Girls Can't Have their own magazines because it's "sexist"

I've been spamming every Facebook group I'm in with links to JumpMag which is an utterly brilliant advertising-free magazine aimed at young girls from 7-13 and has no make-up tips or free lip gloss or OMG look at Justin Bieber's hair!!!! articles.

I love JumpMag as both a mother and a radical feminist. It combats harmful gender stereotypes and cultural femicide which are two issues which greatly concern me. JumpMag publishes lots of articles, poems, and reviews by girls themselves. The silencing of women's voices begins in childhood so having an online space where girls can share their lives, their stories, their art and their dreams without being told to be quiet or make space for boys is so very, very important to destroying the patriarchy. 

I've been awed by the support of women for JumpMag. Today, I shared it again and the support was amazing.

Yet, that one niggly question rose up again: isn't JumpMag sexist because it excludes boys?

I mean, seriously? Does every single fucking thing have to include boys? Can't girls have one little thing just for them in a culture which is dominated by men's voices? 

Where are the men whining about Ben 10 and Young Justice excluding girls? Or, Harry Potter having to be written about a boy and by an author with a non-woman name so that boys would read it? Where are the men whining about girls being excluded from footballl? Or, the music industry?

Nothing is gender-neutral in our culture. JumpMag is trying to eradicate this by showing girls that there is so much more to life than what the media dictates is acceptable for girls. 

This is JumpMag's official statement on inclusivity:

From time to time, we are asked, 'Isn't a magazine aimed only at girls sexist?' 

Jump! Mag was founded to offer girls something that boys already have. Magazines aimed at their gender, which neither patronise, demean nor make them feel inadequate about their body, their minds or their feelings.

We did consider a gender-free magazine, but there are other magazines on the market already, which cover this sector for preteens, such as the excellent Anorak Magazine. 

Jump! Mag aims to inspire girls to be more than they ever thought they could be. To aim high, and to never stop believing in themselves. If we inspire some boys along the way, then that is a bonus.

See, JumpMag doesn't exclude boys. It just focusses on girls. How fucked up is our culture that the first comment about a magazine aimed at girls is that it's "sexist" considering the sheer amount of television, books, films and video games aimed at boys?

Frankly, if you are worried about boys feeling excluded by one measly online magazine for girls you've got some seriously fucked up values and internalised misogyny. 

I'd suggest you start working on that instead of belittling a magazine aimed at teaching girls that they have the right to be whoever they want to be.

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Helping Girls in Kenya Go To School

This is reblogged with permission from SaltandCaramel: 

Kenyan girls don’t go to school because they don’t have access to sanitary protection.

When I first read that, I thought there must be some mistake. Something that we take for granted, a basic necessity, hinders girls getting an education. I had asked a Kenyan based blogger for ideas on gifts to take to the families we would be visiting, and besides small toys, pencils and note paper, this was one of her suggestions. I wrote about this on the Gates Foundation blog Impatient Optimists last year.

While there are great projects running in East Africa, and elsewhere to provide menstrual cups or washable san pro, I wanted to send a small gift to the girls I met last year. Later this month, I will send a box of san pro and underwear to the girls in the Laikipia district.

If you would like to contribute, you can send me san pro to send on, or donate money so that I can buy san pro. Please use the JumpMag paypal account (scroll down to the bottom of the page). Thank you

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International Day of the Girl Writing Competition

Reblogged from JumpMag which is a non-Pink magazine for girls edited by a very lovely friend of mine. It is not-for-profit and there is no advertising. Articles are welcomed by all but one corner of JumpMag is exclusively for writing by children [including mine]. 

Did you know that next Thursday, 11th October is the first International Day of The Girl?

When girls are educated, they help raise their families out of poverty, but estimated 75 million girls around the world do not attend school.

Plan UK has been working at changing this for over 75 years, with thousands of British people signing up to sponsor a child – not just girls, but boys too. They campaign for change, and raise money to help children around the world. 

To highlight the plight of girls, Plan has lobbied to have the United Nations declare anInternational Day of The Girl.

 

We will be asking our readers to share their stories. What does it mean to you, that you are a girl?

What is the best thing about being a girl? And is there anything that you don’t like? 

Do you have role models, women who you look up to? What makes you want to be like them?

Write down your thoughts, and email them to us at editor @ jumpmag.co.uk

Don’t forget to put your name and your age on your entry 

We will put them on Jump! Mag on Thursday to celebrate International Day of The Girl.

All articles will be published on Jump! Mag, but the writers of the winning three articles (in the age groups Under 10 years, 11 to 13 years and 14 to 16 years) will receive a prize.

Rules and Regulations

The article or story should be a maximum of 700 words (or thereabouts – don’t worry if you are a little bit over, but don’t send us novels!)

The winners will be announced on Friday 12th October.

The winning entries will be posted on Jump! Mag over the weekend of 12/13/14th October.

All other entries will be published on Jump! Mag over the following days/weeks (it may take a while for your entry to be published, depending on how many entries we have but we promise we will publish them all)

The decision on the winning entry will be made by the Jump! Mag Editorial Team and their decision is final.

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