Teens are picking up ideas about their bodies long before anyone sits them down to explain what’s actually going on. From social media to the group chat and playground myths, information about periods, sex and hormones starts early and it is often wildly inaccurate.

For us adults, that creates a tricky gap. When misinformation fills the space, young people can carry confusion or shame around their health without even realising it. Over time, that shapes how much they trust their instincts, how comfortable they feel asking for help and whether they believe their bodies deserve care at all.

So today, we’re busting a few of the most common women’s health myths young people come across online and offline, and sharing what parents and educators can do to help challenge them.

Myth 1: “Period pain is just part of growing up”

Period pain is often brushed off as something to endure, by friends, by adults and sometimes even by medical professionals. But UK research shows that 97% of girls aged 12 to 18 experience period pain, with over two in five describing it as severe. Many say it affects school, concentration and mood (Wellbeing of Women).

Studies have also found a link between severe period pain in adolescence and an increased risk of chronic pain later in life. In other words, early symptoms can matter more than we think.

What we can do:
If a young person is regularly missing school, sport or social plans because of pain, treat it as a health conversation rather than a resilience test. Help them describe how it affects daily life and support them to ask for help instead of pushing through.

Myth 2: “Everyone’s body works the same way”

Many young people grow up thinking there is one version of normal. One way to develop, one way to feel, one way a body should behave.

In reality, bodies change at different speeds and respond differently to hormones, stress and growth. But comparison culture makes difference feel like failure.

What adults can do:
Remind young people that variation is expected. Encouraging them to notice patterns in their own body rather than measuring themselves against friends or social media can reduce anxiety and build body confidence.

Myth 3: “If it were serious, someone would have noticed”

A lot of young people assume that if something was really wrong, an adult or a doctor would automatically spot it. In reality, early symptoms are often quiet, inconsistent or easy to dismiss, especially when someone is still growing.

This belief can stop young people from speaking up, particularly if they already worry about being dramatic, overreacting or not being believed.

What adults can do:
Encourage young people to trust what their body is telling them. Help them practise explaining how something affects their day to day life, not just what the symptom is. Feeling heard can make a huge difference to whether they seek help again.

Myth 5: “Talking about bodies is awkward, it’s better not to”

When bodies are treated as embarrassing, silence quickly fills the gap. And when young people do have questions, the internet often becomes the first stop.

This is how misinformation spreads at speed.

What adults can do:
You do not need to have perfect answers. Simply letting young people know that questions are welcome, even the awkward ones, can reduce shame and open the door to safer conversations over time.

Resources

For teachers & educators

👉 To support this week’s focus on women’s health, we’ve created a ready-to-use lesson resource exploring the gender health gap and why women’s voices matter in healthcare. The slides spotlight leading figures including Dr Nighat Arif and Professor Dame Lesley Regan, unpack key issues such as the underrepresentation of women in medical research and the Women’s Health Strategy for England, and prompt thoughtful classroom discussion around fairness, bias and advocacy in healthcare.

The Female Lead - Women’s Health - Lesson Plan

969KB ∙ PDF file

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For parents & guardians

👉 You don’t need to be a medical expert to support young people with their health. What matters most is creating an environment where questions feel safe and symptoms are taken seriously.

A lot of young people are already getting information from social media, friends and the group chat. The goal isn’t to control that — it’s to balance it.

Here are a few gentle ways to open the door:

• “Have you seen anything online about health lately that made you curious or confused?”

• “If something felt off in your body, would you feel comfortable telling me?”

• “Do you think people take your pain/discomfort seriously enough?”

• “What do you think ‘normal’ means when it comes to bodies?”

• “Is there anything about health that feels awkward to talk about?”

You don’t need to solve everything in one conversation. Even saying “If you ever want to talk about this, I’m here” can make a difference.

And if a young person repeatedly mentions pain, discomfort or feeling unwell, treat it as information, not exaggeration. Help them describe what they’re experiencing and, if needed, advocate for support alongside them.

Trust grows when young people feel believed.

