A group of 11- and 12-year-old girls are on set, eating pizza, twirling, stretching lolly snakes and posing for the camera with an ease that only a generation essentially born online ever could. Between takes, they school us on gen alpha slang (“skibidi is something five-year-olds say”; “Ohio means, like, weird and strange”) and throw out musical requests – Sabrina Carpenter and Drake instead of Taylor Swift.
They’ve gathered for a pulse check to mark International Day of the Girl on October 11, which celebrates the power of girls around the world and highlights the barriers they face.
According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 131 years to close the gender gap, and studies suggest that girls’ self-esteem peaks around the age of nine, before nosediving as they approach adolescence. Here, they open up about what makes them tick, the joys and struggles of friendship, and what they’d do if they ruled the world.
Conversations about the next generation are often defined and dominated by all the challenges ahead, but the kids – the girls – are definitely alright.
MC: In the name of International Day of the Girl, we’re celebrating the power, potential and spirit of girls like you. What’s something in your life that brings you joy?
Evie, 11: Spending time with my friends and playing sport.
Sarafina, 12: Me too: friends, sports and sleeping.
Aurelia, 11: I like doing aerial gymnastics. I started learning the hoop after seeing Zendaya in the film The Greatest Showman because it looked pretty easy. It wasn’t easy! Last year I started doing aerial silks.
Sarafina: That’s so cool.
Layla, 12: I’ve been really wanting to try the silk thing. You’re hanging from the ceiling and you wrap it around yourself and do tricks.
Sofia, 12: I like hanging out with my sister; I talk with her as much as I can.
Zoe, 12: Being creative brings me joy – shopping and playing with makeup.
MC: Do most girls your age use makeup and skincare?
Sarafina: Skincare and makeup are a bit different, because skincare is good for your skin – unless you use anti-wrinkle stuff when you’re 10, like those “Sephora kids”. I think girls should be allowed to wear makeup from Year 5 and up. But it can clog your pores.
Layla: And skincare nowadays is hella expensive. Like Glow Recipe and stuff.
Sarafina: Drunk Elephant!
Layla: Yes, Drunk Elephant. You get one small thing and it’s about 50 bucks. I don’t usually wear makeup, and if I do it’s two products from Kmart. With skincare, 10-year-old “Sephora kids” shouldn’t be using wrinkle products and that acid stuff.
Sofia: I like makeup, though. I was excited for Glossier to arrive here in Australia.
Aurelia: Me too. If you put on some lip gloss or mascara to go out, I think that’s OK. But I’ve seen four- and five-year-olds on social media saying, “Do my makeup with me, do my skincare with me.” They’re using these L’Oréal Paris anti-ageing products that I’ve seen in my grandma’s room.
Georgia, 11: I think you should start using skincare when you need it – if you’re getting acne or something.
Aurelia: When you look in the mirror with [versus] without makeup, there can be a big change. And most people think they’re prettier with makeup, but in a way you’re kind of catfishing. Let’s say you’re married and you have a full face of makeup on, but then when you take it off, you might seem like a different person.
Layla: I feel like you shouldn’t be using it to impress a guy or to be perfect.
Sarafina: Yeah, putting on makeup can give you this idea that you’re not perfect, that you’re ugly without it. And that can lead to insecurities when you’re older.
MC: On the flipside, when do you feel the most confident in yourself?
Georgia: I feel confident after I give a speech. I do public speaking and after finishing it I feel like I’ve accomplished something – that I’ve reached a goal.
Sarafina: Yeah, for me it’s after I’ve turned in a big assessment and I feel good about it, or when I get the results back.
Aurelia: I felt proud when I got 30 out of 33 on my fractions test.
Layla: I think you can feel confident when you’re just at home on a normal Saturday and you have nothing to do but you dress up all fancy and look
in the mirror.
Evie: Or when you’re playing sport and you win a game and everyone’s really happy with you.
MC: Do you have any role models?
Sarafina: I look up to Zendaya because she’s mix and she’s beautiful. And to sportspeople, like Serena Williams.
Layla: Definitely Zendaya. And Selena Gomez.
Sarafina: Yeah, Selena Gomez, especially what she’s done with her brand. She’s amazing.
Georgia: I look up to any individual who’s worked hard to get from the bottom to the top. It’s inspiring and it shows that you can do something
big one day.
