I would like to introduce all of you to Catharine Conover, Assistant Managing Editor & Communications Coordinator with New Moon Publishing. New Moon magazine is their award winning, flagship publication where girls 8-14 voice their opinions and dreams. Today, we are going to learn more about New Moon and how they are helping young girls be heard.
BISJ: Hi Catherine! Thank you for joining us at Back in skinny jeans today. First, let's start out with the mission of New Moon Publishing. Can you describe some of the goals that New Moon Publishing is trying to achieve?
Catherine: Our main goal is to provide space for girls to share their voices and opinions with each other and with the world. New Moon is a community just for girls, where they can be themselves and know that they'll be heard and taken seriously. Back in 1992, when Nancy Gruver founded New Moon magazine, there wasn't anything like that available for her twin daughters. So together, they created a magazine by and for girls. Since there were plenty of magazines out there that covered fashion, boys, and makeup, they wanted New Moon to be a place for girls to discuss other topics.
BISJ: Cool! So, New Moon's effort began with a magazine, and has expanded into other services and products. Can you tell us more about those tools?
Catherine: We have a book club for girls, and we offer New Moon Adventures--trips where girls and parents go dog sledding or swim with the dolphins and then write about their experiences. Our online store carries girl-positive t-shirts, sweatshirts, books, and other fun stuff for girls and women. The proceeds from the store help us keep New Moon magazine advertising-free, so girls aren't bombarded with adult messages that tell them how they should look or act.
BISJ: The editors of your magazines are actually girls ages 8-14. So,it's like girls talking to girls? How do adults and parents get involved with the content if at all?
Catherine: That's right; our Girls Editorial Board is a revolving group of girls who "retire" from the board when they turn 15. The original GEB made that rule because they wanted to make sure the girl editors would always be the same age as New Moon's readers and would share their interests and concerns. Most of the content in the magazine comes from girl readers, but adults sometimes contribute to certain departments in the magazine--Fiction, Herstory, Body Language, and Women's Work. We welcome feedback and suggestions from parents, and we also have a relationship with Daughters newsletter, which is specifically for parents of girls ages 10-16. It's a great resource for anyone who has a daughter or who works with girls or parents of girls.
BISJ: What are some of the topics that are discussed in your magazine?
Catherine: Anything and everything! Especially in the "Dear Luna" department, which is where we publish girls' letters to Luna--the spirit of New Moon--girls write in with their opinions on everything from politics to the color pink. There are always a few lively discussions going on there. Each issue also has a "Global Village" article written by a girl from another country, a "Women's Work" article that introduces girls to a woman in an interesting profession, and a "Body Language" article that shares information about puberty or girls' health.
The GEB chooses a theme for each issue, and the feature articles all relate to that theme. They pick a mix of lighthearted and more serious topics. For example, our Nov/Dec 2006 issue will be "Weird, Wacky, and Random," which is going to be a super fun issue. Then in January, we're publishing a "Letter to Congress" issue that will consist of girls' opinions on political issues. We're sending a copy of that issue to every member of Congress--the girls are taking it very seriously.
BISJ: At the moment, what seems to be the hottest topics of interest with your girl editors?
Catherine: We just published an article in September from a girl who was suspended from school for wearing an "I (Heart) My Vagina" button that she purchased at a Vagina Monologues performance. That article caused quite a bit of controversy. Most of the people who contacted us about it were parents or other adults who thought the article wasn't appropriate for our younger readers. But the response from our readers has been quite positive. A couple of our GEB members wrote to explain why they published the article and why they think it IS appropriate--their letters are posted on our blog. The article was really about freedom of speech, and I would say that that's a hot topic at the moment.
BISJ: How can a girl become a New moon publishing editor?
Catherine: To be on the GEB, girls need to be within driving distance of Duluth, Minnesota, because the GEB meets every other weekend to work on the magazine. We put out a call for applications every spring, and we always get a ton of applications. The current GEB members choose which applicants they'll interview, and they invite several girls to join the GEB every year. Another way girls can get involved is to join our Computer Advisory Board (CAB), which meets online to brainstorm ideas for each issue. They also review every issue and provide valuable feedback on what worked well and what we could improve in future issues of the magazine.