Four titles to add to your ‘to read’ list

Our book recommendations for young women wanting to learn more about their health:

📚 You Grow Girl!: The Complete No Worries Guide to Puberty and Growing Up - Dr. Zoe Williams

📚 The Body Image Book for Girls: Love Yourself and Grow Up Fearless - Charlotte Markey

📚 We Need to Talk About Vaginas: An IMPORTANT Book About Vulvas, Periods, Puberty, and Sex!: - Dr. Allison K. Rodgers(Author), Neon Squid(Author), Annika Le Large(Illustrator)

📚 The Knowledge: Your Guide to Female Health – from Menstruation to the Menopause - Nighat Arif

If the castle residents fail to get their voices heard, the consequences are dramatic: someone is banished from the game and forced to leave, only then revealing their true identity as a Faithful or Traitor upon their exit.

And look - it is undeniably a gripping TV moment. But the stakes, and the dynamics, mirror something all too familiar for women. In everyday life, women regularly find themselves caught in variations of this same struggle; they have ideas, insights and solutions, but too often are interrupted, talked over or just plain dismissed.

We see this play out from childhood classrooms to workplace boardrooms. And not being heard doesn’t just feel frustrating, it has real world consequences. We’re talking about missed opportunities, overlooked expertise, and inequality baked into everyday interactions.

So, this week, we’re unpacking why women’s voices sometimes struggle to land with the same weight as men’s, what we can learn from research and lived experience, and how we can equip the next generation with strategies to be confident, clear, and listened to.

👂The listening gap

Recent UK research and reporting shows that:

• Women are more likely than men to be interrupted or spoken over, particularly in mixed-gender discussions (BBC Worklife, 2023).

• In professional settings, women report that their ideas are frequently ignored until repeated by someone else, often a male colleague, a pattern widely recognised in UK workplaces (Harvard Business Review, cited by BBC, 2023).

• In schools, studies show that boys dominate classroom talk, speaking more often and for longer, while girls are more likely to self-censor or wait to be invited to speak (OECD via The Guardian, 2022).

• When women do speak assertively, they are more likely to be judged negatively, described as “bossy”, “emotional” or “difficult” — labels far less commonly applied to men for the same behaviour (The Guardian, 2023; Chartered Management Institute, 2022).

And these aren’t just isolated moments, they’re systemic patterns that begin early and follow girls into adulthood - into meetings, interviews, relationships and decision making spaces.

This is more than ‘being confident’ - this is about being in environments that know how to listen.

Resources

For teachers & educators:

👉One of the most powerful ways young people learn to use their voice is through structured debate - not shouting, not winning, but thinking, listening and being taken seriously.

These two worksheets are designed to help students practise exactly that.

The Female Lead Debate Skills Worksheets

428KB ∙ PDF file

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Conversation starters for parents & guardians:

Helping young people find their voice isn’t about telling them to speak louder, it’s about helping them notice when they feel heard, and when they don’t.

Try things like:

• “That meeting / class looked intense… did you feel like anyone actually listened to each other?”

• “I always find it easier to talk in small groups, what about you?”

• “Have you ever had an idea you knew was good but didn’t get picked up?”

• “Who do you think gets listened to most in your class and why?”

• “If you could change one thing about how people talk to each other, what would it be?”

None of these need a perfect answer. They’re just small ways to help young people start noticing how voice, confidence and power show up in their own world, and how they can claim space within it.

📚 Reading List

For adults

Books to build confidence, sharpen communication and understand how power and voice work in the real world.

How to Own the Room - Viv Groskop
A practical and reassuring guide to speaking with confidence, whether that’s in meetings, presentations or everyday conversations.

Outspoken: Why Women’s Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Free - Veronica Rueckert
Explores the cultural and psychological reasons women struggle to be heard — and how to reclaim space, authority and self-trust.

Closing the Influence Gap - Carla Miller
A clear, actionable guide for women who want their ideas to carry weight, covering everything from speaking up to being taken seriously at work.

For young people

Stories and ideas that show how voice, power and identity are shaped - and why speaking (and being heard) matters.

The Power - Naomi Alderman
A gripping dystopia where girls develop a new kind of power, turning the world upside down and forcing big questions about voice, fear and control.

You Don’t Own Me - Molly E. Holzschlag
Explores how media and culture shape girls’ identities, helping readers think critically about confidence, image and who gets to define us.

The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
Follows a young woman finding the courage to speak out in a divided community, showing how powerful — and complicated — using your voice can be.

📣 Opportunity for young writers

If this issue has got you thinking about voice, confidence and being heard, here’s a great opportunity worth bookmarking.

