May is Turn Beauty Inside Out Month!

You can support the girls in your life in many simple and important ways:

• Compliment them more for their caring, conviction and what they do to make a difference, and less for their appearance.  Appreciate yourself for these things too.
• Ask them for their opinions on important issues and listen to what matters to them. 
• Talk with them about the real women and girls you both love and admire.
• Listen to their hopes and dreams for their future.
• Talk with them about how girls and boys are portrayed on TV, and in magazines.  Notice the stereotypes and discuss what is real and important to them.
• Support them in exploring who they are and what being female is all about for them. Encourage them to talk about this and really listen to them.
• Support girls in their connections with each other, beyond cliques to allies.
• Be a role model. Stop talking about your weight.
• Don’t let the media tell you who you are or how you should dress.
• Question the motives of the fashion and make-up industries.
• Take care of yourself. Experience your body as active, strong and powerful. Appreciate all your body is and all it can do.
• Support girls in speaking up, setting boundaries and being safe.

True beauty is “good hearts, great works and activism!”

For more information: genderproject@umext.maine.edu or call the University of Maine Cooperative Extension York County office at 1-800-287-1535 (in Maine) or 207-324-2814.