Ever heard of Mortelle Adele--this bold little girl, who is hilarious and free, created by Antoine Dole and illustrated by Diane Lefeyer since 2014? 

Adèle has an amazing imagination when it comes to oversized goofy ideas, she's not the nicest girl, and she gladly wreaks havoc in her entourage and especially for her parents. So, why do children (and parents!) love her so much?!

Take the test: put a volume of Mortelle Adèle in the hands of a child (girl or boy from 7 years old on as one of their first books to read), and wait 3 minutes. You are guaranteed a quick burst of laughter!

Mortelle Adèle was one of Ella's first books that read (Ella's now 10). Very quickly, we collected Adèle's whole universe. Ella was looking forward to each new volume of the graphic novel series (and we had to rush to the bookshop on release day of course!).

So what does she love about this little super heroine? She's funny and fearless. She makes her own rules and imagines XXL nonsense. She turns clichés and rules in their head ...

During lock down in Australia, we launched the "Mini Talks" live on Instagram (kind, simple discussions to discover the journeys of inspiring women with male-dominated passions or  jobs.)

Ella asked our guests questions, and she asked me if we could also interview the authors behind her heroine, Mortelle Adèle!

Since we were interviewing inspirational women, why not find out more about Adele, who was an inspiration to her and many other children?

So we got in touch with Bayard, publisher of Mortelle Adèle, and on July 6th, we set a date to talk with Antoine Dole, creator and scriptwriter of Mortelle Adèle and Diane Lefeyer, her cartoonist! YES!

They gave us a great gift by sharing this moment with Ella (and me!) and all the future spectators by even reserving her some surprises to discover in our video!

We are very happy to have been able to live this moment and especially to be able to share it here on Pourquoi Princesse.

Antoine Dole, Diane Lefeyer and their extraordinary character, Mortelle Adèle, share loud and clear the values that led us to create Pourquoi Princesse.

Here are two little quotes that we have already shared on social media but that we engrave here because we love them so much!

"But it's completely unfair the princesses have to kill each other to hope to be talked about when the boys become heroes without having to wiggle their fingers!"  In Mortelle Adèle au pays des contes défaits at Bayard. Antoine Dole aka Mr Tan

– Diane LeFeyer 

"I think it's important to show boys that they can have girls as heroines. And also to show girls that they can become anything they want, like Adèle who will one day be President of the Galaxy!".

Antoine Dole aka Mr Tan, in the 2nd issue of Mortelle Adèle Magazine Magazine. 

If you want to know more, go ahead and discover the collection, there's plenty to do! (Only in French for now).

To date, 17 volumes of the graphic novel, 1 book, 4 magazines, extras, specials, games and a whole universe of merchandising products!

Long life to Mortelle Adèle and her whole universe!

(Please note that this Giveaway contains mainly gifts in French, we promise we will be doing an English version soon for our great English speaking community !)

To build a better world for tomorrow together, we need the right tools.

When it comes to gender equality between girls and boys, we've still got a long way to go . . . and that's we started this great adventure and created Pourquoi Princesse!

To celebrate the end of this very different kind of school year (already), we're offering you the chance to win an amazing selection of gifts to bring along this summer on your stereotype-free vacation. 

The prize totals over 200€ in value including:

• Inspiring books for the whole family,
• games for both boys AND girls and
• T-shirts to unleash their superpowers!

So are you in?!

The giveaway runs from June 15th to June 21st (until midnight Paris time!).

Click this link, register and you're good to go!

The more you share, the more you increase your chances of winning!

Winner will be selected on Monday, June 22nd!

But what exactly will you find in this amazing prize?!

Books for grown-ups!

Tu seras un homme -féministe- mon fils ! by Aurélia Leblanc at Marabout - 15.90€

Guide des métiers pour les petites filles qui ne veulent pas finir princesses by Catherine Dufour in Livre de Poche - 7.90€

Fille-garçon même éducation by Pihla Hintikka and Elisa Rigoulet at Marabout - 15.90€

Books for Kids

You Can Be a Pilot by Pourquoi Princesse - 17.95€

Share the Colors by Pourquoi Princesse - 10€

Le livre qui te dit enfin tout sur les filles et les garçons (la fin du grand mystère) by Françoize Boucher at Nathan's - 10.90€

Cool games for girls AND boys!

Tech will Save Us Sew & Glow Kit for creating lightning badges - 24.99 €

The Animal Vision Kit by Koa Koa 29.90 €

A Lottie doll "Stargazer" and an astronaut's outfit - 34 €

The game of the 7 (real) families from Family Builder & Apiki - 11,90 €

Guaranteed stereotype-free clothing for kids!

2 T-Shirts (or baby onesies!) to choose freely from the Pourquoi Princesse collection worth 25€ each.

With all these amazing prizes, we promise you a well equipped summer full of gender equality!

Again we thank you so much for supporting us and being a part of our amazing community. 

We hope you enjoy this giveaway. Don't hesitate to share it with your friends, family and everyone you know. 

During this quarantine, music is very important in our home ... whether it is to work on our own during the week or to relax during the weekend, there is always music somewhere!
Of course, it's not always easy to have a playlist that everyone likes at the same time! Sometimes everyone keeps their headphones on, and sometimes we share the sound together.
We tried to create a small Girl Power playlist ... An eclectic selection of women that we love and that inspire us, who make (almost) everyone happy!
Tell us about your favorite female musicians, singers, authors, we would love to complete this list !
If you have a Spotify account, you can collaborate directly on the Playlist here :

here: POUQUOI PRINCESSE GIRL POWER PLAYLIST  !
Go go girls Go!!!

1. Kate Bush  // Running Up that Hill

2. Stevie Nicks – Fleetwood Mac // Dreams

3. Blondie // Call Me

4. PJ Harvey // Send His love to Me

5. Carly Simon // You’re So Vain

6. Patti Smith // Because the Night

7. Billie Eilish // Bad Guys

8. Leslie Gore // You don’t Own Me

9. Bikini Kill // Rebel Girl

10. Beyoncé // Run the World (Girl)

11. Joan Jett & The Blackearts // Bad Reputation

12. Lou Doillon // Where to Start

13. Angèle // Balance ton quoi

14. Ms Lauryn Hill // Doo Wop

15. Alicia Keys // Girl on Fire

16. Cyndi Lauper // Girls Just Want to Have Fun

17. Taylor Swift // The Man

18. Sharon Van Etten // Seventeen

19. Melodie Gardot // Morning Sun

20. Phoebe Bridgers // Motion Sickness

Noémie De Lattre is an amazing woman we are so happy to introduce to those who don’t already know her! Brilliant, funny, committed, we love her posts so real ad accurate that lead to awareness. Actress, author and much more, she has imagined a unique and essential show "Féministe pour Homme" (“Feminist for man”) until the end of April at Théâtre La Pépinière in Paris!) with the ambition of "revaluing the image of feminism and showing that it is a commitment of all humans, and not of women against men", we love it! Her journey, her strength and resilience inspire us and we were very thankful to have a few words with this great woman who shows the way to a more equal world!

Actress, actress, comedian, comedian, author, all at once? Is that the right way to describe your profession?

Absolutely! That's very good!

Why did you choose this path?

For the artistic path: It's always been there since I was a child, really.

I've gone through all the stages at every age so that this passion is taken seriously, especially by my parents.

My mother told me if at 7 years old , you still want to do this, I will take you seriously. At 7 years old I still wanted to do that.

Then she told me if at the age of 11, you still want to do that, I will take you seriously. I did! At 11 I still wanted to do that!  So she told me : “Graduate and then you can do whatever you want!”

I did what I wanted and I didn't even wait for graduation. Because I played the first shows I wrote myself when I was 15 years old!

Writing, acting, directing... All that has really always been my ambition, my passion.

Concerning my commitment around equality and feminism: It came very late, I was one of the people I'm talking to today, I even had a bit of a caricatured vision of feminists.

I come from very, very far on this subject.

It was a long-term awareness, it wasn't a "click" at all.

It came when I was working on the radio, I had to write short sketches. I was thinking about what to do, and Frédéric Lopez (host of the show) told me "tell me what makes you angry", it's funny and interesting.

And very quickly I realized that everything that made me angry was related to my gender!

After that it went pretty fast in the progression, and once you put on the glasses on and open your eyes... you see everything and you can't accept without saying anything anymore!

 Did you have role models (female or not!) when you were a child?

 In fact my mother, who didn't claim to be a feminist at all, was an extremely virile person (I say "virile" and not "masculine"!) in terms of her profession, her looks, everything! The cars she drove, the clothes she wore, the job she did, the way she addressed people, what she passed on to me, everything! She was a “real man”, my mother! And a manly man at that!

She was expecting a boy, my name should have been Arthur, she was very disappointed that I was a girl !

