milly moreton-cooper
I must have been about eleven, and I was sitting in the front of my grandmas red, smoke-filled old polo. I was wearing red corduroy flares and I sat shotgun. She looked at me and said ‘Put your legs together!’ I looked at her quizzically and said ‘But Grandma, I’m wearing trousers?’ To which she replied; ‘It’s not ladylike.’ Being told that girls don’t do things, or that things aren’t ‘ladylike’ (who is this magical lady on whom these assumptions are based?) happens before you notice it. You can be anything you want to be when you’re older Growing up and being told you have to behave in a certain way ingrains insecurities in girls that become deep roots for concerns that often manifest when they’re older as anxiety, low self-esteem and a general, quiet social paranoia. ‘Do I look fat?’ ‘Have I got too much skin on show?’ ‘Am I not showing enough skin?’ ‘Oh god do I smell like sweat?’ ‘Oh no they’re going to hug me but I’m sweaty because I just walked here.’ Where I have developed into a careful, unconfident, anxious, quiet, shy, introverted young woman, I have watched my brother blossom from day one into a headstrong, loud, confident, funny and charismatic young man. My brother can do anything and say anything and has no nervousness or worries or embarrassments about himself because he has never been told otherwise. Our parents always said we could be anything, and my dad has always been and continues to be a proud feminist. However, comments about what is ‘right’ for girls seem to still slip through the net, whether it’s spending time with older generations like my grandma (herself a feminist), growing up with new people at school or just conscientious parents not realising what they’re saying. The fact is, Girls Do. They do all the things boys do but restrict themselves because they worry that if they don’t, maybe they won’t be girls. Maybe their femininity will be compromised if they burp or talk about their pubic hair or scratch their bums or pick a spot. What is the facade that we are taught to maintain and how do we get rid of it? However it happens, I think it’s essential that at some point, preferably soon, we do.
molly caenwyn
paula cuicui
Ă?v & candie
bethany dean
Girls, There‘s a lot of things that girls don‘t do Girls don‘t yell and girls don‘t screw our playbook built on male assumptions cuz girls don‘t have no body functions. come on guys, girls poop too be realistic, we all do And it‘s not as if I‘d lose my flare if I let grow my body hair so be proud say it out loud and rais your armpits in the air I have hair on my head, on my feet and my tits on my toes, in my nose and around my clit. It‘s there for a reason and the reason is this I like it like that, so my ass you can kiss and if that facts makes you linger you‘re welcome to stare at my middle finger I‘m told to be pretty from every direction and if don‘t comply I‘m faced with rejection thigh gap, big boobs, red lips, long legs, slim waist, curved hips, big eyes, small nose, white skin blonde hair, french nails, virgin
rut guðnadóttir
Not all girls fit this picture it doesn‘t match our infrastructure fat girls, go ahead wear your bikinis don‘t listen to a bunch of meanies I was told far too late that girls as well can masturbate guys jerk off cuz boys will boys but I should feel shame when I play with my toys girls have sex as well as men so why do you never slutshame them? Girls watch movies frame by frame, enjoy reading comics and play vidoegames. Girls play mommy, cook and bake cakes but none of those girls is ever a fake. There isn‘t a team of pink verses blue girls are a mixture of all the hues. Anything you can do girls can do too if you don‘t agree, well then that‘s just your lie and you‘re encouraged by me, to eat shit and die.
georgia grace gibson
samantha conlon
emil smith
lauren crow
bridget mayne
liadain eire
kate ducker
lilly friedeberg
‘Girls don’t fart!’ he insists, sounding all smart. Nah mate. Your authoritarian rage Is a product of a patriarchal age That brands the gas from my arse A gender-specific farce Where the chemicals from my body Sink under your autonomy Into my happy pink colon A pastel palace gone wrong It’s one place you can’t get to The zone where my smells disrespect you So forgive me if I enjoy the look on your face As you take in the scent of my dioxidic rage When I control the only space That allows me to reveal a sexist’s mistake You can’t control how much my shit stinks How much all this shit stinks, we stink, as you think That even my olfactory pleasures are your property Another ploy in your binary-ridden hegemony Taste it, suck it, inhale it, love it, That’s the truth, you idiotic muppet, So before you do next open your mouth, Keep your nose covered Because my farts are coming out.
jasmine andersson
miju lim
georgia grace gibson
samantha aasen
echo godfrey
cheer up love
dee ajiba
liv thurley
daniela kopeinig & camilla englund
a very big thank you to all who participated in this zine, and thank you so much to everyone who supported it! now remember to be ladylike ladies, but also remember that ladylike means whatever you want it to.
joanna kiely
sandy sand