rgz

readergirlz is a literacy and social media project for teens, awarded the National Book Foundation's Innovations in Reading Prize. The rgz blog serves as a depot for news and YA reviews from industry professionals and teens. As volunteers return full force to their own YA writing, the organization continues to hold one initiative a year to impact teen literacy. All are welcome to "like" us on Facebook!

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Read, Reflect, and Reach Out: Gendercide

Hey readergirlz,

As a community which reads, reflects, and reaches out, I have to share the impetus for my lastest novel, Firstborn. In 2004 I happened upon a snippet of an article which spoke of ekthesis, the word for infant exposure in Greek antiquity. I was dumbfounded to learn that girls were still being left in the elements to die, just because they were female. Today we use the term gendercide, and over 37 million girls are missing in China alone, due to the One Child Policy.

Having learned of the modern practice, my rage looked for a place to turn. The release came through writing. What if I could create a fictional story illustrating a society practicing gendercide? What if that story could raise awareness and sympathy, and ultimately action against the horror? I began to write Firstborn.

Just think for a moment, how many readergirlz' lives would have been threatened or forfeited by the practice of gendercide if each had been born in another situation? The United Nations estimates 200 million girls are missing worldwide.

There are things to do. You can make an impact. Start by watching It’s a Girl movie. It's Instant View on Netflix. Share the link, the trailer, and your reactions.



Grow familiar with the Global Gendercide Advocacy and Awareness Project. They offer internships! Visit All Girls Allowed, where you can learn the latest news and sponsor a mother carrying a female child.

I am sharing posters I created on Polyvore across social media for 30 days. I'm gathering them in an album on my Facebook Author Page hoping they will be shared and awareness will grow.

Gendercide Poster #5

Gendercide is an atrocity. Don't look away. Read, reflect, and reach out, rgz. May they all be allowed to live.

LorieAnncard2010small.jpg image by readergirlz

5 comments:

Faith E. Hough said...

I first heard of gendercide when I was in high school and did some research on China's one child policy for a paper. It both angered me and broke my heart... then a few years ago I learned that one of the primary reasons cited for why women in America abort their children is that they are not the desired gender (usually, as in China, a boy is desired). Thank you for standing up against this terrible practice!

Faith E. Hough said...

P.S. I have four children--all of them girls--so this issue is very close to my heart!

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