girls empowerment

Teach Your Teenager about Non-Stranger Rape

At our girls-only and boys-only camps in the Midwest, we teach our campers, and enforce, the rule of 3—whereby a child is never to be alone with an adult. I’m not sure why this rule isn’t mandatory at all schools, religious institutions, and anywhere where children and adults interact…but that’s a topic for another day. Part of the reason my wife and I taught our child about ownership of his body from an early age, is so he didn’t run the risk of being abused. Other parents think along the […]

How to Enhance Your Daughter’s Future

Our son Mico had a soccer game yesterday (in which he and his team played very well…but that’s not the point). His team is coached by a now-sixteen year-old girl, who has been coaching his team for several years now, since she was thirteen. (Her little sister also plays on the team.) She is confident, assertive, caring, great with the kids on the team who play very hard, practice very hard, learn a lot, and have a ton of fun. Clearly, her parents avoided doing any of the child development […]

Importance of Girls Camps Given Societal Issues

If you’re an NFL fan at all, lately there has been a lot of attention surrounding the league’s treatment of players with allegations of domestic violence. While the controversy has had potential good points, like the increased attention regarding the dearth of women in decision-making positions in the league, it has highlighted just how far the league, and American society generally, has in regards to issues that significantly impact women. For me, it underscores the importance of continuing to foster environments where girls and young women can strengthen themselves. It […]

Swim Sensation

Today was a beautiful warm day… One lovely camper had her Snickers ice cream dissolve in her hand minutes after buying it from La Tienda. The girls enjoyed the pool nearly all day; when they weren’t in the pool, they were basking in the warm sun (or enjoying the shade). While the new campers went on a tour through beautiful Camp Kupugani to get their bearings and to see where all the camptivities take place, the returning campers jumped in the pool. As another session of camp begins, we notice […]

Ambivalent Sexism Inventory

At our girls summer camp here in snowy Illinois, at all times of the year, we recognize the value of identity and self-empowerment. A link a friend recently forwarded to me reminds me of the work we have to do as individuals, communities, and yes, even summer camps for girls. See below for more from the link. Every day, the self-esteem of young girls and women are lowered due to the subliminal behavior of others. Test yourself by taking the Ambivalent Sexism Inventory to see your own hidden biases.” “Women — you […]

A Scary Study on the Sexualization of Young Girls

Another Halloween…and with it, I noticed the increasing sexualization of costumes aimed at young girls. For a while, we’ve battled the sexualization of women; in a scary continuing development, there is a significant impact on girls at younger ages, even kindergarten age girls! Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois have performed research using paper dolls to study how six-year-old girls react to sexualized women. This study raises interesting statistics and discusses why your daughter may have sexualized thoughts. At our all-girls summer camp program, we are intentional about modeling behavior that […]

Strong Women

Many of the influential leaders of the past are men—glorified and well-regarded for their works—but what about women? It is a societal problem that women are frequently seen as weak and submissive beings. What gave us that stigma? Perhaps it is the typical stereotype of taking care of the children, cooking meals for the family, and keeping the house clean that informs the view of women as being weak and feeble-minded. We are popularly exposed to few pioneering women. Nonetheless, I recognize some who took great strides to change our […]

Tips to Keep Your Girl Age Appropriate

At our multicultural girls camp, we are very intentional and mindful of doing activities that empower our young ladies, giving them the tools to be stronger in the outside world. Sadly, however, in that “outside world” there is increasing pressure seemingly everywhere for girls and young women to look older, sexier, and more mature than they are. Children’s cartoons have female characters wearing skimpy clothes; shows that are popular with teens and pre-teens, like Glee and America’s Next Top Model feature “kids” twice their age. Retailers directed at teens and […]

Terrific Tuesday! – August 6, 2018

Another great day at camp! Started the morning with “relax & swim” earlybird and during team time, we wrapped up our body image module. The afternoon meant crate stacking, archery, pool, and chill time…we canoed and Zumba-d too. After Natasha’s delicious homemade lasagna (so good), we had a thought-provoking discussion about body image and wrapped up a busy day with all-camp volleyball tourney, Smores campfire, night hikes and sleeping under the stars! Woo hoo! Another empowering day!

Friday the 13th only means good luck at camp!

In arts and crafts, these young ladies built the very bench that they are sitting on! The rain didn’t prevent us from having a blast at a hip-hop dance class and arts & crafts! In honor of positive body image day, all of the mirrors at camp have been covered up and replaced with inspirational messages! The girls are embracing the opportunity to love themselves and each other without any judgments.

Sunshine Will Do Me Fine!

I’m alive, awake, enthusiastic…I’m alive, awake, alert, enthusiastic! Goooood morning folks! The weekend is nearly upon us, as is the 95 degree heat we have been expecting and looking forward to as a reason to do even more water activities! Last night we went on a secret mission to cover the mirrors at camp so the ladies can feel empowered and recognize that inner beauty is of critical importance…the cool part is that no one seems to mind the lack of mirrors. I sense this crew of young ladies could […]

10 Tips to Empower Girls Webinar Link

Here’s a link to download our recent webinar about empowering young women. Keep Up to Date Have access to incredible articles and keep up to date with all Camp Kupugani life here!