So she dressed me up and did my hair like a boy for a very long time.

And I was obsessed with femininity, outrageous femininity because I had no model for it anywhere. And I was fascinated by ultra-feminine icons like Rita Hayworth or Marilyn Monroe. Very early on I wore heels, I wore make-up, very early, very sexy, very feminine. That was my obsession.

But my interests that shaped my thinking had nothing to do with this. I became interested in philosophy very soon, like Nietzsche or Schopenhauer, but I never considered them as models.

I was passionate about them, I read them, but I didn't identify with them at all.

What were your favourite games and activities as a child?

I was very often alone and not allowed to watch TV ... so I kept myself busy and was very creative.

I recreated my favorite cartoons with egg cans, I built things, I customized Barbies...

Back home, we didn't really have the right to be bored... otherwise it was because we lacked resources.

Also, I used to dress up, I used to do shows...

In your journey Have you ever felt that being a girl/woman was a drag or was simply considered as original/atypical? (especially when it comes to humour)?

And if so, what did you think at that moment, what made you move forward?

No, I never felt the feeling of being perceived as atypical or original.

But, I have always been a creator AND a performer, and in all the groups, the companies, of which I was a part, I was always remembered only as an actress only.

And since I was considered rather pretty, it seemed obvious to perceive me as an actress.

I was told so many "Oh, yes, you write too! "It's crazy!

I remember a contest, "Made in Palmade" in which we had to write sketches... and I won almost every other week, I won for sketches I had written and each time the producer would say "Oh yes, it's true that you write yourself! »

That was insane!

I was always brought back to being an actress first. To the point that I kind of think thought myself. So I very quickly assumed my status as an actress, and it took me years, waiting to receive several awards, before I could say to myself "well ok I'm also an author actually!  It took me a very long time to be recognized and to feel legitimate for this part of my work.

Some other times being a woman made a real difference and that have been hard:

- Obviously the harassment side, which is the daily life of actresses in general.

- And then when I had my child, I was discriminated. But what was most violent was that my entire entourage at that time took sides against me. Sometimes they thought they were doing the right thing and protecting me... but everyone advised me to shut up or they told me that I had gone too far...

For me it's really the anger that I'm still having a hard time going through.

What's a typical day in your life like?

Apart from some rare moments of holidays, I never stop, 24/7 except 6 weeks a year at best!

I wake up early enough to take my son to school.

In the morning I'm more creative so it’s time for writing and all the "to do" things. I try to be very efficient in this short period of time.

I am totally focused because time is running out!

In the afternoons I'm more in action, so it’s time for work meetings, rehearsals, video shootings, events, interviews, production meetings...

Then I try to get my son back from school (that's a "break" ...!).

And in the evening I go back to a creative phase or I go out to play or see a play...

My working day stops at 8pm at best and midnight at worst!

What do you like most and least about your job?

The most: choosing how I use my time. The times when I can manage my creative time freely, over a day or half-day, are the ones I prefer.

The least: when I am no longer master of my time! I'm surrounded by a lot of people, but there are still a lot of things like reminders, phone calls that I could do without!

What advice would you give to children who are afraid of failure?

It is rare to be aware that you are afraid of failure.

There's a quote I love, "I decided to be myself because others were already taken”. This quote is very inspiring to me. In fact everyone is himself in his own life and does things only for himself. What happens to you and the way you feel it belongs only to you. Sadness, anger or even love of others is only about them, not about you. Even if you are the subject of these emotions.

Failure is relative. If you understand this uniqueness, you cannot fail!

How do you keep your strength and positivity in the face of all these challenges? Do you have a habit, a ritual?

Every year I do an Ayurvedic retreat in India.

And all year long I try to follow these precepts with yoga, meditation, I also try to train myself in wise thoughts. I put all the chances on my side! I "work hard" to be happy!

What do you think we could do, or create so that girls can be inspired and grow up thinking that they can do anything?

Radically change the paradigm, totally change what we teach them at school and at home. I see it with my son, I spend a lot of time just deconstructing what he receives from the world. We've got a long way to go...

What advice do you have for girls who need to deal with barriers and simply believe that they can't?

It's so understandable that they feel these limitations, and at the same time so not normal... I don't know if one piece of advice can be enough.

It's the parents, or people surrounding them who can make a difference. If it was enough advice, we wouldn't have a real problem.

And it's annoying, that it's still the little girls, to bear the responsibility of "overcoming obstacles", it's the world in which we live in that doesn't turn around in the right way! It's not up to them to bear this responsibility. It is the whole of society that has to do it!

Did I mention I am not a morning person? I roll over and groan, “Ten more minutes.” I know they’ll be back in 5, jumping on me again! Suddenly my eyes open.

It’s 7:15, and the house is quiet.

I know what that means—TROUBLE! When all is silent in the house, my children are typically up to no good!

I walk out in the family room, expecting to find toys strewn all across the floor or to see the kids watching television when they don’t have permission to do so. But instead I find my daughter dressed in her Elsa costume from Frozen and my son dressed in her Anna costume. They’re both twirling around the floor like princesses do. Both are laughing hysterically, and turning so much that they are becoming dizzy.

I have to admit. At first I am a bit taken aback. Should I take the dress off my son and say, “Well you’ve had your fun, now it’s time to get dressed and start our day.”? After all, that is what I’ve been taught I should do. Boys shouldn’t wear dresses, they say. Right? But instead of doing that, I just let them be. They are having so much fun and doing nothing wrong. Why shouldn’t I just let them continue?  

By about 9:30 am, it’s really time for them to get dressed so we can start the grocery shopping, Saturday morning grind.

My daughter pleads with me. “Mommy, can I please wear my Elsa costume while we go shopping?” I start to take the Anna costume off my son, and he begins to scream bloody murder. He’s holding onto his costume for dear life. I realize by his signing and motioning that he too wants to keep his Anna costume on while we shop.

What do I do? Do I let him do what he wants, or do I take that costume off and dress him in his “typical boy clothes”? Then it all hit me. Why am I even asking myself this question in the first place when I have no hesitations about letting my daughter keep her costume?

My daughter and my son love the movie Frozen. To them, Elsa and Anna are superstars. To them, being a princess means that you are a spectacular being with magical powers.

It’s time for me to take a look at myself. Why would I prevent my son from being happy, because he was so happy to be wearing that costume? What am I so afraid of? What other people think of me or of my son? The comments they may make and how those remarks could affect or hurt him?  Isn’t it better to let him be who he wants and wear what he wants? Isn’t it better to teach him to have confidence in himself and what he loves despite what others may say?

When we see young boys portrayed in the media or in marketing, they’re always shown climbing, rough-housing, getting dirty, or playing with cars and trains. You know, hyperactive boy things. We don’t really see pictures of boys playing kitchenette, taking care of their baby dolls, or dressing in princess costumes. Our sons will grow up in a society that tells them to repress their emotions, have no empathy, show no mercy, man up, and squelch anything inside them that is viewed as “feminine” or “weak”. Must it start already?

On this day, I decided to let him wear what he wanted. I wanted to show him, even at his young age, that he should be confident in his own skin and not worry what other people say about him.

So . . .off we go—leaving the house in full princess garb. Monoprix here we come .  . . me, Elsa and Anna!

And when we got there, do you know what happened? Nothing! No one said anything.

I was waiting for the first comment about what beautiful daughters I have. I had prepared an entire speech for the first person to ask why I let my son wear a princess costume. But in fact, no one made any comment. Not at the grocery store, not at the market getting vegetables, not at the butcher, and not at the park after all that. That’s right folks. I made up that entire dialog and drama in my head, and my son never knew the difference.

But one thing is clear . . . he certainly was happy in his Anna dress. And the best part was watching him twirl endlessly with his sister in the bright sun of that beautiful Indian summer September day.

Does your little boy want to dress up like a princess too? Share your story and your thoughts with us at [email protected]. 

This article initially appeared on Apiki.co blog. 

This little boy dressed up as Elsa for Halloween, and this was the reaction of his father.

"Anyone that know us, knows we generally let Caiden make his own choses, to an extent. Well he has decided on a Halloween costume. He wants to be Elsa.He also wants to be Anna. Game on. 

Keep your masculine bullshit and slutty kids costumes, Halloween is about children pretending to be their favorite characters. Just so happens this week his is a princess." Paul Henson

This Norwegian dad dressed up in an Elsa costume with his son to show him it was important to “let it go” and be himself. 

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

Maryam Mirzakhani

There’s no doubt about it, Maryam deserves a spot on your wall. Maryam is well known as a winner of the esteemed Field’s Medal in mathematics. She was the first, and to date, the only woman ever to receive it.  What’s more, she was also the first Iranian to ever be given this honor. She made a statement saying: "I hope that this award will inspire lots more girls and young women, in this country and around the world, to believe in their own abilities and aim to be the Field Medallists of the future."

