☼ what kind of world can you envision?

Celebrate girls!

I am the mother of three daughters - two in college and one a new teen. My husband is a feminist and adores having daughters. After our youngest was born we heard a variety of well-meaning but ignorant comments from people like, You have THREE girls? Gee, that's too bad. Going to try again for a boy? Oh, your poor husband. Yikes. Wow Oh my...

It appeared that some people actually FELT SORRY for us, as though we were going to have to deal with UNLOADING the girls some day and come up with expensive dowries for them. Two goats and a cow anyone? Anyone?

Parenting, no matter the sex of your offspring, is awe-inspiring, challenging and sometimes heart-breaking. But my experience has been mothering daughters and I believe this has its own special set of frustrations. Seeing my less-than-perfect personality traits played out before me in 3-D is alarming. Hearing myself say things that my mother said to me that I swore I'd never say to my daughters is scary.

Navigating through this particular time in which we live is sometimes maddening. When my older daughters were approaching their teens, the media was reporting on the new sexual trend of oral sex among adolescents. There were interviews with twelve year-olds who set seventh grade as the starting point for oral sex. Making out had become old school in middle school.

Today the kids get cell phones when they are nine and sexting is all the rage. Don't need a sandbox anymore for a quick game of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." OMG! Our youngest daughter got her first cell phone on her thirteenth birthday - the last one among her peers to have one. There was a lot of pressure for several years from other younger mothers who couldn't believe that we had not caved in to the pressure.

When I took my youngest shopping for her first bra, I was taken aback by the selection. It was very difficult to find a simple, cotton bra with full coverage, not cleavage. There were lots of padded, underwire choices in every color including black. Are twelve-year-old girls wearing cocktail dresses somewhere? I guess I missed that.

Even though we are surrounded by a culture that tells us that in order to be happy girls need a cell phone, cleavage and a facebook page, I feel blessed to be the mother of daughters. My girls are now young women - 22, 20 and 13. They are strong and smart and keenly aware that the world does not always appreciate or encourage those traits.

I am so thankful to Louise Vance for making the wonderful film, "Seneca Falls." It is truly a gift to women and girls everywhere.

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One small act...

You can help bring Seneca Falls into more hearts and minds on PBS!

Call your local PBS station this week to see if they plan to air Seneca Falls. Last year, 110 stations broadcast the film.

To find your station(s), type your zip code into this PBS Station Finder. With lots of enthusiasm, send them to our site to view the trailer and see the 2010 PBS broadcast schedule. And tell them you will promote the film among your networks.

Stations can contact louise@senecafallsfilm.org with any needs, and if you find out a broadcast date, please let us know!

California to mandate teaching women's history?

In Seneca Falls,17-year-old Annie tells us, "knowing your history gives you courage." Yet the majority of schools in the U.S. still don't teach about the women's rights movement that began there.

But good news! At our suggestion, the California Women Suffrage Centennial Committee is seeking a legislator to sponsor a bill requiring teaching women's history in the state's schools. If they succeed, California will join Illinois, Florida, and Louisiana – states that have passed laws requiring teaching women’s history in K–12 classrooms.

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About beyond...

Founder Louise Vance is a Peabody Award-winning filmmaker who has created groundbreaking projects for television and film for more than 25 years. Her film Seneca Falls has aired on 110 Public Television stations nationwide.

Funding for beyond seneca falls comes from a seed grant from The Fledgling Fund. Huge thanks to this great organization for their amazing support of social impact documentaries.

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