Because I am a Girl Blog

What do fashion and girls’ rights have in common?  If you were at the St. Joseph’s High School Because I am a Girl Fashion Show this Friday (like I was), you know!

After seeing a poster about Because I am a Girl on the bus, a group of girls at St. Joseph’s decided that they were going to try to do something on behalf of girls around the world, and the idea for the Because I am a Girl Fashion Show was born.

The show started with a powerful statement: 10 girls stood on stage and made statements about how being a girl affects the lives of millions of women around the world.  They ended with this message:

“What we need is a plan.”

Next we heard from 4 girls from the Because I am a Girl Speaker’s Bureau who ranged from grade 8 to university students.  They showed a video and asked us in the audience to:

“Imagine for a second that you don’t go to school. While that might sound nice for some of you, what if someone else made that choice for you?”

The fashion show started next: the girls had arranged a vintage show, getting their outfits from various second hand shops around the city, and also from their closets.  Everything was planned down to the tinniest detail, including making sure there were a couple of guys volunteering to be there to support the models as they walked downstairs in teetering heels!

Next on the lineup was some more entertainment, including song and dance performances by students, while the models changed their outfits.  During the intermissions, the group sold raffle tickets for prizes that they’d had donated from stores in the neighbourhood (I won a great hair care set!), and provided refreshments.

It turns out the group had planned a whole week around women’s issues, including a day where all the male teachers had to wear high heels!  All in all, it was a great event and it looked like the participants had fun doing it.  The final performer summed it up pretty well in the song she chose to sing:

“You’re exceptional the way you are. Don’t need to change for nobody.”