Four years ago today, exactly, actually, I started a fashion blog called Style Rookie. Last September of 2011, I started an online magazine for teenage girls called Rookiemag.com. My name's Tavi Gevinson, and the title of my talk is "Still Figuring It Out," and the MS Paint quality of my slides was a total creative decision in keeping with today's theme, and has nothing to do with my inability to use PowerPoint. (Laughter)
Ceithre bliana ón lá inniu, mar a tharlaíonn sé, bhunaigh mé blag faisean dár teideal Style Rookie. Meán Fomhair seo caite, i 2011, bhunaigh mé iris ar líne dírithe ar chailiní sna déagóirí dár teideal rookiemag.com Tavi Gevinson is ainm dom, agus is é teideal na hóráide seo ná "Fós ag Iarraidh é a Oibrigh Amach" agus ba chinneadh cruthaitheach amach is amach é MS Peint a úsáid ar mo shleamhnáin, chun cloí le téama an lae, agus níl sé fíor nach féidir liom PowerPoint a úsáid. (Gáire)
So I edit this site for teenage girls. I'm a feminist. I am kind of a pop culture nerd, and I think a lot about what makes a strong female character, and, you know, movies and TV shows, these things have influence. My own website. So I think the question of what makes a strong female character often goes misinterpreted, and instead we get these two-dimensional superwomen who maybe have one quality that's played up a lot, like a Catwoman type, or she plays her sexuality up a lot, and it's seen as power. But they're not strong characters who happen to be female. They're completely flat, and they're basically cardboard characters. The problem with this is that then people expect women to be that easy to understand, and women are mad at themselves for not being that simple, when, in actuality, women are complicated, women are multifaceted -- not because women are crazy, but because people are crazy, and women happen to be people. (Laughter)
Cuirim an suíomh do chailiní sna déagoirí seo in eagar. Is feimineach mé. Is cineál neird an chultúir pobail mé, agus smaoiním go minic ar cad is carachtar baineann atá láidir ann, agus, bíonn tionchar ag scannáin agus ag cláir teilifíse. Mó shuíomh idirlíne féin. Mar sin, ceapaim nach bhfuil freagair ró-shoiléir ar an gceist "Cad is carachtar baininscneach atá láidir ann?" agus mar fhreagra, faighimid na spéirmná follasacha seo a bhfuil tréith amháin acu a chuirtear chun tosaigh é, carachtair cosúil le Catwoman a chuireann a cuid collaíochta chun tosaigh, agus feictear ar sin mar chumhacht. Ach ní carachtair láidir iad atá bainscneach i chomh maith, tá siad go hiomlán lom, agus is carachtair aontaobhacha iad don chuid is mó. Is é an fhadhb atá le seo ná go gcreideann daoine ansin go bhfuil sé chomh éasca sin mná a thuiscint agus braitheann mná feargach orthu féin ós rud é nach bhfuil siad chomh shimplí sin, nuair, mar a tharlaíonn sé, tá mná casta, tá mná iltaobhacha -- ní go bhfuil mná ar mire ach bíonn daoine ar mire, agus is daoine iad mná. (Gáire)
So the flaws are the key. I'm not the first person to say this. What makes a strong female character is a character who has weaknesses, who has flaws, who is maybe not immediately likable, but eventually relatable.
Mar sin, is iad na lochtanna na gnéithe is tábhachtaí. Nílim an chéad duine chun é seo a rá. Is é atá taobh thiar don charachtar bainiscneach atá láidir ná carachtar a bhfuil laige aici, a bhfuil lochtanna aici, duine nach dtaithníonn sí leat i dtús, ach is féidir í a thuiscint ag an deireadh.
I don't like to acknowledge a problem without also acknowledging those who work to fix it, so just wanted to acknowledge shows like "Mad Men," movies like "Bridesmaids," whose female characters or protagonists are complex, multifaceted. Lena Dunham, who's on here, her show on HBO that premiers next month, "Girls," she said she wanted to start it because she felt that every woman she knew was just a bundle of contradictions, and that feels accurate for all people, but you don't see women represented like that as much. Congrats, guys. (Laughs)
Ní mhaith liom aitheantas a thabhairt don fhadhb seo gan dóibh siúd a obríonn chun é a réiteach a luath, mar sin, ba mhaith liom cláir cosúil le "Mad Men" a luath, scannáin cosúil le "Bridemaids" a bhfuil carachtair baininscneacha nó príomhcharachtair atá casta, iltaobhacha le fáil iontu. Lena Dunham, atá ar fáil anseo, a clár ar HBO "Girls," a thosaíonn an mhí seo chugainn, dúirt sí gur theastaigh uaithi an clár a chruthú mar bhraith sí gur mhéascan do chosarsnachtaí ab ea gach bean a raibh aithne aici uirthi, agus tá sé sin fíor do gach duine, ach ní fhaigheann tú an léargas sin ar mhná. Comhghairdeachas, a chairde.