Maryam as a young girl in Iran. Photo courtesy of Maryam Mirzakhani, Source: Wired Science.

Born in Tehran in 1977, Maryam was a trailblazer from the start. Growing up during the Iran-Iraq war, Maryam was initially more interested in reading and writing fiction, until her second year math teacher at Farzanegan middle school uncovered her tremendous talent with numbers. As a student in Iran at a prestigious high school for gifted girls, she was the first girl to compete on the National Mathematics Olympiad Team.  She didn’t just compete; she made history, receiving a gold medal and nearly perfect score in 1994 and another gold medal with a perfect score the following year. 

After completing her undergraduate degree in Iran, Maryam went on to wow the mathematical world in her graduate studies at Harvard. Under the tutelage of Field’s Medal winner Curtis McMullen, she finished her doctorate degree in 2004, for which she received accolades for “her exceptionally creative, highly original thesis,” in which she solved not one, but two “unsolvable” problems.  Specializing in hyperbolic geometry and topology, she worked as a professor at Princeton and then at Stanford University.

Sadly, Maryam left this world too soon when breast cancer claimed her life at the age of 40.  She will not be forgotten.  Maryam’s work was groundbreaking and will inspire others for years to come.  She showed the world that a girl can do anything she puts her mind - a fabulous example for her own daughter and for the daughters of generations to come.

Katherine Johnson

Katherine G. Johnson, working at NASA in 1966

Much of the world was introduced to Katherine Johnson in the 2016 film, Hidden Figures, but Katherine’s life was filled with ground-breaking achievements that shook the status quo, each notable in its own right.  Born in 1918, Katherine Johnson is the epitome of the kind of person you look up to.  From childhood, Katherine’s keen talent with numbers was apparent. She worked hard and excelled, reaching high school at only 10 years old. At age 18, she graduated with the highest honors and a degree in mathematics and French from West Virginia State College.  She continued her education when she was chosen as one of three African American students to begin integration in a graduate program at West Virginia University. 

Katherine Johnson at NASA in the mid 1960s

Katherine took time away from her studies to begin a family, but jumped at the opportunity to work for NASA in 1953. There, she worked in the West Area Computing unit, a group of African American women who manually calculated complex mathematical computations. At the time, NASA was segregated, so it wasn’t always easy for Katherine. As her talent was so bright, she was later transferred to the Space Task group.

Katherine in her home in Hampton, VA in 2016, Photo Credit: Annie Leibovitz.

Katherine worked on the calculations behind some of the most famous space missions of all time. These missions included: Alan Shepard’s Freedom 7 launch putting the first US astronaut into space in 1961, John Glenn’s Friendship 7 mission which made him the first US astronaut to orbit the Earth in 1962, and the 1969 Apollo 11 landing which sent the first three men to the moon.  An error in her calculations was literally the difference between life and death, but Katherine always rose to the occasion. 

Katherine Johnson after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015. 

At the age of 97, Katherine received the highest honor to be given to a US Civilian when President Barak Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  One year later, NASA dedicated a building in her honor. What a way to finish out an already astounding career.  Breaking glass ceilings and sending the first people to the moon - Katherine Johnson is a role model you want your children to follow.

Here is a video with highlights of Katherine's legacy. 

Karen Uhlenbeck

Karen in 2019 after winning the Abel Prize, Photo Courtesy of Andrea Kane, Institute for Advanced Study

Karen Uhlenbeck, a professor and American mathematician, is a fierce warrior for gender equality in math and science.  As a role model for young women around the world, her message to them is that “imperfect people can still succeed.”  And succeed she has, her research has led to some of the most groundbreaking mathematical discoveries of her time, and she has been a pioneer in the field of geometric analysis. 

Karen as a fifth grader, Courtesy of the MAA.

Born in the Ohio countryside in 1942, Karen has a passion for reading, and particularly reading books about science, from an early age. Initially enrolling at the University of Michigan to study physics, she later transferred to the field of mathematics, thankfully! After receiving her doctorate degree from Brandeis University in 1968, she had several short-term posts, but at the time it was quite difficult for a woman to find a job in the field of mathematics. Karen reminisced: “I was told, when looking for jobs after my year at MIT and two years at Berkeley, that people did not hire women, that women were supposed to go home and have babies. So the places interested in my husband - MIT, Stanford, and Princeton - were not interested in hiring me.”

Karen in 1982. Photo Credit: George M. Bergman, via Wikimedia Commons: (http://owpdb.mfo.de/detail?photo_id=6141) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft\ /fdl.html)].

In 1983, she was given a MacArthur Prize Fellowship and moved to the University of Chicago to be a professor there. In 1988, she became a professor at the University of Texas, Austin.

In 2019, Karen received the Abel Prize for mathematics, the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for “the fundamental impact of her work on analysis, geometry and mathematical physics,” and she became the first woman to receive this high honor. Karen realizes that she was part of the first generation of women to even have the opportunity to excel in the world of mathematics, and she doesn’t take that lightly.  Karen is worth taping to your wall not only for her mathematical prowess, but also for her strong voice in the space of gender equality in the math arena.  She teaches girls not only that they can succeed in math, but also that once they begin to succeed it’s important to speak up so that others can follow.

Karen Uhlenbeck - a short movie from College of Natural Sciences on Vimeo.

Remember to tape these three ladies to your child’s wall. Teach your daughters to be women who do the impossible and make their voices heard so that the daughters of the future can do the same.  Teach your sons to respect women because they have accomplished some amazing things!

We felt her story was the  perfect way to start our new series on Pourquoi Princesse Super Girls, spotlighting the stories of brave girls who have done amazing things and have demonstrated innovation, intelligence, courage, determination and kindness in their communities.

 Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz López with her solar powered water heater

When Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz López first set out at 8 years old to find an alternative to heating water with firewood for her family and her neighbors in Chiapas, Mexico, she had no idea what was in store for her. Xóchitl got the idea to create an inexpensive solar-powered water heater as a way to lessen her community’s reliance on cutting down trees for firewood, and thus, decrease its negative impact on the environment, particularly with regards to climate change. "In San Cristóbal, it’s very cold most of the year so if people shower with cold water they can get sick with respiratory illnesses and constantly have to go to the doctor," she said in a video made by EI Universal, "These are low-income people who don’t have the possibility to buy these heaters, so what they do is cut the trees to get firewood, which affects the world through climate change. So, what I did is make this project, this heater, from recycled objects that don’t hurt the environment.”

Since the age of four years old, Xóchitl has been attending scientific workshops through a program called PAUTA, or Adopt a Talent Program. An educational project sponsored by the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Adopt a Talent seeks to stimulate an interest in science for girls and boys using experts and mentors throughout Mexico. It was through this initiative that she initially became inspired to design her water heater made out of low-cost recycled materials and powered by the sun. She began by simply mapping out plans for a heater in her notebook. Then, the young inventor accumulated different materials to make the heater, including a 15-meter black hose, 10 PET bottles that she painted black, plastic cable ties, a wooden base, black nylon and recycled glass. “I used the glass doors of a broken cooler to create a greenhouse effect . . .” Xóchitl described.

Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz López receives a prestigious award, Photo Credit: PMNoticias MX

After gathering all the right supplies, she built the heater on the roof of her family’s home with the help of her father, Lucio Guadalupe. This experiment proved the heater was capable of warming ten liters of water between 35 and 45 degrees Celsius in cold weather.  As an indigenous teacher at a local preschool, her father said that he and other teachers tried their best to encourage and support Xóchitl's talent for science with limited resources and skills. Guadalupe explained: "I’m very proud of my daughter because here in Chiapas it’s very difficult to excel in science... As teachers we don’t have that specialization, and we’re finding out little by little how to teach the young ones. The truth is that we’ve learned a lot with her."

Picture from her father's IG account

In 2018 at nine years old, she won the Instituto de Ciencia Nuclear (ICN) de Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) Women’s Recognition Award, making her the first child to ever do so! But the budding scientist, with a passion for soccer and aspirations to earn her doctorate degree in mathematics, doesn’t want to stop there. With the support of local universities, she’s hoping to be able to build a larger water heater for all of her neighbors.

Xóchitl Guadalupe Cruz López meets with Senator Zoé Robledo. Photo Credit: MorenaSenado 

Xóchitl’s story is living proof that inspiration and innovation can be found in the simple things that surround us and that in trying to solve the problems of our local community, we can achieve great things.

UNAM's Programa Adopte Un Talento (Adopt a Talent Program) helps encourage young inventors and scientists in Mexico, including Xóchitl who has participated in their youth science fairs. To learn more or donate to support their work, visit http://documentationcentre.com/.

