(More Than) Grrrl Power! Girls Studies at UCF

I decided to do the The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005) because I had seen most of the films on the list and this movie seemed like it could fit in with our material. I know the film was based on the book under the same title, which was read by many young women. This film opens on a group of four girls who are preparing to spend their first summer/time apart, while out they find a pair of pants that magically fit all of them. This leads them to make a manifesto in order for them to stay together for the summer. Their manifesto has 10 rules, probably the most important ones are each girl keeps the pants for one week, when trading the pants you must write a letter detailing the most exciting thing that happened when wearing the pants and the last rule is “love your sisters and love yourself”. As for the girls there is; Bridgette the wild and unstoppable one, Lena shy and beautiful, Tibby the rebel and Carmen the writer. Each young women has something they work through in...

I haven't seen most of the movies that were on our list but I got the impression that most of them portrayed the negative side of girlhood and adolescence. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants has the ability to dip into the negativity (death, single parenting, lost love, losing virginity, parents' divorce), however, it's still a feel-good movie. I think that's ultimately because it focuses so much on this friendship between four girls - a friendship that's so strong that nothing will break them apart. I think a strong, healthy relationship is probably the best thing a girl can ask for (as long as it doesn't delve into the "toxic friendship"). I imagine this is one reason why middle school and high school can be so difficult for girls: because they're so busy trying to impress everyone and make friends. For example, in 10th grade I had one really good friend that I ate lunch with every day. On the days she was absent, I was embarrassed to eat alone a...