Rachel Simmons, author of The Curse of the Good Girl a nd c ofounder of Girls Leadership Institute, recently wrote an opinion piece for CNN.com about the reluctance many girls feel toward leadership roles. She argues that in order to take advantage of the access they now have to such positions, girls need to feel authorized. (Read the article, “Teach Girls to Be More Like Boys,” at www.cnn.com/2013/04/30/ opinion/simmons-girls-leadership.) Simmons, who worked at camp and ran a summer camp for many years, believes that these experiences can provide girls with the skills they need to feel comfortable as leaders. In this interview, she speaks to Camping Magazine about creating intentional camp experiences centered on relationship building, asserting oneself, and taking risks. Could you talk a little bit about girls and leadership? How do they feel about asserting themselves and who they are? I don’t want to speak for all girls here, but I think many girls grow up in a culture that is still confused about how powerful it wants girls to be. On the one hand, so many doors have opened to girls in terms of what they’re committed to do and apply for and enjoy. On the other hand, there are still messages about how assertive it’s OK to be; how selfpromoting it’s OK to be. And the result is what I call a “yes, but” mentality. The message girls hear is, “Yes, be strong, but don’t offend anybody. Yes, be successful, but don’t brag about it and make anyone feel bad. Yes, be confident, but do it quietly.” It’s like we’re asking girls, “Can’t you just be confident quietly?” And you can be confident quietly, but a direct result is that girls start to worry about situations in which they will be seen as too loud, too assertive, too bossy. And, of course, being able to assert your authority is a huge part of leadership. The point that I’m trying to make is that even as we’re talking about books like Lean In and exploring as a society the challenges that women face, these issues begin very early in girlhood. You start hearing girls’ doubts and anxieties about leadership very young, and by the time they get to college, continued on page 30
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