Happy Monday, errbody! All this girl power has got me pumped up!! (plus I just drank a latte)

First of all, I found it interesting how the narrator of this video was male. Perhaps a female narrator would have made more sense. Who knows, maybe the male narrator was intentional. I’m probably just hypersensitive to this minutia.
Other than that, I did enjoy it and I found its messages to be helpful and valid.

Campers have to deal with so much pressure at school and home, and it’s important that we make camp a place for them to let their true, fabulous selves shine. As eccentric as some girls may be, it’s crucial that we accept them for the wonderful, beautiful people that they are. Plus, being complimented on skills and behavior is loads more assuring and powerful than being complimented on appearance.

Something I’m going to focus on this summer, as simple as it seems, is to address groups of campers as “ladies” or “girls” rather than “guys.” I also want to leave more decision making up to campers. It can be a tricky line to walk- you still need to remain in charge, but allow campers to be independent and empowered.

I really appreciated the distinction they made about age and how it affects the way we interact with the girls and they interact with each other. I know a lot of girls struggle with the “go with the crowd” mentality and I really want to focus on getting girls outside of the habit (for lack of a better word) of not expressing their opinion.

I loved the video. I agree w/ Grayson that the choice of narrator was interesting. However, I find it hopeful when men are the ones calling themselves out in a way. Disclaimer before I get started: I went on an Outward Bound course last summer (28 day multi course) and I’m OBsessed. I talk about it all the time. Probably as often as camp counselors talk about camp.
ANYWHO, we talked a good bit about gender roles and did a gender split dinner (I have a funny story from that for another time). I found doing that to be really awesome. We all answered questions like “What do you wish men knew about women?” and vice versa. While it was great to talk to other women about how women are treated I found it really interesting to hear what the guys had to say. I think for older girls this could be a cool thing to do, but we aren’t a coed camp so probably nevermind.
I am so excited to be working at a camp that actually addresses “girl power” and labels the issues instead of just saying “oh, be encouraging” or something.
I totally agree w/ Grayson about using “ladies” or “girls” instead of guys. I’ve started trying to do this (since OB). Some of my friends think its weird but if even in how we address each other we are placing more value on the opposite sex, I think we make it really hard to not let that impact how we act and see ourselves. Sometimes if I feel weird about saying “ladies” I just say “y’all”. . Or I could,after living in NC for 15 years, be becoming a bit more southern (YAY! .
I really liked the part about self-deprecation and excessive apologizing. Y’all – somebody tell me off if I apologize for everything. I do it all the time. And I’d love to be a good role model .
I also really liked the part about expression and authentic voices. I love talking about values and living them. OH JEEZ!! Can’t wait to be outside,playing games, being silly, learning loads, w/ some awesome strong creative unique beautiful intelligent ladies!!!!
That was really long. The end… Go drink some lattes and enjoy the sun!!!!

Ladies, these posts are wonderful!

I love GRAYSON’S mention of all the pressures our girls feel at home and how we can create a camp environment where girls feel safe and relaxed. It is important to remember that our campers come to camp with a variety of experiences and influences from home that assist in shaping who they are. We must be mindful and respectful of all of these experiences.
We can create a positive environment for all of our girls by encouraging, praising, and modeling positive behaviors on a daily basis.

BRITTANY brilliantly mentioned the “go with the flow” attitude many girls develop in their early teens. This is so accurate! I think every female has experience with this. During camp we can praise girls as they make confident and definite decisions. Also, we can strive to help girls by transforming the decision-making process into one where they are not constrained by the fear of rejection.

CHASE eloquently described Rockbrook’s vision to nurture every single girl for all she is! At Rockbrook girls have an opportunity to let loose and get a little silly in a variety of settings. As a counselor it is important to remember that when a camper sees you relaxing and acting goofy (wearing a crazy costume, smearing yourself during a sharing cream fight, singing out proudly in the dining hall….) you not only positively influence your camper’s self esteem (“My counselor is so cool and look how silly she’s acting! I can to that too!” ) it will also encourage a camper who is a bit shy or unsure of herself to come out of her shell.
On the flip side to all of that, if a camper is still a little shy to fully participate in all of our camp events that’s okay too! At Rockbrook we never pressure our girls to do anything they are not comfortable with.

