Being a teenager is complicated, being a girl trying to find her way in the world is also complicated. Combining the two creates years of intense emotions, dreams, ambitions, and trying to work out who you are. In Girlhood: Teens Around the World in Their Own Voices Masuma Ahuja explores that and so much more. Made up of 30 diary entries written by women whose lives span 27 countries. Girlhood portrays what life is like for teenage girls across the globe.
Before you read Girlhood I would recommend reading Masuma Ahuja’s series “Girlhood Around the World” for The Lily. Not only does the series provide an interesting insight into how the book came to be, but some of the girls from The Lily series have their stories updated in Girlhood!
Girlhood begins with pictures of three globes and each girl’s location is marked on the globe. It’s a powerful way of showing the scope and diversity of Girlhood. In the introduction for Girlhood, Ahuja details some shocking statistics about teenage girls across the world but also details her intention to separate the girls in Girlhood from their surroundings. Ahuja definitely achieves this.
Each girl has roughly eight pages dedicated to her. Her story begins with a small Q&A where Ahuja asks her about her interests, friends – this bit tends to vary for each girl depending on her interest. There is then a page that outlines what issues are prevalent in the country, before the diary entry. By sandwiching the context of the country in between the girl’s personal life and anecdotes we get to view her separate from the country she lives in. The context is there and it’s interesting but what’s more interesting and shines through more are the girl’s lives, dreams, anxieties, friendships. Girlhood is the conduit for these girls to tell their stories.
“Girlhood isn’t just for teenagers or for women”
Girlhood covers the full range of being a teenager with girls aged 13-19 taking part. As someone who is now in her final year of being a teenager, reading the entries from the girls aged 13-14 really resonated with me. They brought back waves of emotions, memories, and nostalgia. Reading their entries made me wish that I had started my diary a lot earlier.
Girlhood isn’t just for teenagers or for women, it’s for anyone who wants to learn more about people. People who may be living in places of conflict or extreme poverty but are more than that.
From Diza in Mumbai who writes about how her singing lessons help her de-stress to Claudie from Pango Village who’s a surfer. Then there’s Emma from Ireland who’s obsessed with Shawn Mendes and Sofia in Panama City who’s interested in science, art, and politics. Girlhood has given all these girls a platform to share their inner thoughts and feelings, the dreams they have when they don’t have anyone else to talk to.
“I know this book will provide comfort and inspiration in my life.”
Although the focus of the book is on the girls telling their stories, the passion Ahuja has for telling stories shines through. Each girl’s story is treated sensitively and how they want to tell their story is respected. Ahuja takes on a big sister role and does that perfectly.
I loved reading Girlhood; it brought me back to when I was a young teenager and, now I’m leaving the teenage years, I know this book will provide comfort and inspiration in my life.
Read our interview with Masuma Ahuja here!
Orla McAndrew
Featured image courtesy of Masuma Ahuja. No changes were made to this image.
Orla McAndrew
Orla McAndrew is a co-founder of Empoword Journalism and also a features and Instagram editor. As a freelance writer she has written for Stylist Magazine, The Yorkshire Evening Post, The Indiependent, The Hysteria Collective and SmallScreen. Currently she is an intern at Screen Yorkshire, and in September she was be starting her English Literature degree at the University of York.