The British Society of Magazine Editors’ Young Writers’ Prize with Caitlin Moran is opening in early 2026 and offers bursaries, mentoring and work experience for young writers aged 18-25 across the UK. It’s all about opening doors for voices that might otherwise be overlooked, especially those with fresh ideas but without industry connections or resources to break into journalism.

Winners will receive:

• A cash bursary to support their writing journey

• One year of personal mentorship from Caitlin Moran

• Internships or work experience placements with leading UK magazines and digital outlets

• Highly commended writers will also receive work experience opportunities in the industry

👉 Head over to the BSME Young Writers’ Prize to learn more.

This isn’t happening by accident. ‘Rage Bait’ was named Oxford Dictionary’s Word of the Year 2025, highlighting just how much online content is engineered to provoke, polarise, and keep us glued to our screens.

And when young people are forming their sense of self, this drip feed of comparison, perfectionism and controversy has consequences.

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So, what’s the good news?

Just like you choose what to feed your body, you can choose what to feed your brain. And we can encourage young people to follow creators who promote positivity, not controversy.

👉 This week, we’re helping young people control their social media with The Female Lead’s Disrupt Your Feed creators who bring honesty, joy, depth, representation and real-life inspiration. Disrupt Your Feed is a long running campaign designed to help women and girls take back control of their online lives.

Keep scrolling for our curated list of feed disruptors - voices worth celebrating, following and sharing.

⭐ Top 10 Feed Disruptors for Young People to Follow

(Curated for balance, relevance, representation and real impact.)

Dolly Singh — Comedian, actor, creator

Funny, fearless and unfiltered, Dolly mixes character comedy with honest reflections. A brilliant counter to perfection culture.
📍 @dollysingh

Rina Sawayama — Artist & cultural disruptor

A bold voice on identity, race, sexuality and self-expression. Represents creative rebellion and standing out unapologetically.
📍 @rinasonline

Simone Powderly — Self-love advocate & teen girl mentor

Empowers young women through confidence, healing and community. An uplifting alternative to comparison culture.
📍 @simonepowderly

Bel Priestley — Actor & trans creator

A joyful, open voice for LGBTQ+ visibility. Shares humour, identity and self-acceptance with warmth and courage.
📍 @belpriestley

Ro Mitchell — Podcaster & mental health storyteller

Creates a safe, reflective space for talking about healing, growth and emotional honesty.
📍 @romitchell

Jaycie Fry — Creator & co-host of The Comfort Zone

Funny, relatable and grounding — Jaycie’s content shows that vulnerability is a strength, not something to hide.
📍 @jayciesdiary

Jemma Bella — Beauty & lifestyle creator with chronic illness storytelling

Shows resilience, humour and honesty about life with long COVID — representation young people rarely see.
📍 @_jemma_bella

Victoria Niamh — Recovery advocate & founder of The Glow Up Project

A powerful, hopeful voice for anyone struggling with body image, mental health or recovery.
📍 @victorianiamh

Grace Campbell — Comedian & filmmaker

Sharp, chaotic, hilarious — and brilliant for showing that women can take up space loudly and unapologetically.
📍 @disgracecampbell

Ghenet Randall — Writer & cosy-life creator

Her content is grounding, slow, and gentle — a necessary antidote to overstimulation and endless hustle.

📍 @ghenetactually

Resources

👉 For Teachers/Educators

Try these worksheets as part of your next PSHE lesson exploring internet safety.

👉 For Parents/Guardians

Conversation Starters: Helping young people think about their life online

1. “What kind of stuff on your feed makes you feel good… and what content makes you feel a bit rubbish?”
A simple way to help them notice patterns without judging what they watch.

2. “Have you followed anyone recently who you think is actually good for your brain?”
Frames positive content as something they choose, not something you’re telling them to do.

3. “Do you ever feel like your FYP knows you too well?”
A gentle route into talking about algorithms, without sounding like a lecture.

4. “If you could swap one type of content on your feed for something else, what would you pick?”
Encourages agency - they decide what they want more or less of.

5. “Who online makes you feel seen or understood?”
A great way to surface what matters to them emotionally, and to check whether the influences in their world are positive ones.

During 16 Days of Action Against Gender-Based Violence (25 Nov–10 Dec), we want to explore the ways the roots of harm are found in our daily lives, in the attitudes and behaviours young people start absorbing long before anything escalates.