MALLORY described many girl’s tendency to apologize excessively. This is so true! At times this indicates a girl’s hesitation in her own voice. She may devalue what she says or feels or may use this tactic as a coping mechanism to reject herself before she gives her peers the same opportunity. As counselors we must remain hypersensitive to this inclination. Identify a camper as engaging in this and role model more affirmative behaviors.

Ashely also made a wonderful point by addressing some of the stereotypes seen in the film. Many girls who come to camp have already created positive, authentic voices for themselves and we love this! As counselors it is our duty to encourage these girls to continue in this path of self assurance in a way that supports and follows them into womanhood.

Girl Power!

I do agree with most of you when it comes to using the male narrator. It is an interesting choice, but I do semi-understand his purpose. They show those girls questioning their all male staff. I know I’ve felt pressures of that. The fact that Rockbrook is an all girl camp will help girls realize they don’t have to impress anyone. All they have to worry about is if they themselves are impressed with the way things are going in their lives. That’s still a problem I face today. I still try to please everyone. I try to be flexible with everyones’ schedule, which I don’t mind, but it is exhausting, especially if you don’t get to do anything for yourself. I’ve learned that it’s okay to be selfish every once in a while. You have to take care of yourself before you can help others.

One of the most important things I noticed in this video was the importance of allowing girls to make their own decisions. As children, we grow up with our parents and authority figures giving us their opinion on how we are supposed to be. You have to remember that at the end of the day, your family and everyone that’s important to you, will be proud of you. They may not agree, but they will ultimately realize that it is your life. All the while encouraging safe, smart choices, offering advice when it’s needed, but not being overwhelming. From high school until about Freshman year of college, I was probably one of the more indecisive people on the planet (True statement. Ask my friends, family, etc. they will all tell you…I really did/still do want to please people). I was definitely in that circle of friends from the video that spent five minutes trying to decide what they wanted to do, or even when they’d stop for water. There are many females that still have problems with that. I won’t lie, I still from time to time say “It doesn’t matter to me. What do y’all wanna do? I’m up for anything!” But, then we waste 10 minutes making our decision. That’s what happens in a circle of insanely flexible friends! Not a bad way to be, just won’t make things easier. If you spend your life holding everything inside, it can really be draining. It’ll get to the point where you will erupt at people you care about. And that hurts everyone involved. There’s a way to get around all of that if you start young and make decisions for yourself…friends, college major, career. Girls coming from all over to meet with girls who are all going through the same thing. It truly is awesome, and I can’t wait to see them all and help them in whatever way I can.

First of all, I almost died while watching this video because the kayaking instructor in the Denison shirt is in one of my political science classes at school. I literally had just talked to her two minutes before watching this video— too funny.

I agree with Grayson that it’s a little weird that the narrator of the video is a man– isn’t this entire video about giving young girls and women a voice? Still, I think the video was very accurate and helpful in many ways. I especially identified with the “passivity” they discussed in adolescent girls. This kind of attitude is especially prevalent at camp on the Senior Line. Essentially, the older campers are frequently in that awkward stage where they don’t feel comfortable with themselves either physically or emotionally. This means that they will often seem bored or disinterested, but this is actually rarely the case— they’re just scared to show enthusiasm out of fear of looking “uncool.” This is why it is so important for us as counselors to be as enthusiastic as possible: by showing these girls that we have fun being ourselves and letting down some of our social guards and just being goofy, they will be able to follow our example and have a great time. Camp is the perfect outlet for them to do this because they aren’t surrounded by friends from home or boys.

I really enjoyed this video and think that empowering our campers is of the utmost importance! I love that Rockbrook is all girls because I believe that developmentally it is extremely beneficial for girls to have time with just girls. It gives them a self confidence that will stick with them for a long time. I was really glad that this video showed examples of what not to do (as has been stated before) because personally its hard when someone is telling you how to act but does not explain how not to act and it would be easy to just do some of those negative things without thinking about it.
I also thought the part about letting the girls be themselves and not censor what they want to say was very important. I feel like this is a major problem with young girls today and I want everyone to feel free to speak up at camp this summer!