Action Steps for When Tween and Teen Girls Have Had Enough with “How Aggravating” Things Are in Their World

Aggravated girl with the words "How Aggravating" and "We Let Girls Vent" and the New Moon Girls Logo

See something unfair? Hear something disrespectful? Bothered by a problem in the world? How Aggravating! Big, small, or in between, speak out about it!

In a world where everyone should be treated fairly and with respect, it can be really frustrating when we see or hear something that is just plain unfair or disrespectful. It doesn’t matter if the problem is big or small, it’s important to speak out about it!

Have you ever had a moment when something didn’t seem right? Like when someone didn’t treat you or someone else with kindness? Maybe you saw a situation where someone was being left out or bullied, and it made you feel upset. These moments can really bother us, and it’s important to do something about it!

There are also bigger problems in the world that can be really aggravating. Like when people are not treated equally just because of their gender. Can you believe that some girls and women are still paid less than boys and men for doing the same job? It’s not fair at all, and it’s something we need to change!

So, what can we do about these things? We can use our voices to speak up and let others know how we feel. We can write about these issues in magazines like New Moon Girls, where our stories can be read by other girls and nonbinary youth who might be feeling the same way. Sharing our experiences and thoughts can help us feel stronger and create a sense of unity.

Art is also a powerful way to express ourselves. Through How Aggravating artwork, we can show our emotions and make people think about these problems. Art can reach people’s hearts and minds in a unique way, even if they don’t have the same words to express themselves.

Remember, your voice matters, no matter how old you are. By speaking out, writing, and creating art, we can make a difference and work towards a fairer and more respectful world for everyone. Together, we can create change and show that we won’t accept anything less than equality and kindness for all.

You can share your How Aggravating story in writing and/or create How Aggravating artwork. Contributions will be published online after being reviewed by a moderator or in New Moon Girls Magazine!

Sexist Jokes Aren’t OK

A guy at my school keeps making sexist jokes about Women on top of other hateful, and hurtful things. When I and a group of other people brought this up to the staff they barely did anything! Not only that but this school also has a history of ignoring these types of issues despite claiming to be diverse and accepting. Society as a whole has ignored not only Women but every minority’s issues which is why we are taking this to the head of school. Don’t be afraid to speak up and speak out about the problems in your community…

Girls ARE Basketball Players

My basketball coach is sexist. When we first got to the all-girl basketball clinic, he pointed to the line that separates the court from the viewing side, and said, “when you’re on THIS side of the line, you can be as girly-girl as you want to be. You can sit under rainbows, and write poetry about unicorns. But when you’re on THIS side of the line, you can’t be a girl. You have to be a basketball player.” What? It’s like he took every stereotype he find about girls and mashed them into one weird thing: sitting under rainbows, writing…

I Want to See Realistic Images of Girls on TV!

All the shows I watch feature girls with tiny waists! The boys have pretty normal proportions and that is completely wrong! It makes girls think that they have to starve themselves so that they look like their on tv. Everyone should be shown with a stomach that at least doesn’t stick in. Ughh! Ursula, 9, WA

Women Made History, Too!

In my Homeschool spelling workbook, you have to highlight all the base words, suffixes, and prefixes in a paragraph about someone from history. Each new paragraph is a lesson, and there 36 lessons. Only 6 of those lessons are about women!!! 6! And the 30 other guys they talk about aren’t even that interesting. They’re all people I’ve heard of. The theme of this book is “Modern Milestones”, all about people who invented or proved big things. There are plenty of awesome women from history out there – so why can’t they put more of them in the…

Women Aren’t Objects!

The other day, after my brother’s baseball practice, we got pizza from this delicious pizzeria. There was this man and his friend (who was a girl!) outside and suddenly, a random girl with sporty tights and a tighter t-shirt was walking by this guy, who was overly cocky by the way, and so he whistled and rubbed his chin, while looking at the girl in an inappropriate way. I honestly felt like yelling at him. Don’t men know that we’re HUMANS not OBJECTS? This man was so disrespectful. The woman ran away, because she felt so uncomfortable. He…

Girls Aren’t Weak!

One night, I watched a movie called “The Sand Lot” with my Dad and some friends. The movie was about a group of boys that played baseball. I loved the movie except for one thing, in the movie the boys had some rivals and they were shooting bad comments at each other. One of the comments was, “YOU PLAY LIKE A GIRL!” That really bothered me. It means girls are weak. If they think girls are not strong, they should watch the movies ” Raya and the Last Dragon”, “Mulan”, “Aladdin”, “Frozen”, and “Frozen 2”! Cause the belief…


Founder of New Moon Girls. We Help Girls Grow with Courage, Creativity, Compassion & Community. We amplify girls' opinions, activism, sisterhood, writing & art in both our magazine and online. We help girls, parents, teachers and allies fight sexism together in their communities. Ad-free...