What she said: Girls transforming texts

For a long time, young people have enjoyed putting their own twist on their favourite stories and noting them down. Girls have a special relationship to this type of writing, called ‘transformative’ writing. In their educational and leisure time, girls have had ample opportunities to express their creative responses to texts.

Changes in technology have affected how girls transform texts. For centuries, paper and ink, or needle and sampler, were the only modes for girls to record their creativity. These material creations might be all that remain today, but they reflect conversations, play, reading and learning that girls experienced in real life.

Girls would not only reuse characters, themes, and plots from their own personal libraries, but they would also recycle popular forms. During the 19th century, creating scrapbooks and handmade (manuscript) magazines was very popular with girls. In the twentieth century, girls took part in the making of fanzines, a form which was used by many groups who had specialised interests.

Since the invention of the World Wide Web, girls have shared their transformative writing on personal blogs and fan fiction websites. Social media also encourages this practice in new, still unexplored ways. Although the technologies and tools available to girls changes across time and space, as does the appeal or aversion to the label ‘girl’, the desire to transform texts remains consistent.

We see this type of transformation of texts happens around the world, as well as throughout different time periods. It takes place amongst friends, within families, in digital global collectives, and in girls’ alone time. This exhibition takes us from the 1600s to the year 2025, and from Chicago to Iran. We hope you enjoy it!