But I don't feel that — I still feel that there are some types of women who are not represented that way, and one group that we'll focus on today are teens, because I think teenagers are especially contradictory and still figuring it out, and in the '90s there was "Freaks and Geeks" and "My So-Called Life," and their characters, Lindsay Weir and Angela Chase, I mean, the whole premise of the shows were just them trying to figure themselves out, basically, but those shows only lasted a season each, and I haven't really seen anything like that on TV since.
Ach ní bhraithim é sin - Braithim go bhfuil grupaí ban ann nár chuirtear ós ár gcomhair sa tslí sin agus dirímid isteach ar dhéagoirí inniu, mar ceapaim go bhfuil déagóirí líon lán le codarsnachtaí agus go bhfuil siad ag iarraidh gach rud a oibrigh amach, agus sna 90idí bhí "Freaks and Geeks" againn agus "My So-Called Life" agus a gcarachtair againn, Lindsay Weir agus Angela Chase, againn Ba é bunchloch na gclár seo ná na daoine a bhí ag iarraidh iad féin a oibrigh amach, a bheag nó a mhór, ach níor mhair na cláir seo ach ar feadh sraith amháin ach ní fhaca mé aon rud mar sin ar an teilifís go dtí seo.
So this is a scientific diagram of my brain — (Laughter) — around the time when I was, when I started watching those TV shows. I was ending middle school, starting high school -- I'm a sophomore now — and I was trying to reconcile all of these differences that you're told you can't be when you're growing up as a girl. You can't be smart and pretty. You can't be a feminist who's also interested in fashion. You can't care about clothes if it's not for the sake of what other people, usually men, will think of you.
Anois, seo léaráid eolaíoch don inchinn agam - (Gáire) ón uair nuair a bhíos, nuair a thosnaíos ag féachaint ar na cláir seo. Bhí an scoil mhéanach ag teacht chun deireadh, bhíos ag tosnú san ardscoil -- Is sofamór anois mé agus bhíos ag iarraidh tabhairt chun réiteach na codarsnachtaí a deirtear leat nach féidir iad a réitiú nuair a fhásann tú aníos mar chailín. Ní féidir bheith eirimiúil agus dathúil Ní féidir bheith i do fheimineach a bhfuil suim agat san fhaisean. Ní féidir suim a bheith agat in éadaí nuair is cuma leat cad a cheapann daoine eile, fir ach go háirithe, fút.
So I was trying to figure all that out, and I felt a little confused, and I said so on my blog, and I said that I wanted to start a website for teenage girls that was not this kind of one-dimensional strong character empowerment thing because I think one thing that can be very alienating about a misconception of feminism is that girls then think that to be a feminist, they have to live up to being perfectly consistent in your beliefs, never being insecure, never having doubts, having all of the answers. And this is not true, and, actually, reconciling all the contradictions I was feeling became easier once I understood that feminism was not a rulebook but a discussion, a conversation, a process, and this is a spread from a zine that I made last year when I -- I mean, I think I've let myself go a bit on the illustration front since. But, yeah.
Bhíos ag iarraidh an méid sin a thabhairt chun réiteach agus bhí beagánín mearbhall orm, agus dúirt mé é sin ar mo bhlag, agus dúirt mé gur theastaigh uaim suíomh idirlíne dírithe ar chailíní sna déagóirí a bhunú agus níor bhain sé seo le cumhacht an charachtair láidre aontaobhacha mar ceapaim go gcuirfeadh misthuiscint áirithe faoin fheimineachas as do dhaoine nuair a chreideann cailiní, chun a bheith in bhfeiminigh, go gcaithfidh siad cloí go dlúth lena gcuid prionsabail, agus nach bhfuil cead acu beith neamhchinnte, amhrasach, go caithfidh na freagraí ar fad a bheith acu. Agus níl sé sin fíor, agus bhí sé níos éasca na codarsnachtaí seo a réitiú nuair a thuigeas ní leabair rialacha í an fheimineachas ach plé, comhrá, próiseas, agus seo sliocht as zín a rinne mé an bhliain seo caite nuair a -- Tá meath tagtha ar mo scileanna léaráide ón uair sin. Ach pé scéal é.
