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Have you ever noticed that in Mickey Mouse when Mickey and Minnie Mouse travel Mickey always drives? Or how in a shop window display boy mannequins do handstands and other cool things and girls just pose to look good? Or how in a music video, boys skateboard while girls just watch? You may not have noticed these until just now and most adults have never noticed. But when Guro was 11, she couldn’t help but notice how things kids see around them were shaping boys’ and girls’ behaviours. Since that day, step-by-step, Guro has been campaigning for this to change.
The first thing Guro did was write to the manager of the shopping mall where she noticed the difference in mannequins, asking him to change the displays. Guro’s letter was a great success and the manager apologised and agreed to change the display.
Next, Guro created a video of herself sharing her thoughts on the music video and sent it to a newspaper. This time, success did not come as easily and the music company resisted the critique. So Guro decided to go a step further and made a social media campaign to tell everybody that girls are #notforshow (#ikketilpynt in Norwegian). After one week of campaigning, people from all over the world were using the #notforshow. And guess what – the music company decided to re-edit the music video to make it fairer!
Guro continues to stand up for what she feels is right and encourages other children to do the same. She says, ‘Point your finger at what is wrong. It doesn’t matter if you are a girl or boy, if you are 6 years old or 11 years old, I want you to speak out about small things you see.’
