When society becomes dominated by excessive limitations, it can sometimes be hard for people to fully be themselves and find their tribe. For example, some women still have to deal with the constraints of enforced gender roles and men feeling the need to dominate them; others are constantly put down because of who they want to be. For these reasons, Coral Gables Senior High has recently welcomed a club called GirlUp.

The name comes from an international organization that helps girls feel comfortable with themselves. The club’s mission here at Gables is to help expose and educate students about feminism and women’s rights movements all around the world. Indeed, GirlUp is an organization that works to bring equality and unity to girls and women that are unheard by the world. In 130 countries, including all 50 U.S. states, 125,000 girls are impacted by GirlUp’s important work. The club is a sub-branch of the Political Activism and Civic Engagement Club. 

Women all around the world face mistreatment by society. Many women face excessively high standards, high expectations and objectification, among other major problems. Many girls feel that they do not have the right to express themselves or be who they truly want to be since everyone around them is constantly dictating how they should act. Luckily, the GirlUp club allows for students to be properly educated about the problems women are facing nowadays. The club will help expand the knowledge people have about issues that involve women internationally.

GirlUp was introduced to Gables this year. It was brought in by Maria Jose Cestero, Ariadna Torras, Juliette Bracelet and their sponsor Ms. Lezcano. Since GirlUp is a subset of PACE, the students that are involved in PACE are automatically already in GirlUp and vice versa.

“As Co-President of the Political Activism and Civic Engagement Club, I make sure that GirlUp has all the resources it needs to be successful, given that the project is a sub-branch of PACE. I am beyond excited to see what this project will do for the Activism component of PACE,” senior Lucia Chico said.

If students at Gables want to help make an impact and learn more about the troubles that women are facing, they should sign up for GirlUp; joining this club is a great opportunity to adequately inform yourself about international women’s rights issues.

If you are interested in joining GirlUp, make sure to follow them on Instagram. Then simply click the link in their bio and sign up. You can also join by signing up for PACE.