A slew of organizations devoted to helping girls realize their dreams shuttered their doors this week because of a severe lack of demand from young girls.
“There just aren’t enough hopes or dreams to support all these organizations,” said Tara Jennings, an elementary teacher in Maumee, Ohio. “We’ve run out of ways for these organizations to waste our valuable school hours.”
Organizations such as Girlstrong, You Go Girl, and GirlsRULE expressed disappointment, as their target base unanimously decided girls are capable of having dreams on their own. “Girls need to be told that they are confident and beautiful from an early age,” one organizer said. “But there are just too many people telling girls they are confident and beautiful. We can’t compete.”
Silvia Jennings, former president of More Girl Presidents, found that girls were happy with a secure job in nursing rather than a far-off pipe dream of becoming the most powerful person in in the world. “This lady came to my school and told me I can do anything I want,” Former More Girl Presidents participant Kara Johannsen says. “She said that if I believe in myself that someday I’ll make it,” Johannsen says. “I asked how that will get me into community college, and she just changed the subject and lead us in an empowerment cheer.”
Many young girls appear to be perfectly capable of knowing what they would like to do in both the near and distant future, leaving many well-meaning adults at a loss for how to help them. “I just wanted to make little girls believe in themselves,” said public-relations executive LaToya Jones, whose side project, Girls Win First, helps girls avoid low self-esteem through recreational sports and ethnic dance. Jones, whose two nieces live in foster care, is frustrated with the lack of opportunities for her in the empowerment field. “How can I justify my selfish, hedonistic professional lifestyle without feeling like I’ve helped some vulnerable young girls to boldly live their lives in my image?”
A young girl then noted, “I told LaToya I wanted to be a mommy when I grew up and she stopped smiling at me.”
In the wake of this loss, several former operations are restructuring to form new fragrance lines to make adult women feel confident and sexy.
