi Arabian director Haifaa Al-Mansour. Wadjda is best friends with a little boy named Abdullah. On their way to school, Wadjda always said how…

by 18alexandriaj

On our second fieldwork, we interviewed the photographer, Denice, of the “I am a girl campaign”. Denice told us that he wanted to pick girls that were not too pretty so they could make a point about every girl is beautiful and strong and courageous. If they have a prettier girl, then it is besides…

by 18sophiac

On December 10, our group went to City Hall to interview with Samantha Levine. Samantha is the founder of NYC’s “I’m a Girl” campaign. We got her information from Dennis Algrihm who worked closely with her on the project, designing it and putting it together. When we got there and settled down and started off…

by 18bellar

On November 19, my social justice group and I went to see the film Wadjda, the first movie directed by a Saudi Arabian woman with a fully Saudi Arabian cast. Directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour, it tells the story of a ten year old Saudi Arabian girl living in the suburbs of Riyadh, the capital of…

by 18alexandriaj

My group and I went across the street to a coffee shop to meat Crystal Renn a plus size model. When I first saw her, she looked regular-sized. Crystal was very friendly and accommodating and she told us that she used to be anorexic. Crystal wrote a book called Hungry about herself at age 14.…

by 18alexandriaj

When Daria, Eve, Bella and I saw the movie “Wadjda”. We were so moved by how motivated Wadja was to get a bike. Although in Saudi Arabia, where she lives, women or girls are not suppose to ride or buy bikes. Wadjda was so determined that she even asked her fiend if she could borrow…

by 18dariar

In September 2013, we went to the high school for the “Day of the Girl” assembly. Many EI high school girls shared their experiences in honor of this day. We learned a lot about students’ experiences of being girls and the different negative images and stereotypes about them. Many girls read what they had written…

by 18sophiac

On September 13, our group interviewed Iman Abdulmajid. Iman was a very famous, well respected model in the 1980’s, and now runs and owns a clothing, accessory and makeup line. Iman is most known to be among the first women of color to become a super model. She became idolized and loved by many different…

by 18evev

On November 12, my social justice group and I had an interview with Denis Ahlgrim, the designer of the “I’m a Girl” Campaign. The goal of this campaign, created by Samantha Levine, who works for the Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is to make girls feel comfortable with the way they look. On the posters there are…

by 18bellar

In the beginning of the school year, I and the rest of my social justice group went with the other women’s group to listen to an assembly in the high school about day of a girl. The kids in the feminist group from the high school all got up, and shared parts from their essays they…

by 18sophiac

On September 19, our group went to go see the movie Wadjda. Wadjda is about a girl (Wadjda) who wants to buy a bike. Wadjda lives in Saudi Arabia and in her culture, a bike is meant to be only a boys toy. Being an innocent but rebellious character, Wadjda goes on a quest to…

by 18dariar

Wadjda, Tuesday, November 19 On Tuesday, November 19, we went to see Wadjda after school. Our group wanted to see Wadjda because we were interested in women’s role in Saudi Arabia and how it could affect a young girl’s life. The movie is about a ten-year-old Saudi Arabian girl named Wadjda who wants a bike…

by 18bellar

On Tuesday, November 12th, I and the other five members of the Women in the media, and women’s self-esteem group met and had an interview with Dennis Ahlgrim. Dennis was the designer of the I’m a Girl Campaign happening all around the city. He was very friendly, and knew Sophia well, so that made the…

by 18evev

In September we went to a “Day of the Girl” assembly at Elisabeth Irwin High School. I learned a lot about my civil rights topic at this assembly. At the assembly we got to hear writing pieces written by students from the feminism group at Elisabeth Irwin High School. The students wrote about their experiences…

by 18dariar

Interview with Dennis Ahlgrim, I’m a Girl Campaign,11/12/13 On Tuesday November 12, my group and I met with Dennis Ahlgrim, the person who designed the I’m a Girl Campaign. The goal of our interview was to find out more about how the campaign was designed, and how some important decisions were made. I thought our…

by 18sophiac

For our second fieldwork, our group met with Dennis Ahlgrim. Dennis was the designer for NYC’s “I’m A Girl” campaign. The “I’m A Girl” add campaign is an add targeted at girls from ages seven through 12 to help with self-esteem issues. The add can easily be seen on the subway or on the side…

by 18sophiac

In September, 2013, we did our first fieldwork. Both women’s groups went to the high school for the Day of the Girl assembly. We had only gotten our social justice groups the day before and our group hadn’t even decided on the topic we were doing. Confused, I was told to go the the lobby.…

by student

Hi, we’re Girls Just LIke Us, an eighth grade group from LREI fighting to get respect for women in the media. Women and girls are misrepresented in advertisements, commercials, movies, and more. The media sets unrealistic and unfair standards for girls of our generation. These standards can make girls feel uncomfortable with their bodies, and make their self esteem drop drastically. Not…

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