Born a Girl: It Takes Courage

Around the world, girls face more barriers to participating fully in society than do boys. Some barriers are consistent around the world while others are more common or greater due to the culture and/or region. Born a Girl: It Takes Courage looks at the lives of five girls from different countries and the barriers they experience in childhood and as they grow into adulthood. Whether universal or cultural, readers will empathize with the experiences of the girls featured in Born a Girl: It Takes Courage.

Readers are introduced to Kaneila in Nepal, Jade in France, Manoosh in Afghanistan, Makena in Kenya, and Luisa in Mexico. Each girl talks about aspects of being a girl in her country, ranging from period poverty and the shame that comes with having your period, body shaming, gender inequality and barriers to education, child marriage and genital mutilation, and street harassment and femicide. Each story is accompanied by critical analysis or further information on the issues the girls face. When Kaneila talks about chhaupadi, which translates to ‘menstruation woman’, readers learn that women and girls must sleep outside during their periods and are thought to be to blame for any bad things that may happen to their family during their period. After Kaneila’s story, a critical look at barriers caused by periods, such as shame, the cost of products, and how it’s just as important for men and boys to understand the purpose of periods as it is for women and girls to understand what happens to their bodies as they mature. Cultural change is also discussed, including a movement in Nepal to remove the stigma around periods, making reusable period products to reduce the cost and the example of countries, like Scotland, which have made period products free for anyone who has a period.

The format of a girl’s story, a critical examination of the issues she’s facing, and how culture is or should change is used throughout the book. Manoosh tells readers how dressing like a boy gives her rights and privileges other women and girls in Afghanistan don’t have and that she knows it will be difficult when she can no longer pass as a boy and must obey the restrictions around clothing, education, and going out in public. Readers go on to learn that, in every country the patriarchy controls, the movement and rights of women are restricted in many different ways. Some experiences are universal for girls and women, like the body shaming and fat phobia Jade experiences in France and the street harassment and threat of gender-based violence Luisa in Mexico faces. Readers may not be as familiar with forced marriage, child marriage, and female genital mutilation, described by Makena in Kenya, or the few matriarchal societies that still exist and are highlighted in the pages following Makena’s story.

Colourful illustrations on almost every page bring each girl and the barriers the girls face to life. Each story is also given a different colour for headers and background, giving each a unique feel and making it easy to locate. With stories from around the world, diversity is well represented while reinforcing that women and girls face the same barriers in one form or another worldwide.

While topics like female genital mutilation, forced child marriage, oppression, and femicide can be difficult to read, they are important issues that everyone, regardless of gender, should be familiar with. The experiences of each girl and the barriers the girls face can seem insurmountable, but the critical analysis and cultural change that is needed, or is already happening, found at the end of each story provides inspiration and hope and drives home the message that change and work toward gender equality are everyone’s responsibility.