Growing Up Girl - Ready for A Revolution

When was the last time you sat down to really think about what it’s like to grow up as a girl in today’s world? Since exiting girlhood and entering womanhood, have you reflected on your own journey and thought about how you can ensure the experience is better for the next generation? Have you felt hope about the ways their experiences will differ from yours? And have you felt distress about the many ways in which they will be the same?

These were the questions that accosted me after my interview with a female student on our radio programme yesterday. Every month since February, I’ve co-hosted one airing of “Straight Up Guest Clubhouse” on NewsTalk 93FM, alongside renown gender specialist and cultural activist, Professor Opal Palmer Adisa.

Yesterday’s programme was on the theme, "Listen Up! Children's Voices Matter”, selected because it is the broader theme for this year’s observance of May as Child Month. One of our guests was Tatheena Mukulu, an 18-year-old sixth-form humanities student who plans to advance her studies in international relations. She hopes to become a lawyer focusing specifically on global human rights.

Tatheena is a student leader. During her sixth-form experience, she has served as senior prefect, PRO of Key Club, and head of communication for their AMNESTY International group. She has also participated in many My Freedom Day celebrations and has even taken part in a CNN panel for raising awareness about human trafficking.

On our programme, she spoke about what it is like for her to be a girl growing up in Jamaica. She spoke about how confined she and her female classmates feel because of the constant policing and judgment they have to deal with. They’re told what to look like; how to comb their black hair in “appropriate” and “acceptable” ways for school and formal settings; how to dress; how to sit “properly”; how to speak and behave like “ladies” … the expectations of them as young women are many - and often nonsensical and unfair. 

In contrast, their male counterparts are allowed more freedom to be their full human selves. They are allowed to sit comfortably; to express themselves with animation, and even force; to go outside and play; to have a good, loud laugh without being reminded that they are young men and need to be demure and reticent. The boys are given more freedom and more media through which they can express themselves without incurring disapproval and judgment. 

It really hit a nerve for me when Tatheena explained that sometimes girls want to play, too. They want to go outside and have fun running up and down just as much as the boys do! It makes so much sense to me that high school students - regardless of gender - would still be interested in play and fun of this kind. I mean, I’m a full-grown adult woman and I still love that stuff!! 

How dare us, as  a society, deny our growing girls the freedom to express their full human selves and personalities? Why would we deny them the right to be youthful and joyful in their high school days? Youthful and joyful is exactly what high-schoolers are supposed to be!! And yet these girls feel pressured and imprisoned by the gender expectations society has for them. They’re not happy about it. And neither am I.

Tatheena also spoke about how limited the recreational spaces that exist in Jamaica are, and how unsafe they can be for young girls! She expressed a desire to have healthier and more wholesome alternatives for recreation. The main form of recreation readily available to young people her age is parties that feature heavily sexualised dancing and high alcohol consumption. That’s not an ideal environment for a young woman who just wants to relax and have a good time with her friends without having to constantly be on guard against potential harassment, drugging, and other forms of abuse. 

It was so saddening to listen to one young woman’s lament of how our society is failing her, and failing yet another generation of girls. But it was so heartening to hear the level of critical thought and awareness she is bringing to the situation. Tatheena and her friends are not satisfied with the archaic and nonsensical expectations being placed on them by society. They are willing to speak out about it (as she did so eloquently on our radio programme). They are ready to change it.

J.K. Rowling said, “We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all the power we need inside ourselves already.” I see in Tatheena, and girls like her, the power to transform our society, and to ensure that the lived experiences of our girls tremendously improves for upcoming generations.