👉 This week, we’re exploring where everyday misogyny shows up, and how simple conversations can help young people make sense of it.

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⚠️ Misogyny often starts small - that’s why it spreads

Here’s how it can show up in our lives:

• In school: Comments about girls’ bodies or clothes being brushed off as “banter”. Nearly half of secondary school girls (49%) say they’ve been sexually harassed at school, most of it dismissed or downplayed (Ofsted, “Review of sexual abuse in schools and colleges”, 2021).

• Online: Male influencers telling boys that dominance equals strength, with 1 in 3 young men in the UK aged 16–29 say they have a positive view of Andrew Tate (YouGov, 2023). Misogynistic “alpha” content on TikTok has been watched billions of times (Bloomberg analysis of TikTok trend data, 2023).

• Everyday life: Girls planning their journeys home more carefully than boys, and with good reason. Girls are three times more likely to feel unsafe in public spaces than boys (Plan International UK, “State of Girls’ Rights in the UK”, 2022).

⭐ Spotlight: Millie Bobby Brown at the Stranger Things premiere

A recent moment on the Stranger Things 5 premiere red carpet said everything about how subtle, and persistent, misogyny can be.

As Millie Bobby Brown stood for photographers, one shouted the classic command so many women know too well: “Smile!”

Without missing a beat, she turned and replied: “Smile? YOU smile.” Then she walked on.

In the public eye, posing for the cameras apparently still wasn’t “enough” - Millie was expected to look pretty, look pleasant, look grateful. And that expectation lands very differently on girls and women than it does on men. Brown’s response wasn’t disrespectful - it was a boundary. A reminder that she is not there to perform a mood on command.

Resources

👉 For Teachers/Educators

Reflection Worksheet: the cost of silence

Sometimes the hardest choice is whether to speak up or stay quiet when we witness sexism.

How to use: Use our worksheet in class to explore the consequences of speaking up vs staying silent when sexism happens and the impact on the target, bystander and perpetrator.

This activity helps young people see that silence carries its own costs and to think critically about how and when to stand up to sexism.

Teacher further reading: A framework that enables girls to achieve their full potential

We recently had the privilege of attending The House of Lords as a guest of GDST (The Girls’​ Day School Trust) and Baroness Finlay where we marked the release of their new report: Designing the Future of Girls’ Education. It contains expert knowledge and tools to understand how to enable girls to achieve their full potential in a world still characterised by inequalities and personal prejudices, with our Founder, Edwina Dunn OBE as a contributor.

The insights from the report’s contributors are focused on three core principles for educating girls to realise their ambitions: Classroom, Curriculum and Culture.

🔗 Read it here

👉 For Parents/Guardians

Conversation Starters: Helping Young People Spot Everyday Misogyny

Misogyny is often learned quietly through jokes, comments, and attitudes absorbed long before young people have the language to describe it. These prompts can help you open up gentle, meaningful conversations at home.

1. “Have you ever heard someone say something that made you think… that didn’t feel right?”
A simple way to help them reflect on moments of discomfort and why they matter.

2. “What do you think people mean when they say something is ‘just a joke’?”
Start exploring the difference between humour and harm, and who gets to decide.

3. “Do you think boys and girls are treated the same online? What differences have you noticed?”
Helps surface what they’re seeing on TikTok, YouTube or gaming platforms.

4. “If a friend said something sexist, what do you think you’d do?”
A way to rehearse boundaries, empathy and safe ways to respond.

5. “Have you ever felt expected to act or look a certain way because of your gender?”
Supports conversations about pressure, expectations and autonomy.

6. “When you hear someone like Millie Bobby Brown respond confidently on the red carpet, how does it make you feel?”
Brings the spotlight example into the real world, helping them link behaviour to agency and confidence.

7. “What do you think adults could do better when it comes to challenging misogyny?”
Shows them their perspective matters - and opens the door for honest, two-way conversation.

📚 Reading List: For Adults

Books to deepen understanding, spark reflection, and support conversations at home or in the classroom.

1. Invisible Women - Caroline Criado Perez

A sharp, essential look at how gender bias shapes everything from healthcare to transport. Grounding for anyone wanting to understand structural inequality.

2. Everyday Sexism - Laura Bates

A powerful collection of lived experiences from women and girls. Clear, accessible, and an excellent entry point for parents and educators.

