An alternative for women

Although women have made great strides in their pursuits for leadership positions in America, there is still a disproportionate representation of women in the local and mainstream media speaking on a variety of public policy issues.

Rebecca Bullen writes, "Girls, especially, must be given a space to critically explore and use media tools to break down the roots of stereotypes and gender role-play" .

One organization that focuses on women is the Women News Network. "Using the highest standard in journalism WNN – Women News Network is dedicated to bringing you in-depth international women’s news not found in our current public media stream. Starting from a writing assignment to cover global women’s news for the UN Commission on the Status of Women in 2006, director Lys Anzia saw the vital need to report the many times hard and suffering stories of women"

The stories featured in the Women News Network focus on issues pertaining to women and as young girls see a disproportionate amount of news that relates to women, they are not able to fully understand the scope of the problems women in the world face today. One article featured on the Women News Network detailed the lives of women in Pakistan whose husbands have disappeared, while another talks about female genital mutilation. These are just a couple of the hundreds of articles pertaining to women that may have an impact on girls who read them.

Barbara Weiner writes, "In adolescence, girls make a transition from literal thinking to abstract, metaphorical thinking and they begin to place a deep importance on fitting in and belonging outside of their families." If this is indeed the case then girls need to have a media influence in their lives to enhance their sense of self and a publication that focuses on women may be just what they need.