Dear GlobalGirls
ISO SET
AF
WB
MENU
WOMAN-LED FILMS PG 4-5
A BRIEF HISTORY OF WOMEN IN THEATRE APOORVA KHANDELWHAL PG 6-7
BIOGRAPHY OF SOLEDAD O'BRIEN NOOR QURESHI PG 8-9
THIS MONTH'S GEN Z OF THE MONTH PG 10-11
WOMEN IN FILM/THEATER January 2021 EDITION
~cover designed by Amy Zhang~
OUR MESSAGE Dear GlobalGirls and fellow readers, Dear GlobalGirls is a monthly digital magazine dedicated to educate, inspire, and empower young girls around the globe. Our mission is to empower girls through educating them on current events and social issues, highlighting young girls who show leadership in their communities, and overall creating a welcoming and resourceful space. Founded by two Generation Z high school students from New York City, we strive to encourage girls to speak out for themselves, inspiring them to become the next leaders of our generation. This month’s topics focus on women in theater and film. Our team worked diligently to research the history of gender roles within the media. These stories are often unheard of and rarely shared, but are important to address. Our writers, young females, used their prior knowledge with hopes to inspire more female representation in big roles in theater and film. If you are interested in theatre or acting, be sure to read each piece and learn about the unfair gender roles in theatre. Throughout this magazine, we hope you've learned something new, and feel inspired to enter the theatrical world. Participate in the fight towards equality, regardless of gender, race, religion, and sexuality. You matter and are talented, so let's fight against genderbased discrimination within the arts. All females should be able to feel confident and proud of their capabilities without the worry of being looked down upon. Be the main lead, direct the film, have creative control and express your ideas, nothing should hold you back. With these topics in mind, we are excited to see what is in store this year for Dear GlobalGirls as we continue to create monthly magazines serving to educate, inspire, and empower girls around the globe! We hope you take away a new piece of information and take your part in creating a more equitable society. Lastly, a huge thank you to our team who have been dedicated to serving our organization in the creation of our monthly magazines. We’d love to hear all your thoughts and suggestions so please email us at dearglobalgirls@gmail.com to chat or give feedback. Sincerely, Sandra and Talia (founders)
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A Brief History of Women in Theatre By: Apoorva Khandelwal Throughout history, women in theatre have been forgotten and distorted. The theatre rose in ancient Greece approximately 2,000 years ago. Ultimately, it arose to give opportunities to men. Allowing women to perform was an illegal act, meaning that female characters in famous plays like Romeo and Juliet were played by males disguised as females. However, as time progressed, females became active members of the theatre community. Hrosvitha was a notable nun who wrote comedy and became history’s first female play writer. She was born in Germany around the year 925. She could read and write in Latin, which was an unofficial language in Europe. From classical sources to Christian lore, Hrosvitha also wrote 6 plays as well as poetry. She divided her works into 3 publications: Book of Drama, Book of Legends, and Epics. During the 16th century, the arrival of the Opera let the stage open for women. The arrival allowed some women to hold starring roles in plays. From the perspective of Christians, It was found inappropriate for women to be on stage due to the oppressive rule to control women's behavior. The highest vocal range for women was covered by males known as Castrati. The goal of Castrati was to have female voices in the Opera without actually letting them perform.
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William Shakespeare, an English playwright, created superior female characters during the Elizabethan era. He respected women and thought that they had potential. Some of the first female characters in his plays were named Rosalind, Lady Macbeth, and Cordelia. During the 1600s, Restoration, a movement allowed changes in theatre. Before the movement, women were laughed at and ridiculed. However during this time, performing in major productions was permitted with the King's support. Moving into the 17th and 18th century, female playwrights emerged in Europe. Aphra Behn and Susanna Centlivre, earlier playwrights, used their platform to bring perspectives and voices of women. Aphra Behn was a poet, playwright, and translator, and began writing for the Duke’s Company and King’s Company. Her first few works were not a failure or success, but later on, her play, The Rover, in 1677 was a success. This victory lead to a steady theatre career for Aphra. One of her short novel, Oroonoko is best known to the modern audience. In the short novel, it had themes such as exploration of race, slavery, and gender. Behn later died in the year of 1689.
