"Adolescence is a border between childhood and adulthood. Like life on all borders, it’s teeming with energy and fraught with danger." -- Mary Pipher, Ph.D., Reviving Ophelia

The roots of adolescent girls are shallow and fragile. Bewildering for both them and their parents. As they shed their youth, it is too easy for girls to discard the confidence and freedom of spirit that carried them so effortlessly through childhood. They are often left to pick their way through adolescence alone, without the support of family or community.

While American society has opened its doors to women in careers and education, young women are still being praised for their looks, their sexuality, and their willingness toward obedience, as opposed to their strength and independence. It is at this crucial time of adolescence when many young girls feel lost, unsure of what choices to make. It is difficult today to know what it means to be a young woman.

Girls deserve a place in our world where they are allowed to dream big; where they feel honored and celebrated as they learn the delicate balance of being true to themselves and generous to others. Grrlstories offers a place where girls are allowed to share their achievements and their losses with other girls–a window into the different ways girls are celebrating and changing as they transition toward adult responsibilities and roles.

Grrlstories offers a window into new and traditional rites of passage for girls entering adolescence. American culture has few celebrations that mark the coming of adulthood. Grrlstories will look at the ceremonies and celebrations of many of the diverse cultures scattered across America, and share how different people acknowledge this crucial time of passage.

Whether an individual girl is the storyteller or the observer, Grrlstories.org hopes to act as an ongoing workshop where each girl can be teacher, learner, apprentice–part of a community of girls her age who are searching to define how they want to live in the world.

The "Grrlstories" Web site will feature discussion and activity guides for download and online use. Guides and interactive features are online to help parents, teachers and youth leaders use Grrlstories.org to engage girls in discussion and self-expression.

Grrlstories believes that young girls have a choice in the story they create for themselves, and that witnessing how other girls live can help every young woman can create a powerful, personal story of her own.

Funding of Grrlstories.org is made possible by grants through Blue Earth Alliance, a nonprofit corporation that has 501(c)(3) status. Information concerning contributions and Blue Earth Alliance is available upon request. http://www.blueearth.org/

Produced by Joanna Pinneo for
New Media for Non Profits