The project ‘Girl Full of Power’ (Dziewczynka Pełna Mocy) was dedicated to Polish parents and teachers. It encourages and inspires them to raise girls without gender stereotypes, to become strong and happy women, comfortable in their bodies and with a powerful ability for independent thought.
It addresses all adults – women and men alike, and facilitates a public dialogue on parenting and education that prepares girls to take an equal place in the society when they grow up.
The project has a dedicated website (discontinued) with blog articles on relevant topics. The majority of the project’s interactions take place on dedicated social media on Facebook and Instagram.
THE STRONG WORDS CAMPAIGN
The biggest achievement of the project so far has been our social awareness campaign ‘Mocne Slowa’ (Strong Words) launched in 2018.
It led with a simple message: words matter. And so, how we phrase our everyday conversations, how we talk to and about women and girls has the power to shape our views and their views of themselves. We can choose positive phrases and Strong Words campaign encouraged everyone to do just that.
Most of us would not be surprised to hear that our views of people’s behaviour as negative or positive are determined by social norms and our openness to their expression of power.
In many contexts, girls and women face constant criticism and unwarranted micro-aggression: at school, they might be labelled as ‘oversensitive’ for their empathy, and then, ‘bossy’ when displaying competence and decisiveness at work. Many fail to realise that we must recognise this imbalance in the context of all women. Language has the power of setting values and norms.
To address this, Strong Words campaign encouraged a more conscious use of language by challenging our habits, which unwittingly play into stereotypes and prejudice.
Some words cut wings. But our Strong Words campaign showed that we can nurture an empowering sense of self-worth in women: