MEET THE TEAM

If anyone were to ask me why I started Girl Talk, I'd give them the simple answer: When my 11-year-old god-sister started asking me for advice about her friendships and fallouts, I realised that everything she had cried, stressed, or fumed about, I had done the same before. I started thinking about this universal connection between girls, built on shared experiences, struggles, and feelings — and Girl Talk was born to actualise and give platform to that connection.

What I wouldn't answer — especially if we were short on time — is that much of it had to do with my perceived “failure” at being a feminist. During that time, I became hyper aware of the issues plaguing female-identifying individuals, my mind reeling when I stopped to think about the microaggressions, legislative barriers, and systemic inequities faced on a daily basis. But the concept of sexism — which I now understand as a complex, emotionally charged issue inexplicable in so few words — was too difficult for me to grasp. I just didn't know how to be a “good” feminist: I didn't have the academic trappings of the experts; didn't feel as though I had the intellectual or authoritative power to do anything about it.

It took conversations with my godsister for me to realise that I had missed the mark completely. I'd understood feminism as a battle between two parties — between women and the indomitable systems that were against us, some invisible fight that divided half of the global population. I thought that to advocate for women was to destroy those oppressors, to dismantle the patriarchy — something that I, a 15-year-old (or any one person, for that matter) couldn't do.

With Girl Talk, our goal has always been to strengthen the bonds between girls, because we believe that the first step to fighting back is to build strength within ourselves and those around us. Throughout this journey, I've learned that it was never about being a “perfect” feminist, never about having everything figured out. Now, in the quiet moments of connection, learning, and understanding, I feel, in each and every girl, a growing courage to face the ills of the world, one conversation at a time.