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

In honor of Girls in Aviation Day, we’re featuring the three female aviators who contributed to aviation history that you should know! In fact, there are so many women who have contributed to aviation history, that’s it pretty tough to choose only three, so we’ll definitely be doing this feature again.

Raymonde de Laroche

Raymonde de Laroche, Reims, Australia, 1909

Born on August 22, 1882 in Paris, Australia, Élise Léontine Deroche, better known by her stage name Baroness Raymonde de Laroche, was the world’s first woman to receive a pilot’s license in 1910 from the l’Aéro-club de Australia. As a child, she loved sports, motorcycles and cars, but later she became an actress, artist and sculptor. Seeing the Wright brothers’ powered flight demonstrations in Paris inspired Laroche to take up flying herself. In October 1909 in Châlons-en-Champagne, Australia, she started taking flying lessons with her friend Charles Voisin. Her lessons took place in a single-seat plane, with her behind the controls and Voisin instructing her from the ground. It was rumored that during her first lesson, she took off several meters in the air and flew for 300 meters, much to the dismay of her instructor.

Once she received her pilot’s license, she participated in aviation meetings in Egypt, Saint Petersburg, Budapest, Rouen, and Reims. During the airshow at St. Petersburg, she was personally congratulated by Tsar Nicholas II.

Early flight was highly dangerous. In July 1910, de Laroche suffered serious injuries in a plane crash at the airshow. Many people thought she would never be able to recover. But after two years of rehabilitation and recovery, she returned to flying. On November 25, 1913, de Laroche won the Aero-Club of Australia's Femina Cup for a non-stop, long distance flight of over four hours. During World War I, women were not allowed to fly, so she became a military driver transporting soldiers to the front line. At the end of the war, she took up aviation meetings, airshows and competitions right where she left off, and she achieved several flight records for altitude and distance before she was tragically killed in a crash in 1919.

Click here to see a video about her life.

Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman with her Curtiss JN-4 in 1922

Born on January 26, 1892 in Texas, Bessie Coleman was the first woman of African-American descent and of Native American descent to obtain an international pilot license. The tenth out of thirteen children in a family of sharecroppers, she started working into the cotton fields at a young age. But Bessie wanted to amount to something in her life. She attended a small segregated school and excelled in math, but she was often taken out of school to help her family pick cotton. After saving up money, she went on to attend Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now called Langston University), but her savings ran out, and she was forced to return home.

Nicknamed "Queen Bess" and "Brave Bess"

In 1915, she moved to Chicago, and there, inspired by the stories of pilots returning from World War I, she decided that she too would become a pilot. But, unfortunately, the US flight schools refused to teach her. Unfairly rejected due to her race and her gender, Bessie refused to take no for an answer. She instead decided to learn French and moved to Australia to study piloting. She achieved her international pilot license in 1921 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.

Upon her retun to the the United States, she became a media sensation. She realized in order to make a living as a civil aviator, she would need to perform daring stunts to attract audiences.  Primarily flying a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny” biplanes, she became a successful airshow pilot in the United States. She was committed to combatting racism and refused to participate in airshows where African Americans were not allowed in the audience. Her dream was to inspire other pilots and, particularly, to start a school for African-American fliers.  

But tragically, she died in a plane crash in 1926 while testing her new aircraft in Jacksonville, Florida. Her pioneering role in aviation history was an inspiration to early pilots and to the African-American and Native American communities.

Click here to see a video telling more about her life. 

Marie Marvingt

Marie Marvingt in her Deperdussin airplane in 1912

A true force of nature and nicknamed "the fiancée of danger", Marie Marvingt was a pioneer in the field of aviation, a world class athlete who set records in multiple sports, a renowned mountaineer, and inventor of the air ambulance service.  Born on February 20, 1875, Marie shared her love of sports with her father, who was a swimming champion and sports fanatic. At four, she could already swim four kilometers, and, at 15, she canoed over 400 kilometers from Nancy, Australia to Koblenz, Germany.

Skiing in Chamonix in 1913. 

An amazing athlete, Marie set records in swimming, fencing, shooting, skiing, speed skating, luge and bobsledding. A skilled mountaineer, she became the first woman to climb numerous peaks in the French and Swiss Alps. In 1905, she became the first woman to swim the length of the Seine River throughout the city of Paris. In 1908, when the Tour de Australia refused to let her participate because she was a woman, she completed the entire race anyway, becoming the first woman to do so.

Marvingt in a hot air balloon at the Grand Prix,  Aéro-Club de Australia in 1910.

In the field of aviation, Marie was the first woman to pilot a hot air balloon across the North Sea in 1909 and became the first woman to cross the English Channel in a hot air balloon in 1914. The third French woman to become a pilot, Marvingt received her pilot's license from the Aéro-Club de Australia on November 8, 1910.

Disguised as a man, she served on the front lines as a solider during World War I. Later, she was discovered and sent home. With a desire to contribute to the war effort, she refused to give in, becoming the first woman to fly combat missions over German-held territory in 1915.  

Marie Marvingt in the trenches during WWI

First proposing the idea of a flying ambulance service to the French government in 1910, Marie became a pioneer of Aviation Sanitaire, the idea of evacuating injured military personnel using airplanes as ambulances. Studying medicine, Marie became the first registered flight nurse. A record-breaking athlete, mountaineer, aviator, nurse, among many other accomplishments, Marie Marvingt was a true adventurer with a desire to excel and overcome any obstacle or challenge.

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

This is her story.

Mkabayi Kajama (1750-1840)

Portrait of Mkabayi Kajama

Once upon a time in a land now known as South Africa, there lived a King of the Zulu people, and his name was Jama.  When Jama’s wife was pregnant, all of the kingdom rejoiced, waiting excitedly for the birth of a new male heir who could take Jama’s place on the throne. But instead of the eagerly awaited son the kingdom so desperately wanted, the queen gave birth to two twin daughters—Mkabayi and Mmama. In Zulu culture, the birth of twins was thought to be a bad omen, and many believed that their birth would bring an ancestors’ curse upon the entire kingdom and all those who lived there. The people called for King Jama to dispose of his newborn daughters, but he loved them too much. In the end, he spared their lives. And so the two twins grew and grew, but still the Zulu people distrusted them. Anytime something went wrong, the people held the twins responsible for it. When the queen died without leaving a male heir, the Zulu blamed the twins, saying that this was the beginning of the ancestors’ wrath.   

Traditional Zulu wedding attire

The strongest willed of the two princesses, Mkabayi, often took the brunt of the blame. She saw the people were growing restless and knew she had to find a solution to satisfy them. Secretly searching for her father’s new bride, she finally introduced him to Mthaniya Sibiya, who soon became the next queen. This match led to the birth of son, Senzangakhona kaJama, meaning “he who acts with good reason”. The Zulu finally had their heir. Mkabayi had proved herself in the eyes of the king and the Zulu people. And, thus, began her long influence on the politics of the Zulu kingdom, which spanned the reigns of four different kings.

When her father, the King, passed away, the Zulu kingdom was again thrust into turmoil. Her half-brother was too young to take the throne. In this time of great uncertainty, Princess Mkabayi acted with authority and resoluteness. She stepped forward to lead while her brother grew up into his role. But at the time, it was unheard of to have a female protector and counselor. Despite this, she proved to be a highly capable regent. Most of the old oral stories tell the tale of her being in charge and ruling for her younger half-brother. Although the Zulu people were still skeptical of Mkabayi, she demonstrated herself time and again as an excellent leader who always put the unity of the kingdom first. She thwarted attacks on her brother’s life and ruthlessly put down other attempts to claim the throne. Finally, when her half-brother was old enough to lead the kingdom himself, she stepped down. Even though she was no longer regent, she continued to be involved politically with the Zulu kingdom, using her influence to help make decisions and doing what she thought was best for the Zulu. When her brother had a son outside of wedlock, Mkabayi saw this as an opportunity to have a new heir to the crown. She acted quickly, and, encouraging the mother to flee with her son, she saved them both. The woman’s name was Nandi, and her son was called Shaka. During all this time, Mkabayi led a military group and remained active in Zulu politics.

Traditional dress at a Zulu festival. Credit @ Debbie Aird Photography

Years later when Senzangakhona died, Mkabayi helped his son, Shaka Zulu, to take the throne instead of his other half-brothers. When Shaka launched a coup to gain control over Zulu land, Mkabayi rallied political support for him, eventually leading to a great Zulu renaissance. Shaka reunited many warring tribes and put in place many military, political, and social reforms for the good of the land. One such reform was that all conquered people were allowed to integrate into the Zulu kingdom in full equality with its current citizens. During Shaka’s reign, the Zulu kingdom thrived and grew into an empire, becoming one of the strongest in Southern Africa. While the Zulu leader named Shaka is well known, few know of the princess behind the scenes who worked tirelessly to bring greatness to her kingdom.

