Upset with society’s image of womanhood, Baton Rouge women are analyzing magazines like Cosmopolitan and Seventeen to show how harmful their messages are to women. These women, who tear up pages and pages of tips on staying slim and pleasing men, are part of the growing Girl Warrior organization, which is dedicated to female empowerment.
Psychology sophomore and Girl Warrior founder Courtney Brandabur said she realized the importance of female empowerment when she had her own body-image revolution.
Brandabur said she had an idea in her head of everyone being nonchalant, perfect and free of self-esteem issues. Today, she realizes that women don’t speak about body image struggles because they see it as socially unacceptable, she said.
“The aim of the organization is to inspire girls to define their own sense of beauty and to advocate body acceptance,” Brandabur said.
Brandabur said it is important for women to reclaim their appearance for themselves — instead of changing it to please others — while others, like film studies senior Rebecca Stewart, apply the same concept to feminine strength.
Stewart recently founded the local chapter of the Collective of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLAW), a national not-for-profit alliance of female arm wrestlers that raise money for charity through theatrical performances.
Stewart said the goals of Baton Rouge Arm Wrestling Ladies (BRAWL) tie in perfectly with the Girl Warrior Project.
“We strive to strengthen our community by providing an outlet for creative expression and showcasing feminine strength of all types while contributing to local organizations that have a significant, positive impact on our community,” Stewart said.
Stewart said she was drawn to Brandabur’s passion for promoting self-love and body acceptance, something she considers important to discuss and practice on a daily basis.
Since CLAW USA focuses on gender-based violence this year, BRAWL is in partnership with and raising money for the Sexual Trauma Awareness & Response Center, as it did at Blunt Force BRAWL, their first event, on April 20.
Stewart said that, since Louisiana doesn’t have a good track record in women’s issues education, it is the responsibility of the “movers and shakers of Baton Rouge” to spread awareness.
Activists for female empowerment do not always see eye-to-eye. The Girl Warrior project, which has bloomed into a full organization in the short time since its inception in February, is not without its share of criticism.
University English and women’s studies professor Emily Toth, for example, said the project is detrimental to the cause of empowerment.
“Emphasizing body image is still letting someone else define you. It’s worrying about pleasing someone else, which is always detrimental to women,” Toth said.
Toth said women worrying about how they look can only be crippling for them in terms of empowerment, in ways more subversive than in literal examples — like Chinese foot-binding.
She encouraged young women to declare that they are fine as they are and concentrate their efforts on other, more worthy issues– like marriage equality, reproductive rights and help for victims of abuse– to make a real difference in the lives of women.
Despite Toth’s criticism, Brandabur maintained that the point of Girl Warrior is not scrutiny of aesthetic beauty, but celebration of what qualities women possess that make them feel beautiful outside of the set of criteria society dictates.
Brandabur also defended the use of “girl” in her organization’s title, which Toth said is detrimental to female empowerment. She said she used “girl warrior” as her mantra in her own struggles with body image.
Brandabur said the term “girl warrior” is inspired by the feminist movement of the 2000s. Unlike earlier waves, third wave feminism of the 2000s emphasized “girl power.” As she is unfamiliar with older feminist theory, Brandabur said she appreciates the input from another point of view and respects any valid points made in discussing female empowerment.
Girl Warrior began as a Facebook event page to enlist subjects for an empowering photo shoot project, but Brandabur said she is astonished by the explosive response she received.
Studio arts senior Amanda Jones said the event immediately caught her eye. Recovering from 8 years of an eating disorder, Jones said she wants other women to realize their beauty and worth — despite insecurities and body image issues.
“People, not just women, have the right to know their worth in this world,” Jones said.
People like Jones help strengthen Brandabur’s movement, with more women joining every day.
In addition to being featured on sites like Everyday Feminism, Brandabur recently launched a Girl Warrior website and is raising funds for a magazine available in print and online for a small fee, beginning this summer.
Brandabur said the variety of people who responded to Girl Warrior in Baton Rouge and elsewhere surprised her. Although she has only photographed women thus far, Brandabur has been approached by both cisgender men and transgender people for an opportunity to participate.
Brandabur said she would jump on the chance to empower people in a safe, non-threatening environment. Gender differences make this tricky, but she encourages people to submit original content as guest writers to the magazine and website.
“I am obviously going to be limited—I can sympathize with that person — but if I have not experienced something, I can’t weigh in on it. I can certainly give an opinion, but I wouldn’t want to give the impression that I have been through something when I haven’t,” Brandabur said.
This is also where male-identified allies to the cause of female empowerment come in, she said.
Stewart agreed that the role of men and male-identified people in the movement for the empowerment of women is just as important. While only female-identified people can participate in the BRAWL events as wrestlers, male-identified people can participate in other ways, like refereeing or even just coming out to support a great cause.
Female empowerment is something anyone and everyone can support, no matter the gender identification. As Stewart said, “Women’s liberation is men’s liberation.”