Susanna Centlivre was an actress, poet, as well as an English playwright who wrote comedies. She was born around 1667 and died in 1723. Her works were also performed well after she died. Her popularity strengthened from the 18th century and into the 19th century. One of her plays was performed for over 200 years in a row! After Aphra Behn, she is known as the second woman on the English stage. Due to her politically honest text, she was known as a masculine woman. She wrote topics in areas such as women's position in society and politics. She also wrote poems, numerous plays, and letters. A breakthrough period for women was in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Women started seeing the potential in themselves, and men started seeing the value. Oppression and stereotypes of women are still in the world, and we have to try to include women as much as possible. It is important for us girls to know which women have changed and shaped our system and future. There are several women who did that, but some of the well known ones are Hrosvitha, Aphra Behn, and Susanna Centlivre.
Women's Museum of California. “Get Thee to a Stage! A Brief History of Women in the Theater.” Women's Museum of California, 31 Aug. 2017, https://womensmuseum.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/get-thee-to-a-stage-a-brief-history-of-women-in-the-theater/. “." Encyclopedia of World Biography. . Encyclopedia.com. 2 Jul. 2020 .” Encyclopedia.com, Encyclopedia.com, 4 July 2020, www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-andmaps/hrotsvitha-gandersheim. “Hrosvitha.” Brooklyn Museum: Hrosvitha, www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/place_settings/hrosvitha. Admin. “Women in Theatre: A Historical Look.” NC Theatre, 6 May 2019, https://nctheatre.com/blog/women-theatre-historical-look.Juggernaut Theatre, www.juggernaut-theatre.org/first-100-years-the-professional-female-playwright/susanna-centlivre/. “1685 - 1723 Susanna Centlivre.” Drag King History, 25 Feb. 2020, https://dragkinghistory.com/1685-1723-susanna-centlivre/.“Aphra Behn.” The British Library, The British Library, 28 Nov. 2017, https://www.bl.uk/people/aphra-behn.Wendy Howard Gray & Lumen Learning. “English Literature I.” Aphra Behn: Biography | English Literature I,https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-britlit1/chapter/aphra-behn-biography/.
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Biography of Soledad O’Brien By Noor Qureshi You may know Soledad O’Brien from her books that she has offered, the many shows she has hosted, or from the numerous awards she has won with her journalistic abilities, but here is how O’Brien rose up in the journalism and entertainment industry and became the well-known broadcast journalist and executive producer she is today. Maria de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (more commonly known as just Soledad O’Brien) was born on September 19, 1966. O’Brien was born the fifth of six children and raised in Saint James, New York to Edward and Estela O’Brien, a mechanical engineering professor at Stony Brook University and a French and English teacher at Smithtown High School West. Her parents were both immigrants, her father from Queensland, Australia, and her mother from Havana, Cuba. O’Brien attended Smithtown High School East and graduated in 1984 and subsequently attended Harvard University as an English and American Literature major on a pre-med track. However, in 1989 became a medical reporter for a medical talk show called Second Opinion and of Health Week in Review on KISS-FM in Boston, Massachusetts. Soon thereafter, O’Brien was offered a full-time job as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV Boston while still in college and dropped out of Harvard to pursue the job and a newfound career in journalism. In 1991, O’Brien then worked in New York City for NBC News for Nightly News and the Today show, as a field producer. 2 years later in 1993, she was hired by the company KRON in San Francisco, an affiliate company of NBC. She was a local reporter, bureau chief, and co-host of The Know Zone on the Discovery Channel for three years while working for KRON. In 1996, O’Brien moved back to New York City to host a weekend morning show on MSNBC online, and a technology program called The Site on weeknights until 1997. Then, from 1999 to 2003, O’Brien co-anchored Weekend Today on NBC with David Bloom while simultaneously contributing reports to the Today show and NBC Nightly News. In 2000, O’Brien also went back to Harvard University and finally earned a Bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature. O’Brien was then hired by the CNN network in July 2003, to co-anchor a program known as CNN American Morning. In 2007, she moved to CNN’s documentary division where she worked on the Special Investigations Unit and In America and hosted multiple documentary programs such as the Black in America series until 2013. From 2012 to 2013, she anchored the CNN show, Starting Point.
