Girlology: A Girl's Guide to Stuff that Matters

Things “just happened”—then there was a lot of regret and tears, sometimes even pregnancy or infections. Every time girls give away or allow someone else to “take” some of this power, it’s a loss. Their power weakens, and they have to work hard to start to rebuild it. Fortunately, it can be built up again! They have to go back and make some new choices that give them power and control. And they have to stick to those choices and hold on to that power to let it grow.

ClaimYour Girl Power

This whole power thing goes back way farther than women today. Since the beginning of time, civilizations have recognized that people have special opportunities in life to gain power. Periods of transition are times of especially great power! Think about some of the major transitions in a girl’s life:Birth—power to be on this Earth

Puberty—power to reproduce and create new life

Marriage—power to start a relationship that can create a family

Motherhood—power to shape a new life into something powerful

Menopause—power to share wisdom and see life from a very experienced perspective

Let’s look at one of these life transitions to understand this power thing. It’s a little touchy-feely and deep kind of stuff. But it’s true.

Birth . . . yep, pretty powerful. Think of all the amazing potential newborn babies have. Even though they are totally dependent on other caregivers to feed them, get them around and nurture them . . . their potential is limitless. Somewhere, a baby is being born who will be a future president or an inventor or an Olympic champion or the biggest rock star the world has ever seen! On the other hand, babies are being born who will be haters, cheaters and criminals. So just because there is a lot of power in the birth transition . . . it doesn’t always end up being good power. But birth is an opportunity for a new little human being to start collecting power to become anything in the world.

Now, let’s get back to you and the power transition you’re in right now.

You’ve Got Power!

So here you are at one of life’s major transitions. You are making the transition from a child—through puberty and adolescence—into a young adult. Can you feel the power? You should!

A main purpose of puberty is to develop sexually. Sexual power is a mighty thing that a girl possesses. You aren’t supposed to use it for bad things like controlling other people or making them jealous. You are supposed to protect that power and, then as you mature, share it with the one who has helped you protect it and who also respects and values it.

As a teen, you are developing your ability to appreciate your body, to enjoy sexual feelings and to develop meaningful relationships outside of your family. You have the potential to develop great respect for your sexuality and ability to reproduce. Now that’s good power! You also have the potential to mess it up by having unintended pregnancies, by getting infections that can harm your ability to have babies if you want to in the future and by losing respect for how awesome sex can be in the right relationship. That would be bad power, right?

In our culture and in the human experience, sex is powerful. Don’t let anyone talk you into believing that it’s no big deal.

Power Thieves

The more that you hold on to that special power within you, the stronger it can become. Many people will try to take it away from you. Some teenage boys and some adult men are always trying to take that power away from girls and women. They may do that by trying to become sexually involved too soon or by making comments that make you feel uncomfortable about your body or your sexuality. Same for some advertisers, magazines, movies and other girls—they will try to diminish your sexual power, to make it seem unimportant or not worth taking care of.

All we have to say is that THEY ARE WRONG! You have great power as a girl. They want a piece of it because you have an amazing and wonderful Girl Power! If it weren’t a big deal, nobody would want it or care about it.

Protect Your Girl Power

If you haven’t yet, you will eventually begin to recognize the power.

Once you notice how strong it is, you might want to use it to your benefit. Sometimes you want to give it away because:

You know it is strong.

It gets attention.

It seems exciting.