BISJ: We see that there is a New Moon blog too. Here at Back in Skinny Jeans, we encourage women to blog because it is a platform for women to use their voices and bring to light the subjects they care about. Are any of your editors also bloggers?
Catherine: Yes, I believe several of our GEB members have personal blogs, and they contribute to New Moon's blog, too. In fact, we've invited all of our readers to send submissions to our blog--we see it as a way to get more girls' voices out into the world. Since we only publish six issues of the magazine each year, we always have way more submissions than we can publish, and we hope to funnel some of those over to the blog. Blogging also is a way for New Moon to cover hot topics in a more timely manner. With the magazine, we have to work pretty far in advance to meet our deadlines, but girls could post to the blog this afternoon about a topic that hit the news this morning!
BISJ: I've seen that New Moon has partnered with other groups associated with girl's issues like Mind on the Media, and See Jane founded by actress Geena Davis. What kind of successes have you ladies seen by partnering with these two groups? Are there other groups related to girls issues that New Moon partners with?
Catherine: Mind on the Media is actually a spin-off from New Moon. It grew out of our "25 Beautiful Girls" issue, which is an annual issue that the GEB started publishing in 2000 as a response to People magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" issue. It focuses on girls' actions and personalities, not how they look. The featured girls are nominated by friends and family members, who send us essays explaining how the girls are beautiful on the inside. The GEB got such an outpouring of support and thanks after that first "25 Beautiful Girls"issue came out, they decided to turn it into a campaign, Turn Beauty Inside Out. Soon after, Mind on the Media was formed as a non-profit to run that campaign. TV By Girls and the Girls International Forum are two other orgs that grew out of New Moon.
See Jane is a terrific program run by Dads and Daughters--the nonprofit that publishes Daughters newsletter. I'm really impressed by the work that they're doing to highlight gender inequities in media aimed at kids. And I love the See Jane t-shirt that Geena designed--we carry it in the New Moon Store and donate all the proceeds back to the program.
New Moon also has a relationship with the Canadian Association for Girls in Science (CAGIS). Their members write our "Science Side Effects"articles, and they do a terrific job. We're also working with the Girl Scouts. The more we can combine our efforts with other groups that share the same goals, the better!
BISJ: On a final note Catherine, Young girls today are bombarded with so many images of other girls who become famous for being rich party debutantes. Then there are all the magazines, TV, and movies sending out the message that being skinny, beautiful, and rich are what are important. I have triplet nieces who are only 14 months, and I'm worried already about how they are going to feel about their sense of self, given all this hype. So what can adults and parents do to encourage young girls to grow beyond their "looks" and become well-rounded young women?
Catherine:Triplets--how exciting! It IS a challenging world for girls today, and I understand your concern. I think one of the most important thing parents and other adults can do for girls is to help them
understand how the media works. Read the magazines they read, watch their movies, visit their favorite websites, play their video games, and then have a conversation about what you see. For example, if there are 4 boys to every 1 girl in your daughter's favorite TV show or movie, talk about why that might be, so she doesn't assume it's because boys are more important than girls! One resource that can help you with all sorts of conversations is Nancy Gruver's book, "How to Say It to Girls: Communicating with Your Growing Daughter." She explains how to talk to girls about everything from Anger to Worries, and each topic is broken down into age ranges--1 to 7 years old, 8-13, and 14 & up.
Also, I keep reading in Daughters newsletter about how much girls are influenced by their parents--especially moms. So communicate YOUR values to girls, even if you think they're not listening. Along those lines,it's important to be kind to your own body, because girls pick up on that. There's an interview with Margo Maine in the July/August 2005 issue of Daughters that specifically talks about how moms can pass a healthy body image on to girls.
BISJ: Wow, there's all kinds of really cool things at New Moon. Thank you again for your time Catherine and sharing New Moon's mission with us! If readers would like more information on New Moon Publishing, what is the best way to contact your company?
Catherine: All things New Moon are online at www.newmoon.org. And I'd love to hear from your readers directly--they can email me at [email protected]. Thanks and best wishes!
