Young Leadership for Girls
“We don’t have to leave it
up to the boys”
Graduates of WIZO’s Young
Leadership for Girls course
reflect on their newfound
worldviews
Text and photos Zohar Friedman
“Now I understand that sexism and inequality are part of our
reality in Israel. Before, my eyes weren’t quite open to it, now
I see it everywhere,” says Inbal Azaria, a soon-to-be graduate
of the WIZO Young Leadership for Girls course. Held at the
WIZO branch in Hadera, the course provides some 20 girls,
ages 15-16, with the opportunity to meet once a week for
two and a half hours to learn about the status of women,
develop leadership and life skills and volunteer in WIZO
institutions.
in her stride, with a sense of humour and a smile.
“It’s different to work with young girls, but enormously
rewarding,” Adi explains. “They take the world around them
for granted, and it’s important to show them at this critical
age that reality isn’t exactly right and it shouldn’t continue
this way.”
For Adi, the girls both represent a troubling reflection of the
gaps within our society as well as also the potential to close
these gaps. “You see [the gaps] in their world-views,” Adi
explains, recalling an incident where she asked the girls to
look through newspapers to critically examine how women’s
bodies and roles were depicted in advertisements. Some
of the advertisements showed fathers in more domestic
scenes – and while the inclusion of fathers in domestic roles
is positive, Adi was saddened to hear the girls describe it as,
“’Look, the dad is doing the mum’s jobs’ – not the job of a
parent, but ‘mum’s job.’”
In order to broaden the girls’ perspectives and help them
become leaders, Adi located three areas of focus that she
wanted to address in the course: First, personal development
and practical tools, such as time management, public
speaking and self-presentation; second, developing their
understanding of gender inequality; and third, providing
them with meaningful volunteer opportunities.
“We don’t have to leave it up to the boys”
Putting inequality into context
While opening the girls eyes’ to these problematic thinking
patterns has set them on personal missions to change
the world around them, giving them the opportunity
to volunteer and meet female role models in leadership
positions has given them more concrete visions for their
futures.
For Inbal, a 16-year-old Ethiopian girl, the course was not
only eye-opening, but life-changing, a sentiment echoed
by many of her classmat