MC: Speaking of doing something big, if I gave you each the power to be prime minister of Australia for a day, what would you do?
Layla: I’d change the Queensland ban on bunnies. Having a pet rabbit is illegal there, which I think is so wrong because I love bunnies. They are so cute and fluffy.
Evie: I kind of feel bad for the animals who are kept in the zoos. I don’t want to be a vegetarian but maybe killing cows or lambs shouldn’t be allowed.
Layla: I think that for one day of the year, people should be taken off the streets and held in their houses. And then zoo animals would get to roam free. Also, if I was prime minister, there would be a purge. I don’t mean killing or anything like that, just a purge where all the rules are gone. There’d be a day where people who don’t have enough money would come forward and you’d give them food and water and they could stay somewhere.
Sarafina: I’d add the Voice to Parliament for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and change things to do with the traditional owners of the land, like how it’s still not accepted that they were here first. Also, schools and school students would have to give to those less fortunate.
Aurelia: I think vaping should be illegal.
Evie: Isn’t it supposed to be banned? I still see people vaping.
Layla: I know some people who vape; that’s their choice, whatever. Some people use vapes as an alternative for drugs and alcohol, other bad things like that. I think we should keep vapes but limit them and have stricter rules. And we should limit selling both vapes and cigarettes. When I walk past someone who’s smoking, I hold my breath, it smells so bad. I walked past someone vaping the other day, and it smelt like banana, it was actually pretty good.
Georgia: The government has been thinking of implementing a rule where social media isn’t allowed if you are under 16. If I were prime minister for a day, I’d add a rule like that, maybe restricting different topics for people under 16. Social media is needed sometimes, so I’m not saying it should be that exact rule, but I think there are certain things you shouldn’t be allowed to see or do on social media as a child.
MC: Do you all have phones?
Zoe: I do. I got mine in Year 5 because I used to walk home.
Sofia: Same. I got mine because my mum was worried about me walking home from school. So now I can text and call her.
Sarafina: I got my first phone in Year 5 but then I got it taken away because I got TikTok. Then I got it back, and then I got it taken away again! Now my parents have said yes again, and I’m saving up so I can pay for half the phone. But my parents don’t believe in getting pocket money for doing chores, so I have to make money in other ways. I did a presentation for my mum’s work on Canva and got $50.
Aurelia: I don’t have a phone, but I think my parents are going to get me one for Christmas this year.
MC: Is it hard when you have different technology allowances and rules to your friends?
Evie: Yes. When I didn’t have a phone or iPad, my friends used to text all the time and I felt really left out.
Layla: It impacts friendships because some parents are stricter than others. And it goes beyond phones, too, with things like sleepovers and hanging out.
Sarafina: Also, some people have older phones and some people have newer ones and they brag about it.
Layla: And no hate to Samsung users, but texting them from an Apple phone is hard.
MC: Not long ago, kids (and adults) could only communicate in person or on a phone call. Do you think that technology can complicate friendships or even lead to bullying?
Georgia: We text our friends a lot, and sometimes there can be miscommunication. It’s hard to convey tone.
Aurelia: Especially because we don’t normally put punctuation marks in messages, so you can misinterpret it.
Georgia: And you have to be careful because everyone’s become a lot more sensitive these days.
Sarafina: You can be upset or jealous when you see a friend on social media hanging out with someone else and not inviting you.
Evie: People can feel excluded because of what they see on social media.
Sarafina: There was an anonymous TikTok account where someone would post and tag “Sydney’s finest” girls in each year level from different schools. They’d do “the finest” and “the flop”. That’s pretty bad; it’s not OK.
MC: Do you learn how to navigate these issues at school?
Layla: In primary school we did a bit, but now that’s not really focused on; it’s more about studying, reading and all that other stuff. There’s not much focus on how to deal with your mental health.
Georgia: We learn about how to deal with friendship problems. But it still happens. I feel like even when we get taught, not everybody listens.
Sarafina: At my school we have pastoral sessions every second week and it’s an extended homeroom period where a woman comes in and talks about the transition from primary school to high school, and about bullying and social media.
MC: Is that where you’re spending a lot of your time, on social media? TikTok? YouTube? Snapchat?
Sarafina: Yeah. I’m probably doom-scrolling!
