MNT2LEARN Leadership Primer Caroline Paul
How to Raise Brave Girls, Encourage Adventure
Caroline Paul is an author, speaker, adventure enthusiast, and former firefighter. Her book, The Gutsy Girl, encourages young women to channel their fears and face their challenges. Her most recent book, You Are Mighty, encourages and empowers young people to advocate and stand up for a better world.
“And we have to stop that, and begin claiming bravery as feminine too.”
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Caroline talks about how when she was younger she saw her inability to achieve the Guinness World Record for crawling as a failure. Now she sees the attempt as brave because she ventured outside her comfort zone, called upon own resilience and found confidence in her decisions.
What moments in your life do you now see your actions as brave? When have you been able to step outside of your comfort zone?
When Caroline was a firefighter her male colleagues expected her to be afraid. Why isn’t bravery expected of women?
Caroline references a firepole study that found parents caution daughters more than sons in physical risk-taking play. Girls are encouraged to be cautious while boys are encouraged to be gutsy.
As a parent and/or educator, does this resonate with you? Do you see parents unintentionally reinforce fear in girls? Is it possible that you have done that as well?
Caroline sees how we raise our girls as impacting adulthood resulting in women hesitant to speak out, having a lack of confidence in decision making and showing deference so as to be liked.
Do you see the connection between how you were raised and your level of confidence?
Caroline believes there are three ways our girls become braves, and it starts with us.
Encourage our daughters/students to embrace risky play/physical challenges so they learn valauable life lessons
Avoid being overly cautious with girls (more so than boys)
Start with ourselves- practice being brave at home, in the workplace
How can you practice being brave? How can you help other women to do the same?
Additional resources
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/how-to-lead-with-courage_b_7827668
https://wsimag.com/wellness/19934-the-courage-of-women