So I said on my blog that I wanted to start this publication for teenage girls and ask people to submit their writing, their photography, whatever, to be a member of our staff. I got about 3,000 emails. My editorial director and I went through them and put together a staff of people, and we launched last September. And this is an excerpt from my first editor's letter, where I say that Rookie, we don't have all the answers, we're still figuring it out too, but the point is not to give girls the answers, and not even give them permission to find the answers themselves, but hopefully inspire them to understand that they can give themselves that permission, they can ask their own questions, find their own answers, all of that, and Rookie, I think we've been trying to make it a nice place for all of that to be figured out.
Dúirt mé ar mo bhlag gur theastaigh uaim an fhoilseachán seo a chur le chéile do chailiní sna déagóirí agus d'iarr mé ar dhaoine a gcuid scríbhneoireachta, grianghraifadóireachta, cibé rud, a thabhairt isteacht, chun a bheith ina bhall don fhoireann. Fuaireas tuairim is 3,000 rphoist. Chuaigh mé agus mo stúirtheoir eagarthóireachta tríd agus chuireamar foireann le chéile, agus d'fhoilsíomar don chéad uair an Mhéan Fomhair seo caite. Agus seo sliocht as an chéad litir eagarthóra a scríobh mé nuair a deirim nach bhfuil na freagraí ar fad ag Rookie. go bhfuilimid fós ag iarraidh gach rud a oibrigh amach freisin, ach níl sé mar aidhm againn na freagraí a thabhairt do chailíní, agus ní chun cead a thabhairt dóibh fiú chun freagraí a fháil dóibh féin, ach iad a spreagadh chun go dtuigfidh siad gur féidir leo an cead sin a thabhairt dóibh féin, gur féidir leo a gceisteanna féin a chur, a bhfreagraí féin a aimsiú, agus ceapaim go bhfuil iarracht déanta ag Rookie spás deas a chruthú chun gach rud a oibriú amach.
So I'm not saying, "Be like us," and "We're perfect role models," because we're not, but we just want to help represent girls in a way that shows those different dimensions. I mean, we have articles called "On Taking Yourself Seriously: How to Not Care What People Think of You," but we also have articles like, oops -- I'm figuring it out! Ha ha. (Laughter) If you use that, you can get away with anything. We also have articles called "How to Look Like You Weren't Just Crying in Less than Five Minutes."
Nílimid ag rá 'Bí ar nós linne", agus "Is eiseamláirÍ foirfe muid," mar níl muid, ach ba mhaith linn cailiní a léiriú ar bhealaí a leiríonn na taobhacha éagsúla seo. Mar shampla, tá ailt againn dár teideal "Ag Caint go Dáiríre: Conas neamhaird a thabhairt ar thuairimí Einne Eile"' ach tá ailt eile againn, mar shampla, oops -- táim ag iarraidh é a oibriú amach! Ha ha. (Gáire) Má úsáideann tú an líne sin, tá leithscéal agat do gach rud. Tá ailt againn dár teideal "Conas a Chuir in Iúl Nach Raibh tú ag Gol Cúig Nóiméad ó shin.
So all of that being said, I still really appreciate those characters in movies and articles like that on our site, that aren't just about being totally powerful, maybe finding your acceptance with yourself and self-esteem and your flaws and how you accept those.
Agus an méid sin ráite, is ábhar sásaimh do iad na carachtair i scannáin agus in ailt mar sin ar ár suíomh, nach mbaineann leis an gcumhacht amháin, ach a bhaineann le féinghlacadh chomh maith agus le féinmheas agus le do lochtanna agus conas iad a ghlacadh.
So what I you to take away from my talk, the lesson of all of this, is to just be Stevie Nicks. Like, that's all you have to do. (Laughter) Because my favorite thing about her, other than, like, everything, is that she is very -- has always been unapologetically present on stage, and unapologetic about her flaws and about reconciling all of her contradictory feelings and she makes you listen to them and think about them, and yeah, so please be Stevie Nicks. Thank you. (Applause)
Ba mhaith liom dá nglacfadh sibh an chomhairle seo ón óraid, ceacht an lae, ná bí Stevie Nicks. Sin a bhfuil le déanamh agat. (Gáire) Mar, is é an rud is ansa liom fuithi, thar aon rud eile ná go bhfuil sí, go raibh láithreacht chinnte aici ar an stáitse, agus go raibh sí oscailte faoina lochtanna agus faoin réitiú a dhéanann sí ar na mothúcháin grithráiteacha agus cuireann sí dualgas ort éisteacht leo agus machnamh a dhéanamh orthu, agus sin é, bí Stevie Nicks le bhúr dtoil. Go raibh maith agaibh.