Written Exercise

Sol Bembibre
Communications Associate Interview
FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund

Part I

PH: Chicas Amplificadas

(English)
We don’t want to be muses

The muses that feed the imagination of the artist are things of the past. The girls and gender
expansive youth are the ones who create their own music. In Argentina, girls and gender
expansive youth from 7 to 17 years old go on stage to amplify their voices. They are not
submissive, they are not interested in gender stereotypes imposed by hetero-patriarchal
societies. “Chicas Amplificadas” is a music education program from an intersectional and
expansive gender perspective.
In just a week, these bands formed in the camp learn who to play and instrument, write their
own songs and play them live. In their lyrics you can see the powerful message:
"We don't want to be told that we can only be the muses. Nor do they tell us how we have to
dress. We are not the object of anyone." That is one of the lyrics of “Chicas rockeras”, one of
the bands formed during the musical workshops that took place in Buenos Aires in 2018.
These musical programs are around the world and in Latin America they are also developed in
Chile, Brazil, Paraguay, Peru and Mexico. In these countries where the oppression of girls and
expansive gender identities is very strong, artistic expression is key to empowering and
knowing that there are no gender stereotypes that can contain us.

(Español)
No queremos ser musas

Las musas que alimetan la imaginación del artista son cosas del pasado. Las chicas y chiques
son quienes crean. En Argentina, chicas y chiques de 7 a 17 años se suben a los escenarios para
amplificar sus voces. No son sumises, no les interesan lo estereotipos de género impuestos por
la sociedades heteropatriarcales. Chicas Amplificadas en un programa de educación musical
desde una perspectiva de género interseccional y expansiva.
En una semana, estas bandas conformadas en el campamento escriben sus propias canciones y
las tocan en vivo. En sus letras se puede ver el mensaje potente:
“No queremos que nos digan que solo podemos ser las musas Ni tampoco nos digan cómo
tenemos que vestirnos No somos objeto de nadie”. Esa es una de las letras de Chicas Rockeras,
una de las bandas conformadas durante los talleres musicales que se llevaron a cabo en
Buenos Aires en 2018.
Estos programas musicales están alrededor del mundo y en Latinoamérica se desarrollan
también en Chile, Brasil, Paraguay, Perú y México. En estos países donde la opresión a niñas e
identidades disidentes es muy fuerte, la expresión artística es clave para poder empoderarse y
saber que no hay estereotipos de género que puedan contenernos.

Part II

(English)
Instagram.
In order to have more engagement with the audience, a strategy could be stories with
questions boxes. It is a way to communicate where the audience can have a certain degree of
anonymity and they will feel more safe to share their experiences (in comparison to the
comments on the feed where their usernames are visible). In addition, a narrative line
between the story and the feed, will duplicate interactions channels in the same social media
platform.
Example. Topic: Childhood free of gender stereotypes
Feed.
Image Copy in: “Make up is for girls”. PH: a boy playing with make up. Copy out: Have you ever
heard this kind of phrase in your childhood? Gender stereotypes are signified by grownup’s
behaviors and limit children's freedom of expression and play. For more free and empowered
childhoods!
Stories
The same graphic that it is in the feed with a question box: “Have you ever heard this kind of
phrases in your childhood?” After that, the answers can be showed (preserving the identity of
the users).

(Español)
Instagram. Una estrategia para poder lograr más interacción con les usuarios son las preguntas
mediante historias. Es un medio de comunicación donde le usuarie puede tener cierto
anonimato y sentirse más segure para contar su experiencia, a diferencia de los comentarios
del feed donde el nombre de le usuarie está visible. Además, lograr una línea narrativa entre el
feed y las historias, aumenta las chances de interacción al duplicar los canales de comunicación
dentro de la misma red.
Ejemplo. Tópico: Infancias libres de estereotipos de género
Feed
“El maquillaje es para niñas” sería copy in de la imagen en el feed y en la imagen se ve a un
adolescente maquillándose. El copy out: “¿Alguna vez has escuchado este tipo de frase en tu
infancia? Los estereotipos de género son signados por las conductas de personas adultas que
limitan la libertad de expresión y juego de les niñes. ¡Por más infancias libres y empoderadas!.
Historias que
Se repite la imagen del feed agregando una caja de pregunta: ¿Alguna vez has escuchado este
tipo de frase en tu infancia? Luego se pueden mostrar las respuestas de les usuarios
preservando su identidad.
Part III

(English)
Girls United for Human Rights (GUHR) is a girl-led group based in Pakistan who advocate to
ending forced girl marriage. This group was formed as a result of personal experience and
witness of injustice with girls between the ages of nine and 18, working together to spread
awareness on consent, girl’s human rights and ensuring that no girl is married off without her
will.
For the past 5 years:

 They have been working with local communities particularly with girls, families,
religious leaders, local legislators, to bring attitudinal change towards early marriage
and eliminate this practice.
 Their work with legislators and civil society members have not only amplified the
concerns of girls on a local level, but also across the nation. This advocacy work has
also led to increased political will to ensure that national legislation protects girls and
young women from forced marriage.
FRIDA was the first funder for this newly emerged group and since then, the group has
expanded their reach and visibility despite constant pressure and harassment from civil
society.