3. Boys Will Be Boys - Clementine Ford

Explores how misogyny harms boys as well as girls and how raising boys differently can reshape culture.

4. Beyond the Gender Binary - Alok Vaid-Menon

A compassionate short read that helps adults understand how rigid gender expectations fuel misogyny and harm.

5. The Courage to Be Disliked - Ichiro Kishimi & Fumitake Koga

Not gender-specific, but brilliant for exploring boundaries, autonomy, self-worth and resisting societal pressure, all crucial in conversations about respect.

📘 Reading List: For Young People

Engaging, age-appropriate books that explore equality, respect, stereotypes and confidence.

1. Girls Can Do Anything - Caryl Hart

Perfect for younger readers. A fun, empowering challenge to gender stereotypes.

2. Fight Back - A.M. Dassu

A fantastic YA novel about a teen girl standing up to misogyny, racism and online harassment. Realistic, empowering and brilliant for discussion.

3. Feminism Is for Everybody - bell hooks

A short, clear and empowering explanation of what equality really means, ideal for teens.

4. The Power - Naomi Alderman

Best for older teens (14+). A gripping dystopia where girls become the physically dominant gender, flipping the power structure and forcing readers to question how violence, fear and control are justified. Brilliant for discussions about misogyny, fairness and equality.

5. You Don’t Own Me - Molly E. Holzschlag

A fascinating dive into how the toy industry shapes girls’ identities, great for media literacy and critical thinking.

Every year, when the UK Budget rolls around, headlines scream about tax cuts, spending, and public services. But, behind those numbers sits something more personal. Budgets - national or individual - reflect what we value.

And for women, that story has never been even. We earn less, save less, and retire poorer. Not because we’re bad with money, but because the systems around us were never built with women in mind.

👉 This week, we’re looking at​​ the inequality of finances for women and the conversations we all need to have to empower the next generation.

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⚖️ The system isn’t built for women

Women’s financial inequality isn’t a glitch in the system - it is the system. From boardrooms, to break rooms, the numbers tell a story that hasn’t shifted enough. Women make up almost half of the UK workforce, yet fewer than one in ten FTSE 100 CEOs are female (Russell Reynolds Associates, 2024; CEIC Data, 2024).

The median pay for all employees was 12.8% less for women than for men in April 2025 and women are 50% more likely to be in low paid work than men. It was confirmed this year that the UK’s gender pay gap has been underestimated for more than 20 years. (ONS 2025, Living Wage Foundation)

After having their first child, a mother’s salary falls while men’s earnings continue to climb. And, much of the unpaid labour that keeps families (not to mention the economy) running still lands on women’s shoulders (ONS 2023, TUC 2023).

In the UK, men have £567 billion more invested than women and are twice as likely as women to have stocks and shares. Men also earn on average £260,000 more during their careers than women, which leaves them having 35% less in their pension pots by the time they retire (Centre for Sustainable Business 2025).

Resources

For teachers and educators

A financial equality quiz to do with your class that shines a light on how unbalanced men and women’s finances continue to be in 2025.

👉 Download our worksheet here:

For parents / guardians

👉 Money chat doesn’t have to be serious, but it should be part of our every day chats. Here are a few easy ways to start meaningful conversations about value, fairness, and financial confidence:

“When you think about money, what comes to mind first - saving, spending, or earning?”

“What’s something you think is worth spending money on, and what feels like a waste?”

“If someone gave you £100 to invest or save, what would you do with it and why?”

“When you imagine being an adult, what kind of relationship do you want with money - comfortable, adventurous, independent?”

“Have you started thinking about how you might make money in the future?”

The aim is to remind young people to consider what money means to them and empower them to make smart, ambitious decisions.

💷 What money means to me

“Too often women are left out of the financial conversations. To me, money equals power, not the power to control others but the quiet kind. The power to choose where you live, the power to leave a situation that’s no longer serving you, and the power to say yes and no, on your terms.”

