Chicas Briliantes

One of the initiatives with PCDR is Chicas Brilliants. This initiative is to empower girls and to teach them about sex ed, self-esteem, beauty standards, etc. I had wanted to teach this initiative to my community members for a long time and have taken a more lackadaisical approach to this initiative. I have a small group of girls in of my neighborhood that come by nearly every day and hang out. I started given them informal Chicas Briliantes talks. We talk about their future, about how pregnancy can affect their future, what they have to do to plan for that future, standards of beauty, and more. One of the common discussions I have with them is the equality between men and women. We talk about how men can do the dishes, take care of the children, sweep and cook, while women can work outside of the home, can go to school, and don’t have to be the sole housekeepers. Sometimes my girls are very receptive and are aligned with what I am thinking, but other times they are not, claiming “wow Carolina men can’t sweep” or “women have to work in the home”. Sometimes it feel like a slow process, but I think through time and many talks they now are all in agreement as women, they can do anything men can do.

I try to not only teach these themes, but also live by example. People are always shocked that at age 24 I am not married and do not have kids. I tell my girls I am focusing on my career right now and schooling and am developing myself; I don’t need a man or children to fulfill my life.

Often I workout with my girls. It is great motivation for me to actually do my Insanity workouts and to see my girls. Sometimes they show up in little mini skirts, but I think showing them that you don’t always have to look docile and perfect to be a successful happy woman, being a strong woman, playing sports and doing whatever they want is okay.

I hope that my girls grow up to be happy, independent women, not tied down to cultural gender stereotypes that they have been taught their entire lives and have solidified by examples of women for generations in their families. I hope that they can remember what they learned in their course and from me and some day I can come back and see my girls, grown, professionals not impeded by pressure to have children and get married, only having a family when they feel ready and they want to, not for money, not for an escape, and not because of lack of careful safe-sex planning.