She’s Shameless:

Women write about growing up, rocking out and fighting back
By Adriana Rolston

These are stories for every woman, young or old, who has ever felt like a misfit, or who don’t fit the mould of the “good girl.” Women who saw rules about how to look, think and act scrawled on the chalkboard and sought to furiously erase them.

She’s Shameless is an anthology of 25 women’s reflections on their experiences as girls and teens. But Shameless magazine editor Megan Griffith-Greene and publisher Stacey May Fowles make it clear in the introduction that these are not cautionary tales. There is no list of do’s and don’ts. What you’ll find instead are raw, defiant and honest journal-style narratives from women of different races and sexualities, women who are artists, activists or feminists, who often weren’t accepted by their peers and survived to tell the tale.

The short stories deal with guilt and rebellion about dating boys, loving girls, having small breasts, being too skinny, vaginas, having sex, self-inflicting pain, making zines, reading erotica, getting pregnant, having a baby or having an abortion, striving to be normal and learning that normal never existed in the first place. It’s evident that for every way to conform there is a way to break free.

These tales of girlhood and womanhood are powerful and relatable. When you read them, you will feel as though you know these shameless women, these strong sisters, these kindred spirits, even if you’ve never met them. This is the place to embrace their stories. m

Megan Griffith-Greene and Stacey May Fowles

*Featured in McClung's 2010 Winter issue