What money means to YOU

“To me money equals freedom.” - Aleksandra

“Being able to afford stuff on my own without needing help was when I felt I had finally found my power. I still budget everyday though as the fear of losing it never goes away.” - Shaunie

“To me, money = unlimited choices and freedom to restart, whenever and wherever.” - Adriana

“Money = Choices” - Felicia

“Money means independence.” - Amaka

“Freedom, freedom, freedom.” - Ana Claudia

“Money means power, freedom, more enlightenment and opportunities.” - Ifumi

“Money can’t make you happy but it can facilitate things that make you happy like spending time with loved ones. Money gives you choices and an ability to help others. Money makes life easier.” - Gill

💰 Financial influencers to follow:

Abigail Foster - @abigailrosefoster

Laura Turner - @thriftylondoner

Pennies to Pounds - @penniestopoundspod

Ellie Austin-Williams - @thisgirltalksmoney

Clare Seal -

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We spend so much time talking about romantic relationships - how to find them, how to fix them, how to keep them - we sometimes forget the ones that will really anchor us are the female friendships we quietly build along the way in chaos and in calm.

Wicked: For Good’s release feels like the perfect moment to talk about that power. Because at its heart, Wicked isn’t really a film about tin men and magic wands. It’s a story about two women learning who they are - together, and apart.

👉 This week, we’re looking at why female friendships matter, how they’re portrayed, and what we can do to help the next generation see them for what they really are: one of life’s most transformative forces.

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🪄 The spell of female friendship

Good female friendships are a kind of alchemy. They shape who we become, while teaching us empathy, boundaries, and how to show up.

But they can be complicated! The narratives around women’s friendships are written with tension built in and films and TV shows lean into this narrative of female friends turned rivals (hello Cassie and Maddy in Euphoria), or groups defined by jealousy and betrayal (ahem, Gossip Girl).

It’s no coincidence that history treated women gathering together as dangerous. Because, when women get together, they create change. From the Greenham Common peace camp, to the lesbians who cared for gay men during the AIDS crisis, to writers’ collectives and protests, female solidarity has been a force that unsettles the status quo.

Even now, that unease lingers in culture. The ‘catfight’ headlines, the ‘mean girl’ trope, the competitive undertone that pits women against each other.

In reality, female friendship is one of the very few places women can actually drop the performance. Free from the male gaze, women can be ambitious, insecure, funny, furious - the full spectrum of human emotions. Where being ‘too much’ actually just feels like enough.

Resources

For teachers & educators

👉 Download our worksheet here:

For parents & guardians

👉 Conversation starters for long walks, dinner table chats and car journeys:

• “Who’s your person at the moment, the one you can be yourself around?”

• “What makes someone a good mate, do you reckon? What do you do to be a good friend?”

• “Have you ever had a friendship that felt more like hard work than fun? What made it tricky? What did you do about it?”

• “Do you ever see girls on telly or TikTok who are meant to be best friends but just end up arguing? Does that feel real or a bit fake?”

• “If you and your mates were a little gang, what would your superpower be?”

• “What’s something your friends do that always makes your day better?”

The aim isn’t to fix their friendships or moralise them - it’s to remind young people that good ones will lift them up, not make them feel small.

🪞 8 titles to add to you ‘to watch/read’ list

Our TV and film recommendations that get the magic of female friendships spot on:

📺 Derry Girls – friendship as survival, laughter as resistance.

📺 Sex Education – friendship through heartbreak, awkwardness, and evolution.

📺 Fleabag – a love story between two women who’ve known loss, regret, and the healing power of being seen.

📺 Girls – messy, flawed, and often uncomfortable, but an honest take on friendship in your twenties.

📚 Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney – friendship stretched by distance, adulthood, and the quiet fear of growing apart.

📚 Expectation by Anna Hope – friendship tested by time, ambition, and the lives we thought we’d have by now.

📚 Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo – friendship as community, solidarity, and the unseen threads that connect women across generations.

📚 Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton – friendship as home, heartbreak, and the truest love story of all.

Some of these are better suited to 16+ (Girls and Fleabag all explore themes around sex and identity), but they all have something to say about the complicated, beautiful business of female friendship.

Watch our exclusive interview with Cynthia Erivo here…

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Fast forward to today and, while the bonfires are gone, echoes of those old accusations still remain. Girls who are “too much”. Women who are “difficult” or “crazy”. Teenagers who are expected to calm down, smile, and fit in without first being given the tools to express themselves.

The truth about witches is far simpler and less frightening than humans believed in the 1600s: tears, anger, and questioning the status quo are not signs of weakness or insanity. They’re part of being human and - crucially - part of how we grow, and connect.