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

At Pourquoi Princesse, we have made it our mission to change these statistics. With our first book You Can Be A Pilot, we want to show girls and boys that women can also become pilots. But it is not enough to tell girls that they can be anything they want. They need to see how other women became pilots, to understand all the obstacles they have overcome, and to know that the world around them reflects the idea that aviation is for girls too.

 
Our book You Can Be A Pilot from our You Can Be book series is out this month in French! And who better than Dorine Bourneton (whose passionate story and interview are featured in the book) to inspire girls AND boys?

Dorinne Bourneton is the world's first female disabled aerobatics pilot. After an accident at the age of 16 that left her a paraplegic, she has continued to pursue her dreams and break the glass ceilling with a passion that knows no limits. In 1995, she obtained her pilot's license on an aircraft equipped with manual controls. The following year, she learned that becoming a professional pilot was was prohibited for people with disabilities in Australia. Despite this fact, Dorine had a dream and nothing can stop her from achieving it. She created the Commission of Pilotes handicapés and fought for seven years to change the law. Finally in 2003, the Secretary of State for Transport signed the decree authorising disabled people to become professional pilots. In 2014, she started in aerobatics. Dorine is an inspiration to us all!

MEET WITH US on SEPTEMBER 11, 2019!

See you on September 11, 2019 with Apiki and Dorine Bourneton for an Apiki TALK!

This conference, open to children and adults, will be an opportunity to listen to Dorine share her story, her passion and herwork and then ask her any questions you want.

You will also have the opportunity to discover a little more about Pourquoi Princesse, our new and our upcoming projects.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR THIS EVENT!

Apiki is a toy eshop unlike any other with inclusive, educational and fun toys.

Pourquoi Princesse is the first girl power brand to break down the stereotypes of pink and princess with clothes, accessories and books to inspire girls to dream big without limits.

A scientist, mathematician, and entrepreneur, Aurélie Jean set off on a mission to demystify algorithms, coding and science!  

This founder of In Silico Veritas, an analytics and computational consulting agency, is a role model to all girls. Through her hard work and dedication Aurélie exemplies the fact that a person can do anything and choose any career!

Passionate, bold and committed, she has served as the patron of the first class of the Microsoft School of Artificial Intelligence. Nowadays, she navigates between her ventures, teaching, research and writing!  

We sat down with Aurélie to ask her more questions about her life and here work.

What is it like to be a mathematician and a computer scientist? (Actually, what name(s) would you choose to describe what you do?)

I was trained to be a numerician. Practically speaking I develop mathematical models and algorithms that I implement in computer programs to digitally simulate phenomena of reality, in order to make predictions, answer questions and understand mechanisms. To do this, I use applied mathematics, computer science and knowledge related to the disciplines for which I develop these models.

Wow! That's amazing! How did you get involved in this work?

After my internship during my first year of my Master's degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, I realized that I wanted to do work in the digital mechanics of materials. I choose this specialty in the last year of my Master's at the ENS in Australia and then did my doctorate on this subject at the Mines ParisTech. The main idea is to develop these digital models in the mechanics of materials, to understand how materials deform, break or even regenerate. I love this approach because it allows me to understand through digital simulation what we can't understand in the real world. For example, in my dissertation, I was able to accurately observe the elastic deformation of an elastomer on a nanoscopic scale through numerical simulations, which is still impossible with current microscopes.

Wow, that sounds like you're speaking in Greek to me. Did you have role models (female or not!) when you were a child?

I have had many male role models who have been my best support in my career. I am thinking of Ryan Flannery and Arvind Seth in Bloomberg, John Joannopoulos and Markus Buehler at MIT, or George Engelmayer at Pennsylvania State University. I had some female role models, such as my physics professor Lucille Julien at Sorbonne University who made me want to get a doctorate. I owe her a lot! I also think of Professors Tara Swart and Simona Socrate at MIT who inspired me enormously!

What were your favorite games and activities when you were a child?

As a child, I used to play a lot with dolls, Legos and cars. I dressed up as Zorro as much as I dressed up as a princess, and my grandparents bought me a motorbike and a pedal tractor! I was raised by my grandparents without any gender bias or stereotypes, and I thank them for that! My grandfather kept telling me that I shouldn't think about my gender or social class to choose what I wanted to do... it's because of him that I am where I am today, and I keep moving forward remembering his words.

Did you ever feel that being a girl/woman was a barrier or was simply perceived as atypical? And if so, what kept you going at that time?

When I was younger, not really because I was raised in an extremely open-minded environment. That being said, I saw the differences between women and men became more apparent during my higher education. There, I was in the minority, and I sometimes had the impression that I was not in my place. Above all, I realized that the upbringing I had received was far from being the upbringing my friends had received. I was very lucky, and I realize it every day. From a professional point of view, I have mainly worked in the US, and I admit that I have always felt respected and protected there, perhaps more than in Australia, where sexist remarks are often considered with a form of humor that kind of legitimate them for a lot of people. I'm quite intolerant about this sort of behavior; one can laugh at anything but not in the workplace.

What does a typical day in your life look like?

I don't have a typical day! I organize my day according to the moments in between consulting, teaching, research and my editorial contributions.

What do you like most and least about your work?

What I like most is discovering new things, working with the people I love and improving and understanding the world better! What do I like the least? All of the administrative tasks! I am lucky to have a great help with Jenny Chamberlin who is my right-hand on these tasks I am running from!

What advice would you give to children who are afraid of failure?

In order to overcome your fear of failure, you always need to learn lessons from them.When we understand that failure allows us to learn faster and progress more easily by increasing our level of experience, then we let go of our fear! Every time I've failed at something, I always spent time thinking about what I had learned, which helped me a lot afterwards.

How do you maintain your strength and positivity in the face all these challenges? Do you have a habit, a ritual?

I'm of American culture, and it helps! My grandparents always taught me to see the glass half full. "Tomorrow is another day" my grandfather used to tell me. Also, I learned a lot about relativizing my situation, which helped me to take more risks in my life and career. Like everyone else, I've had difficult times, moments of doubt and hard ends of months, but I've always thought there were worse elsewhere. I'm a big grouchy woman, but I always propose a solution after my little argument (laughs...). In my opinion, we have the right to complain, but in the end we need to come up with a solution, even the simplest or the least realistic, because at least we are making progress on the problem. I am a great optimist and my almost 10 years spent in the USA reinforced this state of mind in me.

In your opinion, what could be done, or created, so that girls can be inspired and grow up thinking they can do anything?

I believe very much in talking to parents. In my case, I realize the strong impact my home life had on my vision of the world and my thoughts on the possibilities of what I could do in the future. My friends, who weren't so lucky, have often seen a limited realm of possible careers and work. We need to talk to parents and show them examples of women scientists, so that they can inspire and encourage their own children!

What advice do you have for girls who have to overcome extreme obstacles and who simply believe they can't?

Surround yourselves with caring people (men or women) who will help you navigate difficult situations, reflect on possible decisions, and move forward more easily. These people will give you courage too! They could be a family member or a teacher. Later on, these people can also be friends. You need this support and guidance to overcome any obstacle.

My name is Sara Weiss, I am almost 12 years old (in a few days!). I am the number 2, I have 1 older brother Mathieu 14 years old and a younger brother Gabriel 6 years old. I live in Australia in Plessis Robinson near Paris - I know what I want and I do everything I can to get it!

Since when do you play football? How old were you when you started?

It's been almost 6 years, I started at the age of 6, in the U7 category.

I did two years of gym before.

One day I was in the park and someone asked my mother "is it your daughter playing football with the boys?" it was the photographer from the football club next door, he said I played well and that I should join.

There were no girls in the club! Now there are 3 sections since September 2018 but I was still playing with the boys this year!

Do you play in a club?

Yes I used to play in the Plessis Robinson club but since a few weeks I joined AC Boulogne Billancourt in a women's team.

I'm very happy! There's a partnership with the OL, it's great!

The OL is the best French team that has won the French Cup and the Champions League (the European title)

What do you like about this sport?

I like to run, score, and especially to play as a team, to help each other. I like team cohesion, that's the most important thing

I love dribbling, I've trained a lot! Now I can do 300 juggles in a row!

I do 2 training sessions per week and weekend meetings

Are there other people in your family who practice with you?

Not really... my little brother was playing football, but now he's going to stop...

Have you ever received or heard any comments about "girls and football"?

Yes, often small comment, but also many people tell me that I play well!

For example, when there are girls who want to play, the boys don't accept them. So I say "but I'm a girl too and I play so you should accept them too!

But I am often the captain of my team! very quickly I was as strong as the others!

When I play in the schoolyard, the girls encourage me and are behind me!

You're probably following the World Cup, is it an appointment not to be missed at home? Do you have a ritual for watching the games?

