GirlSpeak

Do you know Virginia Dare?

We know very little of the Roanoke Colony and its infamous infant, Virginia. Yet her story echoes themes in American history – perhaps even the history of European colonization as a whole – that we still debate today. While I recount her story in Exploring American Girlhood in 50 Historic Treasures, there was so much more I wanted to discuss. The self-made man, women’s roles, and non-English colonies are all themes in her story.

How old was Pocahontas?

In Disney’s movie version, she’s a young unmarried woman - fully developed, falling in love with the adventurous hero John Smith, later marrying the wholesome John Rolfe.

In her statue at Jamestown, she’s also depicted as a grown woman - perhaps youthful, but certainly past puberty.

They both got it really, really wrong.

Join Tiffany to explore Pocahontas's real story, as told in Exploring American Girlhood in 50 Historic Treasures, now available at your local bookstore or Amazon.com

Our new exhibit 'More than Pretty: Girls and Body Decoration' is now live! Here we explore the history of body decoration the Ancient world and how girls who lived during this period would decorate themselves from the neck up. 

Who do you think of when I say “First American Girls”? Is it the founding mothers like Abigail Adams and Martha Washington? They’re too old...and too far ahead in the American story. Is it the girls of Salem, Massachusetts, or the Pilgrim girls who came from England? Right age this time...but still a bit too late in the story.

In fact, our story goes back thousands of years - to the first girls inhabiting the American continents. Back then, the land wasn’t called “America” - in fact, we don’t know what it was called other than, perhaps, a word meaning “home.” It is these journeys - these searches for home - that are the first topic addressed in the upcoming book, Exploring American Girlhood through 50 Historic Treasures. Co-authored by myself and our Head Girl, Ashley Remer, the book explores fifty artifacts and historic sites that reveal American history from an entirely new perspective...that of girls.

Preorder on Amazon or Rowman.com

Dr. Megan C. Rose talks with guests Kurebayashi and Rei about decora and gothic lolita fashion in Harajuku. From discussing the rise of these fashions as distinct Japanese social phenomena to building a cafe that appeals to decora and gothic lolita audiences, our guests provide unique insights into these subcultures and how girls participate within them.

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Dr. Megan C. Rose is an Adjunct Associate Lectuerer in Sociology and Social Science and Policy at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. Her research explores the value of creativity, cute theory, critical femininities and inclusion. She is currently investigating the experiences of kawaii and gothic alternative communities in Japan, as well as marginalised groups in the Australian Higher Education system. Megan is currently developing a new portfolio of postdoctoral research that involves collaboration and co-authorship with stakeholders in kawaii and gothic alternative communities, as well as a study of feminist activism that uses kawaii imagery to mobilize political actors. 

Haruka Kurebayashi is an internationally known model and mentor for Decora-chan girls via her blog, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. Originally from Shizuoka prefecture, Kurebayashi launched her brand 90884 in 2013 and is a frequent model for fashion magazine KERA. 

Rei Saionji is a Tokyo native and explorer of Japanese culture and tradition. She is the author of 2 Hours Drive from Tokyo.