Gender Stereotypes Have No Place In This Empowering Magazine For Girls

"Mom, did you know that space is for boys?"

When Erin Bried heard her 5-year-old daughter, Ellie, ask her this, at first she felt anger at the idea that someone would try to limit her daughter's wonder and interests. Then, she felt inspired. Now, the author and former magazine editor is launching a magazine called Kazoo that is dedicated to empowering girls to be whatever they want to be.

Kazoo, which is still in its Kickstarter phase, aims to tackle gender stereotypes by showing girls that none of their interests are reserved just for boys. The magazine, which is for girls ages 5 to 10, will be published quarterly and includes topics like science, technology, nature and art. Bried says she was inspired to start Kazoo not only by her daughter's question about space, but because of her own disappointment with what she noticed one day while browsing through the other magazines for kids.

"I don’t think there was a single title for girls that didn’t include a story on pretty hair," she told The Huffington Post. "What’s more, every cover I saw featured a princess, a doll or a little girl wearing makeup. Since my daughter happens to prefer pirates to princesses, we left the store that day empty-handed."

Bried, who also has an 8-month old daughter, said each issue of Kazoo will feature content created by kids, such as drawings, comics and photos. However, the rest of the content will either be created by or related to important women in activism, art, science and more. "Kazoo will be created for kids, not by kids," Bried clarified. 

For example, artist Mickalene Thomas, whose work has been featured at the Whitney Museum of American Art and The Museum of Modern Art, is turning one of her works into a color-and-glitter by number project for Kazoo readers. Other notable women will contribute recipes, short stories and comics, according to the magazine's Kickstarter.

So far, Bried has raised more than $45,000 through Kazoo's Kickstarter campaign as of Friday. If Kazoo comes to fruition, Bried explained that the magazine will spread the message that little girls can love princesses, pirates and everything in between.

"I want to create Kazoo to give girls the tools, and the space, to dream, build, explore, think and ask questions," she said. "I want them to know that the world is full of possibility."

Learn more about Kazoo on Kickstarter.

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