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👉 This week we’re discussing the tone-policing and sharing tools for teachers and educators to use in their RSHE (England), RSHP (Scotland), or RSE (Northern Ireland and Wales) lessons, and parents, carers and guardians to use at home to explore this topic. Keep reading...

The quiet policing of women’s feelings

Men and women feel emotions with the same depth, the difference lies in how we’re taught to express them, and how those expressions are received.

Anger as threat
Female anger makes people uncomfortable. When men express rage, it’s seen as power, conviction, or control. When women do the same, it’s labelled hysteria, irrationality, or dangerous. From a young age, girls learn that anger is something to suppress and hide. But it doesn’t disappear - it mutates. It turns inward, becoming tension, self-blame, anxiety.

Tears as translation
When anger can’t be expressed safely, it finds another outlet. For many women, that’s tears. Not because they’re weak or fragile, but because crying is one of the few emotional expressions society permits them. Yet even then, tears are misunderstood and seen as an overreaction, instability, or loss of control. What looks like sadness is often frustration with no language.

Stress as inadequacy
When women show signs of pressure or burnout, it’s read as a lack of resilience. The same behaviour in men is seen as the cost of ambition. Women aren’t less capable - they’re simply judged through a narrower lens of what strength is meant to look like.

Silence as suspicion
Quiet men are called introspective or deep. Quiet women are called cold or moody. Emotional neutrality is a privilege women rarely get. They’re expected to be open but not vulnerable, confident but not angry, calm but not detached.

Adolescence as rehearsal
These lessons start early. As girls move through puberty, they’re flooded with emotion but given few tools to express it. Physical changes collide with social expectations, and without safe spaces or the right language, many learn to internalise rather than articulate. It’s not that young women feel too much - it’s that they’re taught too little about how to feel freely.

This isn’t new. From Salem, to suffragettes, to Sylvia Plath - society has long recast women’s deep feelings as threat. The language might change - witch, hysterical, drama queen - but the intent is the same: to make women doubt and question their own emotions.

We’re on a mission to shift this narrative for the next generation - here’s how you can too.

Resources

For teachers & educators:

This activity invites students to challenge gendered assumptions around emotions and personality traits, supporting more open conversations about confidence, ambition, and emotional expression.

👉 Download our worksheet here:

For parents & guardians:

👉 Conversation starters for long walks, dinner table chats and car journeys:

• On feeling all the feels
  “Ever had a day when everything just feels… a lot? What helps you get it out - a good cry, a rant, music, something else?”

• On anger and fairness
  “What sort of things make you properly cross? Do you feel like people listen when you’re angry, or tell you to calm down?”

• On school and pressure “Does school ever feel a bit heavy - homework, friends, all of it? How do you notice when you’re stressed?”

• On labels that stick “Have you seen someone at school or online called dramatic, crazy or attention-seeking? What do you think was really going on?”

• On role models
  “Is there anyone you look up to - maybe a musician, activist, even someone at school - who talks honestly about mental health or big feelings?”

From women accused of witchcraft to artists and activists labelled ‘mad, sad, or bad’ - the real through line isn’t danger, it’s misunderstanding.

By giving future generations language for their feelings, and the space to use it, we’re helping break an ancient spell, so strong emotions can become what they always were: a source of power, creativity, and change.

RISE at LeadHERship Day with Laura Bates

Holly, Head of Data and Education at The Female Lead:

Recently, I had the privilege of spending the day at Leighton Park School for their LeadHERship Conference hosted for girls from six of Reading Borough’s secondary schools. Alongside the incredible author and activist Laura Bates, we delivered sessions as part of The Female Lead RISE Programme and I was reminded why this work matters so deeply. Across multiple key stages, students explored data, research, confidence-building, and practical tools to shape their futures. The students were full of curiosity, energy, and ambition.

This is exactly what The Female Lead aims to do: empower young women to dream bigger, plan smarter, and step boldly into their futures. Days like this reaffirm why giving students the space, tools, and inspiration to lead is so vital.

If you’re a teacher or school leader and want to bring something like this to your students, we’d love to connect and explore how we can inspire your students to RISE.

This is the first edition of RISE by The Female Lead, our brand new newsletter for teachers and educators, mentors, parents and guardians of the next generation.

