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Michelle Sewell on Growing Up Girl
By Dawn G. Prince

W hen thirty-eight-year-old Jamaican-born Michelle Sewell wanted a place for women and girls to express "their truest selves", she created that place with Growing Up Girl: Voices From Marginalized Spaces, a collection of essays about the transition from girl to woman. Publishing the book through her publishing company Girlchild Press (girlchildpress.com), Sewell adds her own voice to the collection, with essays from women 14 to 59. The global, beyond borders collection features writings from over 90 contributors inclucing, straight, gay, filmakers, screenwriters, assistant university professors, student and emerging as well as seasoned writers. The always soulful, sometimes gritty pieces range from poetry about the loss of a mother to expressions about coming into one's own as a girl child. I talked to the Washington, D.C. based author/activist about what it means to to grow up girl.

The book, "Growing up Girl" is a collective voice that reaches into childhood to share experiences only another female can understand, how did the project come about and why girlhood as opposed to adulthood? A couple years ago I decided to take a break from the “day job” grind and started teaching writing workshops. For the most part I specialize in screenwriting and poetry workshops. For a bout a year I taught my poetry workshops primarily in shelters, detention centers, and alternative schools. While teaching these classes I would be exposed to some really talented girl/women writers who were desperate to share their stories and get feedback about their writings. Some how I got it in my head that it would be great to put together a book of their writings so that they could touch a larger audience with their work. At the time I was a starving artist so I did not have the resources to take on the project and print the anthology. A couple years go by and I receive an independent artist grant from Prince George’s Arts Council. This seed money put me in a position to bring the anthology to life.

My premise for the anthology was that every woman was a girl at one point and I wanted to see how our experiences might be different or the same. I learned that girlhoold is a period of discovery, danger, transformation, and building a sense of self for all children born a girl. From the submissions I received (which were international) it did not seem to matter where or when you were born, but simply that you were born a girl that linked the writers’ experiences.

The phrase"girl child" as in your publishing company, "GirldChild Press" is used alot in the West Indies, how are those experiences very different from say a girl growing up in North America? I definitely heard the phrasing “girl child” or “girl picney” when I was growing up in my home. I left Jamaica when I was five, but my mother, like many immigrants starting out, moved us to a part of DC that had a high concentration of folks like us. I think she wanted to feel connected to home and have the support of other Jamaicans while she was learning her way here. I was surrounded by siblings and cousins so in many ways I lived in my “little Jamaica” for a long time after I came to the states.

I think girls from all parts of the planet share the same experiences. It doesn’t seem to matter the language or geography girls are inherently linked. I get a lot of feedback from women when they read the book and they all are really saying the same thing: I see myself in this book. There is a particular story in the book, The Lunchbox, that seems to resonate with folks. The story is about a young Vietnamese girl who comes to the state and tries to fit in at her new American school. She meets racism and isolation at every turn. And its most apparent in the lunchroom. Folks tell me that lunchroom politics (who sits with whom, what did you bring, do you eat everything on your plate) is real and sometimes it’s the undoing of folks in their formative school years. Who knew?

From the few excerpts, the women talk about black hair, corn rows, periods, boys, sex and an experience of being harassed in a taxi cab and nobody doing anything. What are some other subjects the essays touch upon? Goodness. The girls and women wanted to tell us about all kinds of things. But I think the themes really ran in the same directions. Unfortunately, there were a lot of submissions around sexual abuse and feeling violated. I think if there was any dominate theme that was it. “Girl child ain’t safe…” There were also submissions around the issue of mental health, eating disorders, suicide, body image, and being first generation Americans. It was really interesting to see how these topics played out in these women’s lives and the final effects.

