Lighthouse Hosts Gender Conference

More than 65 high school girls attended on Saturday the first ever Lighthouse Magazine Conference for Girls, which was designed to introduce teenagers to gender issues and women's roles.

Cary B. Berkeley '93, the conference coordinator, said that the major purpose of the meeting was to expand the dialogue on women's issues to a younger age group. The meeting was held at Agassiz House throughout the day.

"We decided it is important to have a place for high school girls to discuss gender issues and women's roles," said Shana L. Birnbaum '94, a member of the Lighthouse editorial board. "We wanted to provide that place."

Lighthouse recruited the participants by writing high school guidance counselors, Birnbaum said. More than 20 Massachusetts and New Hampshire area high schools were represented at the event.

Response to the conference was very strong, Birnbaum said. "We had to turn people away." Participants paid $25 per person to attend the event.

Birnbaum said Lighthouse intentionally tried to recruit a socioeconomically diverse group of girls. In order to do this, she said. Lighthouse approached both boarding schools and Boston area public schools.

The conference, which ran for 11 hours, began with a lecture from Sarah Igo '91-'92, co-founder of Lighthouse. Igo spoke on the popular paperback series on teenage girls and their problems, called Sweet Valley High.

Penelope Davis, associate professor of psychology, spoke next on girls and eating disorders. The last scheduled event was the movie screening of "Still Killing Us Softly," which addressed the issue of representation of women in mass media.

Workshops followed each scheduled event. Participants choose the workshops they wanted to attend, which covered issues such as gender dynamics, women's issues or popular culture.

Many girls who attended the conference said they participated in order to increase their personal awareness of the plight of women.

"I wanted to learn more and open my mind because I don't know as much as I should about women's issues," said Christina I. Fischer, a sophomore at Winchester High School.

Many participants said they find it difficult to speak about gender issues in their high schools.

"You can't really learn these things at Exeter," said Lauren Angelilli, a senior at Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, N.H. "The boys and many of the teachers are not open to it."

Some of the participants also said they attended the conference to meet girls from different high schools and to hear their ideas.

"There is diversity in this room and you can feel it," said Sora Hahn, a senior at Dana Hall School at Wellsely, Mass. "The most interesting thing is to hear other people's views."

Sarah P. Ford, a senior at Pingree School inSouth Hamilton, Mass., said she attended theconference both to meet girls from other schoolsand to increase her awareness of women's issues.

It gives you confidence that you aren't theonly one who believes this stuff," she said.

Organizers Thrilled

Conference organizers said that they werethrilled by the response to the event. Theevaluations were very positive, Berkeley said.

"So many of the girls were excited about it."

Birnbaum said the magazine hopes to turn thisconference into an annual event.

"We hope to lengthen it in the future," shesaid. "Maybe eventually it will be an overnightevent."CrimsonMiriam R. FarkouhArea high school students joinLighthouse staffers for conference ongender issues.

Sarah P. Ford, a senior at Pingree School inSouth Hamilton, Mass., said she attended theconference both to meet girls from other schoolsand to increase her awareness of women's issues.

It gives you confidence that you aren't theonly one who believes this stuff," she said.

Organizers Thrilled

Conference organizers said that they werethrilled by the response to the event. Theevaluations were very positive, Berkeley said.

"So many of the girls were excited about it."

Birnbaum said the magazine hopes to turn thisconference into an annual event.

"We hope to lengthen it in the future," shesaid. "Maybe eventually it will be an overnightevent."CrimsonMiriam R. FarkouhArea high school students joinLighthouse staffers for conference ongender issues.