Think of it as your fortnightly ready-to-use resources, ideas and inspiration coming straight to your inbox to spark classroom discussions, share influential role models and help young people grow with confidence, curiosity and equality at their core.

In this issue you’ll find:
💛 A welcome from Holly, Head of Data and Education at The Female Lead on why we’re focused on supporting the next generation.
📚 Essential feminist reads for curious teens, from funny, peer-like essays to timeless classics.
🔍 Must-read news covering the key stories to shape young futures today.

Why subscribe to RISE by The Female Lead

The Female Lead is a charity empowering young people through stories and science.
Since 2015, we’ve reached 2.5 million students in 25,000 schools with free teaching resources and built a community of nearly 9 million supporters worldwide.

RISE is here to support you - whether you’re planning RSHE (England), RSHP (Scotland), or RSE (Northern Ireland and Wales) lessons or keen to find ways to talk to your teens at home. Each issue, we’ll dive into the topics that matter the most: from healthy relationships and money confidence to tackling sexism in school.

RISE can be used as your RSHE/RSHP/RSE toolkit with quick subject ideas, and ready-to-use activities. And for those in England, it will support you as you prepare for the new RSHE curriculum becoming statutory in 2026.

From sexism and misogyny to online safety, consent, mental health and financial wellbeing, RISE will help you meet educational requirements while inspiring the teens to see possibility, not limits.

Subscribe now

Introduction to RISE by The Female Lead

Hello! I’m Holly, Head of Data and Education at The Female Lead. Our mission is simple but powerful: to help every girl feel empowered to take the lead in her own life.

After a decade of working with data and real-world stories, I’ve seen how often women and girls are undersupported and underestimated, and it’s why I’m so passionate about what I do. Through my work with The Female Lead, I get to turn insight into action: creating activities, events and conversations that help young people see that their voice, values and visions for the future truly matter.

Over the past two years, I’ve worked closely with schools and students across the UK to develop our new digital programme, RISE - testing activities, gathering feedback and learning directly from young people themselves.

This newsletter is our space to share that journey with you: the teachers, parents, carers and mentors shaping the next generation. In future editions you’ll find:

• Quick, easy-to-use classroom and at-home resources covering everything from careers and money to relationships and role models; tested by teachers and supported by students.

• Invites to exclusive opportunities and events designed to spark ambition and self-belief; from red carpet premieres to work experience programmes.

• Fresh insights from our data and research, bringing the real world into the classroom so that girls understand the barriers that exist, and have the tools to overcome them.

Our hope is that something here sparks a conversation or moment of inspiration that changes the way a young person sees themselves, because:

‘When you see clearly, you believe differently. And when you believe differently, you act differently. That’s where real change begins.’

I’m so glad you’re on this journey with us,
Holly

📚 Essential Feminist Reads for Curious Teens (and grown ups!)

Looking for books that spark big conversations (without feeling like homework)? Here are five favourites to slip into a school library, classroom shelf or gift bag.

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and Other Lies) – Scarlett Curtis

A punchy mix of essays from brilliant women. Funny, honest and as easy to dip into as a group chat.

Girl Up – Laura Bates

Laugh-out-loud funny, this guide by Laura Bates, friend of The Female Lead, takes on sexism, double standards and everything teen girls face with no sugar-coating.

This Book Is Feminist – Jamia Wilson

Bright, visual and inclusive, this one feels like a handbook for navigating identity and power for Gen Z and Gen Alpha. Intersectional and teen-friendly.

Slay in Your Lane: The Black Girl Bible (Teen Edition) – Yomi Adegoke & Elizabeth Uviebinené

Empowering and specific to Black girls’ experiences, essential reading for everyone wanting to understand intersectionality and representation.

We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Short, sharp and classic. Based on Chimamanda’s viral TED Talk, it’s the perfect gateway read for any age.

We Rise By Lifting Others - The Female Lead

The stories of 67 remarkable women from diverse backgrounds and with different life experiences, interviewed exclusively for this collection. All show the incredible strength, talent, ingenuity, resilience, and bravery that women possess.

Pop a copy in the school library, recommend to a student, or read together at home - every story is a conversation-starter.

Join the conversation

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• Explore The Female Lead Substack → for more stories and science empowering women of all ages

• Share this newsletter with a colleague, school or parent group

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Thanks for reading - and for helping us equip the next generation to lead with confidence.

💛 The Female Lead Team