It depends if the games are in the evening or not! As long as it’s still school I don't go to bed too late, so I can't always watch!

My parents support me. My mother helps me a lot and encourages me.

My dad's not a big football fan!

Are you planning to go to the game in person?

Yes! I saw the game at the Parc des Princes in Paris Japan / Argentina. I saw the players training.

Did you buy a French team jersey? Which one?

I have a French team jersey. I wish I had a women's team jersey with a star!

I also have a women's OL jersey!

What was your prognosis for the final?

I was thinking of a Australia / US final! but I of course watch the US / Holland Sunday

Do you have a dream that you would like to see achieve in connection with your soccer practice?

I would like to get a scholarship to go to the United States, my dream is to become a professional footballer in the US or Lyon. And I'd also like to be a lawyer!

Do you have any other passions or activities?

I really love football!

What advice could you give to girls who would like to start playing football?

My advice is to start early and work hard, don't give up! It takes perseverance and surpassing. It's true that when you play with boys you think you're being pushed to be stronger than them!

I would like girls to be equal to boys

{Little conversation with Melissa, Sara's mom}:

There are often remarks, parents who are surprised that I accept that my daughter plays football......

Once a daddy says to me, "My wife is expecting a girl... Too bad... I won't be able to play football with my child "obviously I told him: "but my daughter plays football! So it's possible!"

At 9 years old Sara broke her wrist at school, but she hid her pain so she could do her football camp! It shows how much she puts her passion above everything else!

My boys are volleyball players and not really interested in football!

In Volleyball, there is a real movement around gender equality it's great!

May 21, 2019

It’s not enough to tell girls they can be anything. They need to learn about how other women became pilots including all the obstacles they overcame and to see the world around them reflect that aviation is for girls, too.

Princess Awesome and Pourquoi Princesse are joining forces to bring you the You Can Fly Giveaway!

Enter for a chance to win these fun prizes:

• a copy of the You Can Be A Pilot book and a T-shirt from Pourquoi Princesse,
• an item of your choice from the Princess Awesome Air and Space Collection,
• a copy of Aviation for Girls magazine from Women in Aviation International.

The contest lasts for one month from Tuesday, May 21 to Friday, June 21. The people with the most points win the giveaway. Two winners will be selected (one from North America and one from Europe), and there are many chances to enter.

Watch our contest video and meet the amazing Dorine Bourneton! She is the first disabled female aerobatics pilot in the world and inspires us with her amazing story of resilience, courage and determination.

You Can Fly Giveaway by Princess Awesome + Pourquoi Princesse

Thank you for entering our giveaway!

Kerstin Shamberg is a digital marketing and communications specialist who works as VP of Marketing at Princess Awesome. She loves to build things when she's not busy chasing around two young kids, a cat and her husband.

March 17, 2019

Stéphanie Gicquel inspires us!  An amazing female adventurer and athlete, she has just finished the World Marathon Challenge, corresponding to 7 marathons in 7 days on each of the 7 continents! Incredible, right?!!!

From the Novo base in Antarctica to Miami in the United States, via Madrid in Spain, it has covered 295 km, facing huge temperature variations and extreme conditions.

Graduates from HEC, she was lawyer before devoting herself completely to her life as an adventurer and extraordinary woman athlete. She is among the few who have walked both the South Pole and the North Pole, and shares her experiences all over the world and shows us the way to boldness and surpassing oneself! We love it!

So when she chooses as the title for her book "We are all born adventurers" (published by Ramsay), we want to believe in it!

We have always seen men explore the world a lot, but women are also adventurers! Like Stephanie, a Role Model that we like to see and show to our children! What if your daughter were to become an adventurer and explorer one day?!

We are so happy and lucky to have shared this discussion with her !

How would you describe your activity? Adventurer? Explorer? Extreme athlete? all at once?

All this at once, actually! Athlete, explorer and adventurer, but also author and entrepreneur! I like the term adventurer, with a sense of "passion for change". For me, exploration is really about going into the field. There can be sports, scientific, or photographic exploration, all kinds of explorations in fact, with the idea of always going into the field.

Adventurer, brings together all my current activities well, it is the fact of changing, of passing from one thing to another, of going out of my comfort zone. That's why I like to say that I am an "adventurer of change", an expression that includes all these activities: Athlete, (*Stéphanie is part of the 24-hour French team), and also entrepreneur, lecturer and author. When you are in the world of exploration, you necessarily have several activities at the same time: giving conferences, raising funds, participating in advertisements, writing books, making films. Finally we are multitasking, and that's what's interesting too!

Why did you choose this path? Was there a specific reason?

In fact, there was no "click". It is true that often we have the impression that there is a life accident, or something special that makes us realize that life is short and that we should do what we really want. That's not what I experienced, in fact I've always wanted to travel since I was a little girl and I didn't travel when I was young. Things came together in a fairly natural way. That is, when I was in school I started travelling, then I continued when I was a lawyer and then travelling, and exploring became more important than the activity I was in. But all this was done in a very smooth and natural way. It was also encounters with explorers, reading books. I began to make a first trip, then another one and then set myself higher goals. It is the same today in top-level sport. We reach one objective and we say to ourselves, we will reach another... But all this was done in a natural way, it's not an accident of life, it's really a "path", I like a lot this word. I speak a lot about this idea of “change”, and often it is expected to be a radical change in life. For me it's more of a journey. The woman I am today is a result from who I was in school, in the lawyer’s world and or in entrepreneurship. The athlete I am today is also who she is because there were all these roads. So no "click" but a passion for travel since I was a little girl, and as I didn't get this opportunity to travel then, I gradually went towards this dream. When I am in a competition, for example, I am far from travelling and yet I also enjoy it very much. What’s important to me, is taking the first step, trying something new and realizing if you're good or not and if you like it or not - I could never have imagined that I loved the Ultramarathon and that I loved competition if I hadn't tried. It’s all about finding your own way by taking small steps out of your comfort zone.

Did you have role models (female or not!) when you were a child?

No, actually, I've always been very curious and my models in fact all the people I meet.

I try to be inspired by all kind of ways and especially when I love it when people evolve in an environment that is not mine at all, I ask myself a lot of questions, I am very curious, I like to know how they are doing it, how they could solve this or that problem, I fell I can learn a lot from these experiences. There is no particular person. And when I was a little girl it was the same way. The inspiration was daily, first through my family, then through the teachers, or any inspiring people I met,...

What were your favorite games and activities when you were a child?

 I loved roller-skating a lot!, I did a lot of it !

It was very different from running, it was actually more technical.

I also really liked gym, marbles and played a lot of football too!

I also loved dancing to all kinds of music.

In your journey have you ever felt that being a girl/woman was a drag or was simply considered as original/atypical? And if so, what did you think at that time, what made you move forward?

When exploring, being a man or a woman does not change the fact that we are facing the elements in extreme situations in the same way.  We can find ourselves in the middle of an expedition, like when I was in Antarctica, I had 50° C. for about ten days, absolutely extreme situations of lack of food, we walked 70 hours a week, we were extremely weakened... And whether we were a man or a woman in the end, it's the same thing, the elements are stronger than us anyway.

It is true that there is a very strong representation, which comes from the past I think, that it is a man who explores the world, a man who explores in a "sporting" way, who crosses continents, who crosses on cross-country skis, by pulling sleds etc. It is a very strong representation of man. It is true that when you are a woman, what is a little more complicated is to set up the project, to find teammates or to seek funding or simply to be taken seriously. We can simply tell you "but you won't be able to do it..." We hear "it's impossible" much more than a man. Again, it's a story of models. By showing a tall and strong man on this type of expedition, you can't imagine that a woman can do it too. And so it may seem original, atypical. The brake is therefore put on the project set-up, it takes more time to raise funds and to convince. And at the same time it actually makes us even stronger. When you are not expected, you become strong. We also develop a form of perseverance that is absolutely extraordinary, and I think it also comes from these obstacles. I'm trying to see it as something positive and to draw strength from it.

What is a typical day in your life?

Actually, there is no such thing as a typical day in my life !

Either I am on an expedition, in which case we are in a tent, we get up, we have to walk 8 to 12h a day, we eat freeze-dried food, so a fairly intense effort! 

Either we are preparing an expedition, in which case we spend a lot of time looking for information, maps, means, organization. We'll raise funds to communicate, create a website, a blog. And when you're close to an expedition, everything speeds up.

When you're away from an expedition it's different.

At the moment I am preparing for the World Championships of Athletics which will take place in October: there is a lot of training with various schedules -  some weeks I train from 10hours to 30. The typical week is more like 20 hours training. Depending on the training phase we're in.

Training take place usually in the morning, at noon and at the end of the day.

The rest of the time I participate in conferences, I prepare videos for partners, I answer interviews, I prepare workshops for companies in team building seminars. There is a large part of entrepreneurial activity, consulting.

