Kat Bauman
Age 15
Challenging Media Images of Girls

Often media messages tell girls that if they would only buy a product, they could be more beautiful and popular. Kat Bauman wants girls to feel good about the way they look - just the way they are.

Bauman was among a group of Seattle girls who participated in the Reel Grrls Media project. The teens made a video together that looked at the ways girls are portrayed in the media. The video was recently shown at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

As part of the project, Bauman created a video that shows how media images of women are not the same as real-life women. "And in the long run, the images that we see are not necessarily what is beautiful," she said.

Making the video helped her feel more comfortable with herself. "For someone who doesn't see herself as beautiful, to then create something so powerful as this video is very reaffirming."

For more information about the Reel Grrls Media project, visit:
http://www.911media.org/youth/reelgrrls.html