The United Nations made October 11 International Day of the Girl back in 2011 to recognize girls’ rights and the unique challenges girls face around the world. Last year the Whistler community celebrated by watching the inspiring film Girl Rising, which followed the stories of a courageous group of girls striving to get an education.
This year Gibbons Life is proud to help bring the second Whistler celebration of International Day of the Girl to life with a speaker event followed by the Whistler premiere of the Pretty Faces film.
When Did Doing Something “Like a Girl” Become an Insult?
The inspiration for the event came from an ad campaign called #LikeAGirl that went viral over social media, posing the question – why do girls loose so much confidence as they grow up? And the subsequent question – what can we do to stop that from happening? We decided to roll this discussion into a night of celebrating some girls that seriously kick ass and show the Whistler premiere of the Pretty Faces film, an all-girl ski movies presented by Unicorn Picnic.
In Whistler, we live in a community that has a lot of strong female leaders. Our Mayor, the CEO of Tourism Whistler, and many of our businesses leaders are women – but it’s not like that everywhere. In an article written by Katty Kay, anchor of BBC World News America, and Claire Shimpan, a reporter for ABC News that appeared in the April edition of The Atlantic, they explore what they call the “confidence gap” and how they believe this is what’s stopping women from getting to the top.
The statistics are well known: at the top, especially, women are nearly absent, and our numbers are barely increasing. Half a century since women first forced open the boardroom doors, our career trajectories still look very different from men’s.
The article really resonated and that’s why we asked three local women to help us delve into the subject further on Thursday October 9, in celebration of International Day of the Girl.
Meet the Ladies
Currently based out of Whistler, British Columbia, Suz Graham is one of the most versatile and progressive female action sports athletes in the world- and the only female in the world actively performing ski-BASE jumps. Through freeskiing, BASE jumping, wingsuiting, and speedriding- she roams the globe looking for the next adventure.
Darcy Turenne is a filmmaker and former pro mountain biker from Vancouver Island who now lives in Squamish BC. Known internationally as a professional freeride mountain biker, Darcy spent years at the forefront of women’s mountain biking and has been featured in hundreds of publications worldwide, including Rolling Stone and Men’s Journal.
Megan Bulloch is a Professor of Psychology at Quest University Canada. Megan holds an M.A. in Women’s Studies and Ph.D. in Psychology. She also sits on the Board of Directors at the Howe Sound Women’s Centre and recently led the TEDx Squamish Women event.
The Pretty Faces Film: Inspiring Confidence
Girls lose confidence, so they quit competing in sports, thereby depriving themselves of one of the best ways to regain it.
With the idea that sport could be a big confidence builder for girls we decided to screen the Whistler premiere of the Pretty Faces film right after our talk. Pretty Faces is the story of a skier girl, and a film that celebrates women who thrive in the snow and are committed to taking the path less traveled to accomplish their dreams.
‘Unicorn Picnic | Pretty Faces Teaser‘ from Unicorn Picnic Productions.
The concept for the Pretty Faces film was originated by professional big mountain skier and SheJumps co-founder, Lynsey Dyer with the objective of giving women and girls, young and old, a voice and source of inspiration through a unique look at what is possible when boundaries are broken, dreams captured and friendships cultivated.
This event is a fundraiser for the Howe Sound Women’s Centre, and One Horizon.
Come and hear these women speak and join in on the conversation on Thursday October 9 at the Rainbow Theatre inside the Whistler Conference Centre. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased online and on the door.
