Two Truths and a Lie

The girls got a laugh out of Kassandra's truths and lie.

Pondering over their votes... which story was a lie?

Judelle: "For the first time in six months I’m not partying this weekend. I don’t like kool-aid. I haven’t done my hair in a month."

Mentoring Begins, Plus a Visit from Rachel Skerritt!

October: Falling leaves, apples, and the beginning of Teen Voices’ fall program! We just finished our first week of mentoring, so all our teen editors have met their mentors and are already hard at work researching their article topics. We have 11 mentoring groups working on magazine features, and they turned in their great article proposals to Jessica yesterday!

Here are some of the great pieces that are in the works. Mentor Brittany and her teen editors Ajané, Sabrina I., and Bria are working on an article about sex trafficking. Kat is working with Malisa, Laurén, and Tekeisha on celeb fashion and how it influences teen girls. Mentor Julia is working with Sasha, Ariana, and Denesha to research ways for teen girls to keep their online personas on the up and up. Carling’s group—Antoinise, Kassandra, and Arismar—is thinking about how to write the most effective college application essays. Mentor Tarra is going to tackle stereotypes, along with Lynn, Talia, and Paige.

Reynelle, Mia, and Shirelle, along with mentor Jeanette, are gathering great advice on sexual assault for our Dear D column. If you have any questions about sexual assault, we want to hear them – email us at teenvoices@teenvoices.com. We won’t use your name or any identifying details. We always love to hear from Teen Voices readers, especially when we have a chance to help them out.

We can’t wait to see all these articles come together!

We’re also excited about this afternoon’s workshop with Boston author Rachel Skerritt. She’s coming to talk to our teen editors about how she got started as a writer, and she’s going to share an excerpt from one of her books and lead the teens in a writing exercise. We can’t wait!

More soon! In the meantime, come visit us at teenvoices.com.

Teen Voices Recognizes Summer 2009 Teen Editors

All of Teen Voices’ teen editors and mentors gathered with staff at Boston’s Calderwood Pavilion on August 18 for the Summer 2009 Awards Ceremony.  It was great to have everyone together to celebrate the accomplishments of the girls who worked with us during the summer program!

Program director Saun Green and peer leaders Judelle, Tina, and Sally led the order of ceremonies, bringing each mentoring group up one at a time to receive their certificates of completion and get their “superlative” award.

The teen editors worked on some really exciting content for Teen Voices Online and the fall print issue.  With guidance from their mentors, they focused on pressing issues, including the college admissions process, the portrayal of women in the media, women in male-dominated careers, and art made by teen girls in prison. Others had the opportunity to focus on our Dear D advice column, reviews, and creative writing submissions.  Be sure to keep an eye out for the awesome articles and art that the girls worked on!

At the awards ceremony, the teen editors and their mentors read paragraphs to each other that pointed out highlights from their summer of work and fun. This was a chance for them to recognize the friendships that they had built…and the audience got a case of the warm fuzzies, responding with an “Awwww!” after each reading. Here’s an example of the remarks the teen editors and mentors wrote for each other:

From Teen Sasha to Mentor Courtney:

“Courtney, you have been such an amazing mentor.  From bringing us amazing food — from peanut-butter pretzels to Italian cookies — you always kept our palettes entertained. But not only that—you kept us entertained as well.  You kept the article on track, but we still managed to have fun. From the first day on, with the M&M game, we all knew you were going to be a great mentor. I actually remember you leaving and Jocelyn, Kassandra, and I all being like, “She’s so cute!!” From going to the park to browsing through H&M, we always had a good time.  Though I have to say that our sleepover is definitely my favorite memory of the session, having trouble getting on the train, asking Peter questions about Kassandra’s love life, trying to scare you with Nathalie’s creepy voice—these are all memories that I will treasure.  Thank you so much for being an awesome mentor, Courtney!!”

