Top 10 Female Role Models AND Communicators of 2014

As the year wraps up, we are rich with pop-culture rankings including Vanity Fair’s 10 Sexiest Captain Hooks, Paste Magazine’s The 15 Best Monkeys and an annual favorite the Top 10 Worst Celebrity Role Models, which includes the likes of Rhianna, Miley Cyrus, and the Kardashians and their trend-setting ability to put appearance, money, promiscuity, and ego above substance, smarts, charity and accomplishment.

Turns out, these same celebrity role models have a powerful impact on the way young girls and women speak; the way we present ourselves to the world.  And, as has been my 2014 mantra, we need to empower girls and women to find their own authentic voice; to…like, umm, you know…. stop hedging, using fillers, and speak with confidence and conviction.

So, for this 2014 wrap up, I thought it was time to offer our girls a “best of” with 10 impressive female role models who also happen to be articulate, clever and inspiring.   

I want to grow up to be just like all of them.

1). Tina Fey. 

“If you retain nothing else, always remember the most important rule of beauty which is: who cares?

Comedian, actress, writer, producer and dedicated mom Tina Fey was not only the third female winner of the Mark Twain award in 2010, but also the youngest ever.  In her 2011 bestseller “Bossy Pants,” she nails it with her, “A Mother’s Prayer for her Child,” offering hilarious and well-heeled wisdom on raising a daughter.  She is a formidable presenter, and will again be with her sidekick Amy Poehler (another of my picks) leading the ceremony at this year’s Golden Globes.   

Insta-Fame or Insta-Shame: The Instagram Game

* This story was contributed by Amanda H. Cronin, my own Digital Daughter.

Illustration by Koosje Koene

A few days ago, I was scrolling through my camera roll when I came upon a photo that I had taken about a year ago. I was supposed to be doing my homework, but it was #throwbackthursday so I simply needed to post something. Seven minutes had passed and I was still cropping, brightening, and saturating the image to look vivid and professional. By the time I hit the “share” button (after spending a minute or so coming up with a clever caption and location), I had spent fifteen minutes posting a picture on Instagram. And I was proud of it.

Do you have an Instagram account? Odds are, yes − and you are one of the 75 million people that use the app daily. According to recent stories from CBS News, techcrunch.com, and TIME Magazine, Instagram is the most popular form of social media and is gaining popularity every day. There are myriad reasons for its wild success, but there’s one clear frontrunner: the connection users feel to others. 

Posting “Like a Girl” – P.L.E.A.S.Z. Think Twice

Run like a girl.  Talk like a girl.  Throw like a girl.  Post like a girl?

The pro-female advertising movement that has been attempting to empower us with ads like Pantene’s “Don’t Be Sorry, Be Strong and Shine,” Always’ “Run Like a Girl Campaign,” and Goldieblox's “You are Beauty, and Beauty is Perfection,” got me thinking…(as did CNN Digital’s Kelly Wallace great piece on girl empowerment ads in which I was happily quoted.)

How do our gender roles play out when we ourselves control the medium – or the app as it may be?  Is there any real stereotype to what girls tend to post on their social channels?   And with that, what would it mean to “post like a girl”?  

It seems that girls are biologically wired for social media.  We are more expressive (just look at our frequent use of emoji’s J  ) and willing to share and reveal more about our personal lives.  But with our Instagram and Facebook addictions, are we posting images that portray us being less than empowered, or just too self-involved?  (Note to self… maybe I shouldn’t I have posted that pic of me snuggling with my new puppy?) 

Just as I was mulling this over, Natashe Hinde of the Huffington Post wrote a story exploring what guys think we pose like on Instagram. Natashe was inspired by a social experiment conducted by Witty + Pretty's Ashley Hesseltine where she asked guys to replicate girls’ most common Instagram poses.  The results: “The I’ve Just had a Pedi,” "Fashion Blogger” (#fblogger), "The #OOTD (outfit of the day), "The Gym Selfie," and "The 'Girls' Night Out' Shot.”  The guys do look ridiculous.  But, I guess that is the point.