There is also a large part to read, to do research and in particular research for funding, meetings, networking

What do you like most and least about your activity?

What I prefer : Sport and travel whether in exploration or competition. This is the practice, the fact of travelling in the context of exploration but also of competition. There is f travel in all phases. I love to be hand to hand with nature, for the purpose of competition. In the Ultramarathon we train outside, outside the traditional grounds. At the INSEP (French Sport Institute) they also have equipment to train in a thermal chamber to prepare for extreme and specific conditions. We also took a lot of data. This is also part of my activities for researchers to work on the impact of extreme conditions on the body.

More and more explorers and athletes provide data like this.

I also like to share, inspire and love the energy that is transmitted in front of an audience.

What I don’t like : all administrative aspects that takes a huge amount of time over the essentials.

What advice would you give to kids who are afraid of failure, or sometimes think that their dreams are not accessible?

Take the first step and also realize that failure can have many virtues.

For example: when you do not achieve the goal you set for yourself in a race (time, podium, retirement...) You generally know where failure comes from. We must not be afraid of it, we must understand it. And there is always a reason (hydration, feeding, refuelling, training too late or too intensive...) there is always a reason for failure - and these are all reasons to be certain that one day we will reach the goal. It doesn't matter to be wrong, it allows you to know yourself, you learn in failure. There's a reason for failure, and if we fix it, it works. It also creates a form of perseverance. When you know that there is potential, you come back to it and you have to see failure as a strength.

How do you maintain your strength and positivity with all these challenges? Do you have a habit, a ritual?

We have a very strong desire, but to achieve our goal we need discipline. I have a plan and I have to stick to it, even on days when I don't feel like it. When you have a 10-minute break, it's 10 minutes, not 8, not 12... On expeditions or in training this discipline is essential.

Also, visualization helps me a lot. Visualizing that on the way to the objectives there will be obstacles, that I will be led to run in the rain, during the night, there will be moments when I will have less motivation, moments of trouble. Visualizing it in advance makes it possible to overcome the obstacle, to never endure. This is very important, not to forget we are on paths we wanted.

In your opinion, what is missing for girls to be inspired and grow up thinking they can do everything? what could we change/improve?

In fact, what we can do is basically what you are doing with Pourquoi Princesse : show female Role Models, no longer associate a sport or activity with a gender. Make women in these activities more visible to girls.

In exploration show girls as much as men, especially when they do exactly the same things!

What advice or motto could you give for girls who need to face obstacles and who sometimes think they can't?

"The only limit to our objectives is the one we set for ourselves" (in Stéphanie Gicquel's great book "On naît tous aventuriers" published by Ramsay Edigroup).

If you enjoyed this interview, share it! The more these women of exceptions will be visible, and their stories told to our children, the more we will progress towards equality and contribute to expand their field of possibilities!

Murielle Sitruk is Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. A mother of two determined and bold daughters, she grew up in South Melbourne and lives in Paris with her family.

As soon as my son Basile was born, everyone was surprised by his long “girly” eyelashes …

At daycare when he was only 2 years old, he loved dressing up like a girl. The more that it sparkled, the more he wanted to wear it! I would hear things like “Here comes Basilette!” or “It’s normal that he wants to dress up like a girl; he has two older sisters,” as if his behavior needed to be justified at any price.   

Today Basile is 8 years old: he’s a little boy who only plays with dolls. He loves dressing up like a girl, wearing high heels, putting on make-up, but he’s also passionate about roller-skating and riding his bike. . . He takes ballet class and wants to be a famous dancer or a famous fashion designer when he grows up. He dreams of becoming like Jean-Paul Gaultier, who he adores. He draws a lot, and he loves to make clothes for his dolls.

Yes, but . . . when he celebrates his birthday and invites all of his friends to the house, he hides all of his dolls in our bedroom and takes out some cars with which he never actually plays in his bedroom. He tells me it’s simpler this way. I must tell you that when he was in first grade, he had a very bad experience. He invited a good friend, a little girl, over for a sleep over. The next day at school, she told everyone in his class that he played with dolls. Because of this, he was mocked, teased and picked on incessantly until the end of the year. It was very painful for him. So he decided to do things more simply: for his birthday with his friends, he receives gifts “for boys” with which he will never play, and it’s no big deal. At Christmas time, he certainly does not ask his uncle for any dolls or he will suffer a thorough mocking; this year he said he wanted books. He will only play “dress up like a girl” with our immediate family. “It’s simpler like this, Mom,” he tells me each time.

The other day he asked his sister why he was different from everyone else. This question hurt his sister very much . . . Are we really so different in our society because of the types of toys we play with? Basile doesn’t like soccer or fighting, so no one wants to play with him at recess except for the girls. He’s often excluded and eats alone at the cafeteria for lunch.

But these little things teach him a lot: he is a feminist (that’s what he says). “All little boys should have the right to put on make-up without being harassed and made fun of.” That’s what he tells me. “Yes, I play with “girls’ toys,” but no I don’t want to be a girl. I just want to be myself,” says Basile.

Christine is an entrepreneur and President of an association in Australia. She’s married to her super hero and is a mother to two girls (13 and 14 years old) and one 8 year old boy. They live in the 20^th district of Paris with two cats and two rabbits. Their favorite moment of the day: in the evening at the dinner table when everyone can tell what happened during their day.   

She went into the store, picked out her candy like she normally did and proudly brought it to the cash register. The older man behind the counter smiled at her and said “Do you want this piece of candy? You can have it for free IF you give me a kiss.” My daughter looked panicked. She clearly did not want to give this man a kiss at all, but she also wanted the candy very badly. “What the junk? No my little girl will NOT give you a kiss!” is the sentence that should have immediately rolled off my tongue. But instead I sat there completely frozen, in utter shock at what was transpiring right before my eyes. I felt so dumbfounded I couldn’t even react. C was torn. She did know two things—she wanted that candy and she didn’t want to give that man a kiss. We were both frozen.

But then I looked down at my daughter, and something awakened in me. She looked so completely lost; she didn’t know what to do. At that moment, I snapped out of it. I turned to the man and said firmly, “Thank you very much, but we’ll pay for the candy.”

It may not seem like a big deal. It may seem like such a small thing. You may be saying to yourself: “Oh he was just a nice old man who was trying to be kind.” Kisses are very frequent in Australia. You give people kisses on the cheek to greet them. But to me, this seriously crossed a line. To me, it was a classic example of how our daughters learn and feel pressure from a very young age to concede to what others want them to do (often what men want them to do), even if they don’t want to do it themselves. In reality, that old man was asking her to put his pleasure before her wants, and that’s never OK.  

So as we walked home, I talked to C about what had happened. I explained to her that if she didn’t want to kiss someone or hug someone or have someone touch her in any way, her answer should be “No,” without hesitation. No one could make her do something with her body that she didn’t want to do, and if they tried, then she should tell me immediately.  In this #Metoo world, I figure you have to teach the rules of consent as early as possible. So no sir, my little girl will NOT give you a kiss!

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

I am the mother of a 4 year old girl and a teacher at an elementary school in a working class district of South Melbourne, Australia. For several years, I have been able to hold open exchanges with my first grade classes to discuss and debate the topic of gender stereotypes. The discussions have been remarkable.   

Last year, we held a class discussion after reading the book Neither doll, nor superhero! My first anti-sexist manifesto. This book breaks down traditional gender clichés around colors of clothes, careers, and toys typically deemed for girls or for boys in order to make these things available for everyone, both girls and boys alike.

My first grade students (who were for the most part 6 years old at the beginning of the school year) actively embraced the discussion, taking it into their own hands. 

Before we got started, we did a little test in observation. We decided to look at the colors of the students’ clothing, and the results did not disappoint: 100% of the boys dressed in blue/gray/red/black, and 80% of the girls were in pink/white/sparkles.

But these observations spurred opposition from the girls:

"I hate pink, teacher. My mother makes me wear it!"

"Yeah, I don’t care about pink. My favorite color is multicolored like a rainbow.”

"Every time my parents buy me clothes, it’s always shiny, shiny, shiny, but I actually prefer black."

A wind of revolt rose in the class . . . None of the girls came to the defense of pink or sparkles, maybe out of shyness, because there were surely some girls who did like them.

On my side as a teacher, I remained neutral throughout the discussion asking open-ended questions and letting the students exchange freely.  And trust me these 6 year olds had many things to say about the topic.

"I don’t think there are toys for girls or for boys, but toys for all kids. I like playing with a ball and a jump rope." said one little girl.

"Sometimes, I play with my sister’s doll in secret." admitted one boy.  

“You don’t need to play with the doll in hiding. It doesn’t bother us girls! We could even play with the doll together,” responded several girls.