Do you think women sharing their experiences is an innate part of being female? I mean are these women sharing "the secrets of sisterhood" - to borrow a phrase from the poem, "The Hymen Maneuver". Yup, it’s true – we talk a lot! I think that women are definitely communicators. But I don’t know if we are telling any secrets. Maybe open secrets. The truth seems to be closer to the issue of wanting to be heard. Anyone who reads Growing Up Girl will recognize some part of themselves in the various selections. I think these girl/women are just saying all these things out loud. I guess in a way so that folks can’t deny that they’ve been told. That the truth has been spoken and now it’s up to you to hear and believe and take it in. I have no idea if I answered that question.

What is the commonality among the women growing up girl? I think I can only speak to the women that I encountered in this book and some of the feedback I have received since the book has been out. I think the commonality is that sometimes, oftentimes, it’s hard to feel safe in the world. That girls are really exposed to a lot of dangers especially when folks are not keeping a good eye on them. It is no small coincidence that girls hear the same cautionary tales while growing up. The sick part is that sometimes the well-intentioned parents/guardians put the responsibility of staying safe, staying out of harms way squarely on our shoulders. It seems sort of strange to make the prey responsible for not being eaten in a landmine of predators.

These women come from all parts of the world. What is the major difference, if any, do you notice? I’m not sure. Maybe its “expectation.” It seemed like girls in urban spaces expected unsavory things to happen to them. Where the more affluent girls appeared to be caught of guard. Maybe because in their world there were no telltale signs of danger. I could totally be off base, but that feels right.

Do the essays reflect how their upbringing affected their transition into adulthood? Absolutely, I think we are all tremendously impacted by our upbringing. It doesn’t matter the gender. Our parents, environment, social status, and access to resources absolutely puts a long-lasting fingerprint on who we will become. I think the longer it takes folks to come to terms with that the longer it takes for them to carve out their sense of self and identity in adulthood. I think that definitely plays itself out in the piece “ Season of Deceit.” A very deep and telling piece.

Were some of the experiences more sexest in other parts of the world? Were they treated differently because they are female? I don’t know if I saw any more sexest activities from one place to the other. Up to a certain age I think all girls are treated a certain way. There are a certain set of expectations set on us. I think if you are lucky enough to have a progressive upbringing that might save you from some of the gender expectations.

Do you find some of the experiences strike a responsive chord within you? Certainly! There were many nights that I found myself feeling quite raw after reading some of the pieces. I don’t think you can read over three hundred submissions and not feel or at least image what it took for the writer to share what she did.

Who will enjoy this book? EVERYONE! Hey, a girl got to sell books. Seriously, I really think there is something here for everyone. I was at a book signing a couple weeks ago and there were a small group of men in attendance in a basically all-women audience. During the Q&A portion a young brother stood up (I guess he was about 20, 21). He said, “I can relate to a lot of the things y’all were talking about tonight. I think a lot of guys feel isolated and unsafe, especially when they are out in the streets. I think you should do a book called Growing Up Boy.” He got a huge round of applause. His comment definitely reminds us that women don’t have the corner on these subject matters.

How has the book been received? The book has done really well. I’ve sold over 500 copies at this point. That’s pretty good for a book that is basically sold of my website www.girlchildpress.com and shipped out of my little home office. It has been placed at a couple bookstores and more stores are calling as they see how popular it’s becoming. Just last week it was named the number one bestseller at Busboys and Poets – a local DC bookstore. I was really pleased with that. It beat out books that had been released by major publishers and more name recognition. It has also been a tremendous tool in a series of roundtable discussions that me and several of the contributors have been involved in. We go to group homes, shelters, where ever folks will have us and we talk to the girls and women there. The contributors read their piece and dialogue just flows from there. This whole experience has surpassed any and all expectations.

How important is it for women to bandy together and share their experiences? I think its important that we all keep talking. And like the young brother said at the book signing we are all really having the same experience. I think ultimately we just have to remind each other of that and support each other.

You have a cross-section of women from all ethnic backgrounds and ages - that is a rich tapestry in which to capture the girl experience, what do you want women to come away with after reading "Growing Up Girl?"

Visit Michelle's Website at GirlChild Press.com

Copyright ©2006 Sure Woman.com/Dawn Prince

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