AUTHOR EVENT: ‘I’m Just A Girl’ with Jess Bacon
House of Books & Friends is ecstatic to welcome Jess Bacon to the store on 15th June at 6pm to discuss their book, ‘I’m Just a Girl’: How Reclaiming Girlhood Can Redefine Womanhood. As well as a discussion on their book, there will also be a Q&A, plus the chance to get your books signed by Jess. The event will be chaired by our bookseller, Brooke.
We are leaning into bringing your ‘girlhood**’ into your current self, so we encourage you to dress in a way that would make younger you proud, and we will be writing notes to our younger selves in the talk!
**’girlhood’ in this sense is gender neutral – what aspects of your youth do you wish to hold onto? What do you think you had to ‘leave behind’ as you entered adulthood?
Tickets
Click here for a book and ticket
About the book
It is a truth universally acknowledged that boys will be boys and girls have to grow upโฆ
Over the past decade, girlhood has repainted the cultural landscape pink. From Taylor Swiftโs The Eraโs Tour to Barbiemania, this nostalgia for girlhood has become a billion-dollar business, seen in the music we listen to, the clothes we wear, and the 2000s movies (and their long-awaited sequels) we watch on repeat.
But at a time when womenโs rights are being rewritten, this resurgence in girlhood is complicated. Women are caught between a genuine desire to relive the wild freedom, joy and safety found in girlhood, while facing an ever-growing pressure to hold onto their youth. The world demands women continue to look like girls, yet they are rarely given the space to actually be girls.
In Iโm Just a Girl, journalist Jess Bacon introduces readers to the โsecond girlhoodโ, the extended adolescence that adult women have crafted for themselves as a means to reconnect with the part of themselves they left behind: the girl.
Reconnecting with our inner girl is an empowering act of rebellion, allowing us to reclaim what was once taken from us. Jess shows us how our second girlhood offers a return to creativity and play that can ultimately improve our relationships, our mental wellbeing and establish a renewed sense of self. For far too long we have been presented with a false choice between womanhood and girlhood โ this book is a celebration of a new way of being where we can fully embrace both.