From Mentor Courtney to Teen Sasha:

“If there were a Match.com for friends, I think I would get paired up with Sasha based on interests alone. She shares my love of Urban Outfitters, M&Ms, and Regina Spektor. She, like me, is a huge Johnny Depp fan. We both love writing, reading and desire to travel the world. Just by reading her profile, I would think Sasha was a pretty cool girl. However, the real reasons I have come to admire Sasha would not fit in a Match.com profile.

She is perceptive. Whenever we would sit in groups, Sasha always made a point to play “gatekeeper” in our conversations. If any one of us was being quite or withdrawn, Sasha would ask us a question and try to engage everyone in the discussion. She is dedicated. Whether it’s staying loyal to her bank account, summer reading, friends, or even to herself, Sasha has the maturity and responsibility of someone far beyond her years. With Sasha, it is easy to forget she is only 14. She is wise. Though I’m sure many of her classmates share Sasha’s books smarts, she surpasses them in worldly knowledge. Her appreciation for literature, independent films and other cultures reveals an intelligence that reaches far beyond the classroom.

Sasha, my favorite memory of you is when you were on the Internet and you casually said “Hmm, maybe I should be a lawyer.” Just like that, as if it was the most natural and easy thing in the world. And if you woke tomorrow and said, “I think I’d like to win a Pulitzer Prize,” I would believe you could. Sasha, it is because of your insight, loyalty, and wisdom that you will succeed in whatever you do. Not just in your career, but in your life.”

Lots of family members attended the ceremony, too, and it was great to see them in the audience supporting their favorite teen girl! It was a fun summer evening to remember – and Teen Voices is extra proud of all the teen editors and mentors for their hard work and good humor!

Taking Back the Music

You’re dancing away to your favorite song, enjoying the beat, and not necessarily noticing the words that are being used. But wait a second — what are all those icky things that male singers are saying about women? Why all this talk of bitches, strippers, and hos? All this sexism and degradation of girls and women is enough to make a lady lose her cool on the dance floor.

So this week, the girls at Teen Voices worked with program director Saun Green to analyze the words they hear when they hit “play” on the iPod. The girls put together a list of their 50 favorite performers. Then they crossed off all the people who degraded women in their songs. And you know what? There were only four names left on the list.

It made us all wonder — is it really that difficult for the multibillion-dollar music industry to sell songs that don’t degrade women and treat them like sex objects? Apparently the music industry needs teen girls to show them how it’s done! So the girls rewrote some lyrics to popular songs, replacing the sexism with words that empower women – and then they put on a Friday afternoon concert.

One group called themselves WomanNation, and they redid the lyrics to T-Pain’s hit song Can’t Believe It. In the original, T-Pain sings about a stripper and the places he’s going to “put” her with all his money. WomanNation responded with their own lyrics:

Boy, you don’t amaze me
Just get up off me
I’m my own woman
Nope you can’t flaunt, take, and toss me

Another group of girls took the stage to sing their version of Kid Cudi’s Day and Night, using lyrics that reminded girls not to let guys take advantage of their bodies:

Don’t be pressured
It’s not wrong to tell them no, no
And if he wants to leave then let him go
Got to tell them we ain’t an easy ho, ho

The next two groups re-worked Ron Browz’s song Pop Champagne, which objectifies and demeans women with the best of them! The Teen Voices girls developed two great alternatives to the original lyrics. The Pink Ladies danced up a storm as they sang:

I’m young and I’m cute, second best to none
And if you’re worthy, I’ll be your sunshine.
Sometimes I’ll let you call me yours
But wait — I’m not a toy!

The 21st Century Ladies had their say next, singing to girls:

Ladies everywhere, won’t you throw your hands up
If the way boys treatin’ you has you fed up?
Actin’ like we’re their cooks, their mothers, and their maids
Expecting us to freeze frame when they wanna get laid
Men can act stupid and they can act perverse
Cuz before you know it we’re gonna take over the universe!

Operation Take Back the Music was a success! Know any other songs with lyrics that degrade women? Write your own lyrics and send them to us. We’ll post our favorites right here on our blog. It’s time for YOU to take back the music!