Young women today are the most connected in history. They can access information about contraception, self-defense, and legal rights with a single search. They can find communities of support across continents.
She might be the engineer in Abidjan who supports her younger sisters. She might be the artist in Berlin who paints her own naked body and laughs at the gallery opening. Des filles libres
But the same device that liberates also imprisons. Young women today are the most connected in history
For Black, Arab, and Asian young women in France and Belgium, there is an additional layer: the colonial gaze. She might be the engineer in Abidjan who
She might be the teenager in a small village in the Alps who decides, quietly, that she will be the first woman in her family to go to university.
Psychologists and activists note that many young women, even in progressive cities, suffer from what they call “l’auto-censure intériorisée” (internalized self-censorship). They are free to speak, but they hear their father’s voice. They are free to choose a career, but they feel their mother’s fear.