women and girls » Danine N. Spencer

Women's (Disability) History Month: Juliette Gordon Low

As women, we rarely hear about the integral role women have played in history. We know even less about the lives of women with disabilities in history. Throughout the month of March, which is Women’s History Month, I plan to feature women in history, both recent and not-so-recent, who have lived with disability. Some of these women might be famous while others you might never have heard of. First up, Juliette Gordon Low.

Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts

Juliette Gordon Low was born on October 31, 1860, in Savannah, Georgia. As a child, Juliette, known as “Daisy” to her friends and family, developed a lifelong love of the arts. She wrote poetry, sketched, painted, acted in plays and later became an accomplished sculptor.

After attending boarding school in Virginia and New Jersey, Daisy traveled extensively in the United States and Europe. Daisy suffered from chronic ear infections as a young adult. By the time she married William Mackay Low on December 21, 1886, she had lost most of her hearing in one ear due to improper treatment. Unfortunately, Daisy’s wedding day brought an unwelcome gift:

At her wedding, when she was 26, she lost hearing in her other ear after a grain of good-luck rice thrown at the event lodged in her ear. When trying to remove the rice, the doctor punctured the eardrum and damaged the nerve-endings resulting in a total loss of hearing in that ear.

Daisy and William moved to England after the wedding. Daisy temporarily returned to the United States during the Spanish-American war to help her mother organize a convalescent hospital. William Low died in 1905 and in 1911, Daisy met Sir Robert Baden-Powell, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides, who inspired her to found the Girl Scouts in the United States the following year.

As Daisy encouraged girls to learn about homemaking, arts, science and the outdoors, she also included girls with disabilities, at a time when many organizations excluded them:

“Juliette Low was very open-minded,” says Jami Brantley, historian at Girl Scout First Headquarters, which today showcases vintage uniforms, badges and handbooks, and chronicles the history of the group. “She wanted the organization to not just be for the more elite girls.”

Juliette Gordon Low died of breast cancer on January 17, 1927, in Savannah, Georgia. From the original troop of 18 girls, there are now more than 3.7 million Girl Scouts.

Learn more about the life and work of Juliette Gordon Low:

Human Trafficking in Minnesota (and Your State, Too)

I was reading the Racialicious blog this weekend when I came across a link to an article that shocked the hell out of me: Trafficking Of Native Women is widespread.

It begins with these words:

Three decades ago, the relatives of an eleven-year-old Native girl in Minnesota forced her to have sex with a man in exchange for alcohol. The story was not front-page news. It was not the subject of a feature-length film with a happy ending. No one intervened. But when she turned eighteen, the police started paying attention. She was arrested and convicted over twenty times for prostitution. Her parents’ addiction became her own, and she entered treatment dozens of times.

At an early age, the girl became one of hundreds, maybe thousands, of Native American children and women forced into prostitution in Minnesota, falling under the radar of social services, the community, and the media.

The article summarizes the findings of a Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (MIWRC) report on the widespread trafficking of Native women and girls in Minnesota. Yes, I said girls. In a study of 95 women, MIWRC found that sixty percent of women had entered prostitution or pornography before they turned eighteen. Twenty percent had started before they were thirteen. Thirteen years old!

There are a variety of reasons why Native women and children are being trafficked. Some are specific to the Native population (colonialism, violence against Native populations, forced sterilizations). However, the report drives home that issues that affect all of us can lead to trafficking: homelessness, poverty and alcoholism.

I found this article horribly disturbing because it highlights the trafficking of real people in places like St. Paul and Duluth, MN. St. Paul is 80 miles west of my hometown. Growing up, I would have never, in a million years, believed that anyone within driving distance was a victim of human trafficking. I am sure most of the middle-class, white suburbanites in Ramsey County, MN (where St. Paul is located), think that nothing like this could ever happen in their community. They’re wrong. So are the people in Duluth as well as Superior, Wisconsin. If human trafficking happens in Duluth, it basically happens in Superior, which is 5.7 miles away (according to Google Maps).

The bottom line is that human trafficking can happen anywhere. That’s what I learned by reading this article. If it can happen in places like Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI, it can happen in big and small cities in every state in this country. Human and sex trafficking is not just something that happens in India and Dubai. Apparently, it happens right here, in our own backyards.

Even though I feel woefully unprepared to do anything about human trafficking, the United States government does have some suggestions.

How Do I Identify a Victim of Human Trafficking?