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After O’Brien stopped anchoring on Starting Point, she went on to found and establish the Starfish Media Group production company, of which she is currently CEO of. Starfish Media Group has produced segments for many major networks such as CNN, HBO, and Al Jazeera America. In 2011, O’Brien and her husband Bradford Raymond-- whom she married in 1995-- began and currently run a foundation called the PowHERful Foundation, whose sole focus is to mentor and guide women to help them go to college. O’Brien has also written two books, Latino in America in 2009, and a memoir in 2010 titled, The Next Big Story: My Journey through the Land of Possibilities. O’Brien has also received various honors over her impressive thirty-one-year career. Her noteworthy honors and awards include a Peabody Award in 2010 for her CNN coverage of the BP Oil spill, Journalist of the Year in 2010 by the National Association of Black Journalists, and an Emmy in 2011 for her coverage of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.
O’Brien currently is a correspondent for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, hosts the weekly talk show Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien, sits on the board of directors for the Peabody Awards, and is the chairwomen and CEO of Starfish Media Group. From O’Brien: “I've learned that fear limits you and your vision. It serves as blinders to what may be just a few steps down the road for you. The journey is valuable, but believing in your talents, your abilities, and your self-worth can empower you to walk down an even brighter path. Transforming fear into freedom how great is that?”
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Gen Z of The Month
-Sarina Shah-
@sarinamshah @bakedbysarina
Sarina Shah is a 15-year-old entrepreneur and an active community member of New York City. Her love for baking and sewing opened doors to becoming an individual who uses their passions to establish something greater. page 10
Throughout my time living in New York, I’ve found that helping people in your community makes a significant difference. A simple, "hello," to the man on the street who sells coffee is a difference. An organization that I have volunteered for is called Nido de Esperanza. They help low-income immigrant families who have children 0-3 years old. I helped volunteer by making crinkle squares, as shown above. Throughout my years, I found a love for sewing all sorts of things. Thus, making these crinkle squares were a perfect way for me to relax and to make others smile. They are red, black, and white so that young babies can see them, and are small so it doesn't take up much space in New York City tiny apartments. As I got older I discovered another passion of mine, which is baking! I love to see other people’s faces when I present them with something I have baked. I enjoy surprising people with things, but my favorite was when I made a cake for a close family friend. She was very touched, and all the effort I put in was truly worth it! Through my passions, I discovered that making other people happy is the best way to cheer yourself up. It genuinely works every time :)
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WANT TO TO BE BE WANT RECOGNIZED FOR FOR YOUR YOUR RECOGNIZED STRONG LEADERSHIP LEADERSHIP STRONG AND WORK? WORK? AND How can you become Gen Z of the month? Or do you know someone who should be recognized for their work? We are looking for an individual who demonstrates strong initiative for positive change. If you would like to be featured in our future magazines, please view our Gen Z Community page on our website, where you can access our Nominate a Girl and Nominate Yourself pages. Within these pages lies a form provided for applicants to be properly considered for Gen Z of the month. Apply now!
WANT YOUR YOUR DOODLES DOODLES WANT TO BE BE FEATURED FEATURED IN IN TO OUR NEXT NEXT MAGAZINE? MAGAZINE? OUR DM us on Instagram @dearglobalgirls for our future magazine topics. And email your creative doodles to dearglobalgirls@gmail.com!
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Our January 2021 Team THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION AND DEDICATION!
LAUREN BYUN HEAD DIRECTOR
AMY ZHANG MAGAZINE COVER DESIGNER
APOORVA KHANDELWAL VOLUNTEER WRITER
EVA EAPEN
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFS + CO-DIRECTORS OF WRITING
NOOR QURESHI VOLUNTEER WRITER
TALIA CASKEY EDITOR
KATELYN HOWARD
ANGIE VASQUEZ DESIGNER
SANDRA CHEAH EDITOR