Girls Inc. Annual Lecture Series 

The Annual Girls Inc. of Metropolitan Dallas Lecture Series explores the past, present and future of girls and young women and the issues they face. Stay tuned for announcements of future speakers and discussions as we continue the conversation in our 2012-2013 series of lectures this fall!

To elevate the discussion about girls and young women in our communities, we launched our first annual lecture series in 2011. Titled “What is a Girl?,” the Inaugural Annual Lecture Series 2011-2012 consisted of four events and examined the characterization of young women from ancient mythology to today’s popular culture and tomorrow’s leadership in science and technology:

• In the opening lecture in September, Dr. Claudia Allums of the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture introduced the image of the girl in classical Greek mythology and explored Greek goddesses as personifications of archetypal feminine representations and perceptions of “the girl.”

• In the second lecture presented by Dr. Scott Churchill, a professor of psychology at the University of Dallas, the audience learned about the different representations of girls in cinema.

• In our third lecture in February, award-winning writer, editor and speaker Peggy Orenstein, examined the destructive girlie-girl culture of pink princesses, spa birthday parties for six-year-olds, child beauty pageants and the idolization of the Kardashians marketed to little girls that teaches them that self-absorption is the same as self-confidence.

• In the fourth and final lecture, author and award-winning editor, Rena Pederson, examined the gender stereotypes and cultural bias about girls and the resultant gender gap in the science, technology, engineering and math careers of the future. Girls Inc. Dallas alumna Bianca Bailey, now a senior at Howard University in chemical engineering, joined the conversation as a panelist. Bianca has been honored as a White House Champion of Change for her initiatives in STEM (science, technology, education and math). She now plans to work towards a doctorate in environmental engineering and devote her career to the development and conservation of water resources in developing countries.

See photos from Girls Inc. 2011-2012 Lecture Series