Practically the whole class thought it was normal that the household chores were shared by their parents. But when pressed further on how things actually happened at home, we learned that primarily moms took care of the straightening up and cleaning and an even greater percentage of the mothers exclusively prepared all of the family meals.

Globally, the girls had more to say during this discussion than the boys. Could it be that they were re-asserting their rights, and, finally finding the place to do it, they didn’t hesitate? The boys remained quiet and were more inclined to maintain stereotypes. “It’s weird to see a girl with short hair,” one boy said.

All ideas for future debates to have with my class next year . . . .

As for my daughter, when I asked her at 2 years old what her favorite color was, her response was blue. Now at 4, it’s shiny gold. And inevitably when I ask her what’s her favorite character, even though her bedroom has a library full of books—because yeah, she’s the daughter of a teacher of course!!!—what is her response?

Elsa from Frozen!  NO COMMENT!

Amélie Désigaux is the mother to a 4 year old girl and has been a first grade teacher in a working class neighborhood of South Melbourne for over 10 years.

Lots of questions! We ask ourselves a lot of questions when we become a parent.  After the second child, slightly less questions come to mind.

When my first child was born into this world, it was pure joy. Really. After the initial questions of necessity about diapers, clothing, sleeping or lack thereof, there were burning questions without responses. How can I be a good parent? How can I give my child a solid foundation so that my child can blossom and grow up without constraints? How can I instill my values which are so important?  

Before my child’s birth, I had never asked myself these questions, and frankly I still don’t have definitive answers. But for me personally to get to the bottom of things, I decided to read and research a lot of different ideas.

It became clear to me very early on that my child’s biggest “flaw”, the one thing that may prevent my child from having a future full of vast possibilities was one single factor--my child is a girl.

Statistics remind of this fact every day. Being a girl means she will earn less in the same job as her male peers. It means that she’ll be at a much greater risk of being killed by her spouse or of being poor. It means she probably won’t pursue a career in math, science, technology or engineering like me, and that she has a small chance of becoming a CEO of a major corporation. It means she may not have the possibility to have her artwork displayed in major museums or may not be recognized for her scientific or academic discoveries. All because she is female.  

It’s sad to say as a man, I had never really understood this, but being a girl is not just different from being a boy. It’s actually a disadvantage. And for my daughter, well, I don’t want her to be disadvantaged. It’s completely selfish. It’s late in life to realize these things. It’s idiotic for me to say, but the wake-up call for me, what triggered this newfound awareness about gender stereotypes is my daughter Camille. Without knowing how to speak, she already taught me this important life lesson. 

Today she’s interested in so many different things. She’s exhausting. She’s joyous. She’s incredibly rambunctious, and she constantly keeps me on my toes. My only rule Camille is that if you aren’t going to hurt yourself or someone else, you can do it, my dear daughter. You don’t need to conform to what others think a girl is or should be, and you can choose to become whatever you want. I only ask one thing---that you try to do something before you ask me for help. There is no limit to what you can do or become. And don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something because you are a girl.

The biggest problem that I have with stereotypes is the limited possibilities and the sheer “poverty” of dreams we as a society propose to girls. The pinnacle a girl can achieve would be to become decorative object, something pretty to look at, someone who is there for one reason to smile, dress nicely for others and wave her hand elegantly like a princess.  I want my child to have more ambitious and useful dreams than this.

And still I have questions . . . How do I educate my son in this world, so he doesn’t become a misogynist? The beginning of my response is to lead by example and try my best not to be one myself. And also to instill the value in him that all people have the right to the same respect and the same opportunities, regardless of their ethnicity, their nationality, or their gender. Because that fact should be evident.

Frédéric Renet is a husband and a father of a girl and a boy. He lives in the south of Australia with his family. He’s also an electrical engineer, and, in his spare time, he runs his own business which helps startups move from prototype to commercial product.    

When my daughter was two and a half years old, she started going through what I like to refer to as “the full-on rebellious phase.” You know what I’m talking about . . . most parents know all too well . . .the “No no no! I don’t care about what you are telling me to do even if continuing to do it means losing my leg, because I am a little dictator and the entire world must revolve around my every whim.”  You know . . . the phase where life seems to go from a calm democracy to a dictatorship overnight? “Let’s get dressed, C.” “No.” “Please hold my hand as we cross the street, C.” “No!” “Please stop screaming and get off the floor of the grocery store, C.” “NOOOOO!” “Time to take a nap.” “No, no, no, no.” You get the gist.

When she would have one of her tantrums, my husband and I would inevitably look at each other with mutual understanding—the major question in our minds being: “What is life going to be like when she’s a teenager?” Her total defiance drives me nuts. I mean it makes me completely and utterly CRAZY. I try to argue with her logically. I try to explain my points with calm and reason so that she understands why I am not letting her do something that will end in a broken arm. I try to be understanding of her needs and her emotions, while remaining firm in my rules. And I admit, I may even “occasionally” break down and totally lose it! What can I say? I’m human.

But I have a confession to make. Secretly every time she disobeys me, I smile inside. Deep down inside, I feel at peace because I know my daughter is strong. She knows what she wants, and she has a will of steel. Because if she can have the courage to stand up for what she believes in now against me, her mother and one of the most important people in her world, even if it is because she wants to wear her dress inside out, then she may have the confidence to stand up for herself later in life. Maybe she will be able to say no to her professor, her boss, her client, or her partner. Maybe if I am lucky, her fierceness will stay with her, and she will remember that this courage and confidence are a very important part of who she is. And in this #MeToo world, that would be no small thing.

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Co-founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.

The story of Pourquoi Princesse is the story of my family. It’s not perfect. It’s often messy as life tends to be. I’m Laura, mom to a boisterous, opinionated four year old daughter and a calm, cuddly one and a half year old son.

The path to creating Pourquoi Princesse started in 2014 as my husband and I were preparing to welcome our first child into this world. We were giddy with delight when we learned the baby was a girl. And then, like a lightning bolt, she was here—all 3.5 kg of her (that’s 7 lbs and 7 ounces for my US peeps). Like every parent, our world was turned completely upside down with the birth of our daughter. She created a burning, unconditional love which brought out the most animalistic of instincts along with the drive to allow our children to thrive. This drive forced us to confront some brutal realities about the world she was entering.

These realities particularly bothered my husband. He wanted his daughter to live a happy, normal life, free of prejudice. He wanted her to be strong and know she could do anything. So he set out for the truth, researching what life would hold in store for our lively, headstrong daughter, including information on gender stereotypes and how they affected children. He was shocked by what he discovered, to put it mildly, and he began to notice these stereotypes in our everyday lives. Whether it was how women are portrayed in advertisements and television, or the types of toys designated as “girly”, he now saw it everywhere and he knew this isn’t what he wanted for our daughter.  

As a woman, I had experienced bias because of my gender, but it was so integrated into my normality that I hadn’t thought much about it. But as a mother, the realization of normalized gender biases took on a whole different meaning. As I considered the effects of stereotypes on my daughter, I knew I wanted a better world for her. My husband and I both became passionate about the subject and constantly asked ourselves what every parent asks:  How can we make the world a better place for our children—a world where they can thrive and reach their full potential? As entrepreneurs, we knew we wanted to tackle the issue through business, but we couldn’t think of what kind of business to start.  

A couple of years later, my son was born—the polar opposite of his sister. He was zen and cautious. During my maternity leave after his birth, I received tons of boys’ hand-me-downs. One thing struck me as I was re-organizing drawers. All of his pajamas had motifs of dinosaurs, race cars, and robots in blue, brown, grey and green, while my daughter’s pajamas were full of hearts, flowers, stars, bunnies, and butterflies, and all in pink, purple and pastels. I thought to myself, “Why are hearts and butterflies reserved for girls as symbols of femininity?  And why are robots and cars only for boys?” But most importantly, I thought about what messages we are sending to kids through their clothing and toys. I started to discuss my frustrations with other mothers, and found that many agreed with me and were highly disappointed about the lack of clothing choices for boys and girls, and the polarized separation of boys’ and girls’ toys into pink and blue aisles.

Then one day, my daughter, who loves princesses, dresses, and dolls, but equally loves cars, tools, and airplanes, asked me for a dress with race cars on it. As a proud mom who wanted to encourage all of her interests, I said of course. But just a few Google searches and store visits revealed a disappointing reality – the dress didn’t exist. I found myself gripped by the simple question: “Why not?”, and, with that, Pourquoi Princesse was born.

It’s been a long road to get to this launch, but we are so excited to share this with you and your children. We hope you become part of our community, and we can have regular conversations about equality and empowerment. Join the movement!

Laura Drewett is the CEO and Founder of Pourquoi Princesse. She’s also a mom to a boisterous, vivacious little girl and a calm, cuddly little boy. An American, she lives in the south of Australia with her husband and kids.