A victim:

Has unexplained absences from school for a period of time, and is therefore a truant

Demonstrates an inability to attend school on a regular basis

Chronically runs away from home

Makes references to frequent travel to other cities

Exhibits bruises or other physical trauma, withdrawn behavior, depression, or fear

Lacks control over her or his schedule or identification documents

Is hungry-malnourished or inappropriately dressed (based on weather conditions or surroundings)

Shows signs of drug addiction

Additional signs that may indicate sex-related trafficking include:

Demonstrates a sudden change in attire, behavior, or material possessions (e.g., has expensive items)

Makes references to sexual situations that are beyond age-specific norms

Has a “boyfriend” who is noticeably older (10+ years)

Makes references to terminology of the commercial sex industry that are beyond age specific norms; engages in promiscuous behavior and may be labeled “fast” by peers

How Do I Report a Suspected Incidence of Human Trafficking?

In cases of immediate emergencies, it is best to call your local police department or emergency access number.

You can report suspected trafficking crimes or get help by calling the national 24/7 toll-free Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. This center will help you determine if you have encountered a victim of human trafficking; identify local resources available in your community to help victims; and coordinate with local social service providers to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of rehabilitation and restoring their lives. When appropriate, the Resource Center makes referrals to local organizations that assist victims with counseling, case management, legal advice, and other appropriate services, as well as to law enforcement agencies that help trapped victims reach safety.

For sexually exploited or abused minors call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST to be connected with the most appropriate assistance in your area, or you can report incidents at http://www.cybertipline.org.

You can report suspected instances of trafficking or worker exploitation by contacting the FBI field office nearest you at http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm or by contacting the Department of Justice’s Human Trafficking Office at 1-888-428-7581.

Despite these well-meaning helpful hints, I am overwhelmed by the idea that women and children are trafficked in communities much like my own, if not my own. I am not sure what all this means but please start to think about these issues. Be aware that this can happen in your town, because anywhere there is poverty and desperation, anywhere someone is willing to pay for sex, vulnerable persons are probably being trafficked. That’s my assumption, anyways. Prove me wrong. I dare ya. That’s one dar, I’d like to lose.

I lost a little bit of my innocence by reading this article. I wish I could get it back, but now that it’s gone, I am going to try to find a way to do some good.

I’m just not sure how.

Book Review: The Curse of the Good Girl

I recently read Rachel Simmons’ The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence, which sheds a revealing light on girls’ emotional and social intelligence. Simmons posits that The Curse of the Good Girl is to be in eternal pursuit of a destructive yet highly desirable social norm that squelches girls’ individuality, self-esteem, ambition and interpersonal skills. I couldn’t agree more.

According to Simmons, Good Girls lack emotional intelligence. They aren’t aware of their feelings and don’t know how to express them appropriately. If they’re angry, sad or depressed, they deny it, even to themselves. They often believe they are not even entitled to their feelings.

Good Girls define themselves by their relationships, Simmons says. Their identity is intertwined in their relationships with their friends, parents, teachers, coaches, etc. When conflict arises in a Good Girl’s relationship, chaos ensues. Most girls simply haven’t learned the tools to handle conflict, including negative feedback, appropriately.

I was, and probably still am in some ways, the classic Good Girl. In seventh grade, my best friend since first grade grew apart from me. I thought she was mad at me and had no idea what I had done. Like many of the girls involved in misunderstandings that Simmons described, I never asked my friend what happened. We barely spoke a word to each other straight through to our high school graduation. I called her the “B” word and hated her, which was tough because we still shared the same circle of friends. It took me years to understand that she had simply grown away from me and our friendship, which was a natural part of adolescence. If we had been able to talk about it, perhaps we could have found some common ground on which to continue our friendship and not a war.

My lack of emotional intelligence carried over into other areas as well. Like many of the Good Girls that Simmons describes, I needed to be the straight-A student that always received glowing reviews from my teachers and other adults in my life. Receiving criticism implied I was a bad person, somehow. I’ll never forget the first time I got really reprimanded at my first job (I was a cashier at a supermarket). As soon as I was dismissed, I rushed to the break room in tears. I still have trouble taking criticism, but I’m getting better at it.

I felt like I was reading my own psychological profile as I read this book. I am amazed that so many other girls have had similar experiences. Simmons does a great job of explaining the problems girls face today and how to solve them.

Buy the book!

Photo Credit: Rachel Simmons. I was no compensated in any way for this review, okay, FTC?