Layla: I watch videos and I do school work on my phone as we have an app that tells us our schedule. And I play games. I have a lot of them as I get quite bored. Roblox has one app, but it has a million games that you can play. I like Sausage on a Fork, where there’s a sausage and you need to stab it into the fork and go through obstacles.
Evie: I play Roblox too. You can socialise with people and become friends with them, but you can bump into strangers too …
Sarafina: Personally I love Subway Surfers. Dad used to have it on his phone and we’d play it for hours to see who could get the highest score.
Sofia: I play them all, but I usually get bored after a bit.
Aurelia: Welcome to Bloxburg is fun because you build houses, you use your creativity.
Evie: Yeah, I built a daycare and a McDonald’s and lots of random stuff.
MC: So beyond unlimited screen time (which is seriously overrated), what are you most looking forward to about growing up?
Aurelia: You get to hang out with your friends more.
Sarafina: And you have more responsibility. I’m looking forward to being able to do stuff by myself as my parents trust me more.
Sofia: People these days often look down on younger people. But I don’t want to be like that when I grow up. Evie: Personally I’m excited to drive. You can go wherever you want without being told.
Layla: I’m turning 13 next year and my sister had a massive party, so I’m excited to celebrate with my friends.
Zoe: I’m looking forward to having more freedom.
MC: On the other hand, does anything worry you about growing up?
Layla: No offence to anyone older but I don’t want to get wrinkles. When I’m really old, it’ll be weird having troubles like walking.
Georgia: Peer pressure. As a child, you don’t always have to be exactly the same as everyone else, you can stand out. But as an adult, standing out isn’t always viewed well by others; you might have to blend in with everyone.
Sarafina: Also, getting into those last years of high school, a lot of drama unfolds with boys and all that. It gets really hectic. I mean, I’m guessing. I’m not sure as I’m only in Year 7.
Aurelia: Probably graduating from school. People say school is too long and hard, but it’s actually pretty fun when you think about it. Once you graduate you have to find a job and start working, which is probably harder. You’ll wish you were back in Year 6 or 7.
MC: Do you have dreams for your future?
Zoe: I want to be a teacher. I take inspiration from the teachers I had in primary school and now in high school. I want to help younger kids or kids who don’t have much education
or much money. Education is so important in everyday life.
Layla: I want to be an engineer. And also – Mum told me not to say this but I’m going to anyway – I want to be
an assassin. Just for the thrill of it.
Evie: I want to be a dentist or an interior designer because I like games like Welcome to Bloxburg. I want to design hotels and gardens.
Sarafina: Yeah I’d like to be an interior designer, a businesswoman. But I’m not too stressed about that kind of stuff as I know I’m going to figure it out later, and I don’t need to know now because I’m a 12-year-old kid. When I was younger, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Now I just know I want to be some sort of businesswoman – maybe in the fashion industry. Although it would be cool to be a therapist or a school counsellor; I like the idea of helping people and getting them to understand themselves.
Georgia: I want to be a lawyer. I enjoy public speaking and quick thinking … and arguing with my siblings.
Sofia: I like crime, I like figuring things out, I like solving things, so I’d like to be a detective.
Layla: Can I just add something? I’d like to be a detective as well. Just to see all the grimy stuff.
Aurelia: I want to be a criminal lawyer. I’d try my best to defend someone … well, as long as I thought they were a good person.
MC: So many big and brilliant aspirations. But for now, what’s the best thing about being a girl?
Aurelia: You can dress however you want. I don’t care what other people think, I don’t care about their opinion.
Sofia: The best thing about being a girl is shopping with your friends. We have way more options than boys.
Georgia: Boys might feel pressure to be stereotypical versions of themselves – they have to be sporty, they can’t be sensitive or anything. As a girl, you’re allowed to be sporty, you’re allowed to be sensitive, what you can be is broad. You can be practically anything.
Sarafina: This is a bit weird, but one of the best things about being a girl is that my dad loves me so much. We have a different relationship to that of my dad and my brother. Also, a lot
of the girl communities are very nice and loving and we can all talk about the same things, no matter our age or where we come from.
Layla: I agree on the dad thing. My dad loves me and I love him. I like having that connection. It’s nice to be around other girls as well; a lot of girls are quite open to talking about personal things.
Evie: The best thing about being a girl is that you can trust each other.
Zoe: Yeah, my friends are loyal and kind and brave. Girls hype each other up.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
