gURL.com: Why didn't I know about this site when I was a girl?!

Like most adolescent girls, I became curious about sex and sexuality when I hit puberty. I'd hear the girls on my bus talk about their sexual adventures. I was left to wonder about what they had done, how they did it, if I had any interest in doing it, and what I thought about them for doing those things. According to the article that was provided on Webcourses, gURL.com was created in 1996. At the time I would have been 10 years-old. We didn't get the Internet in my household, however, until I was about 14. I really wish I had known there was a site like this available to me at that point in my life.

This website has everything that I wish I could do in a website of my own. What I love about this website the most is the message boards. While this website provides so much helpful information, the message boards allow girls to interact with other girls about subjects they either feel they have knowledge of, are curious about, or are passionate about. Girls gain a lot of their own identity by interacting with other people their age. Where an IM chat can allow a girl to hold a conversation with their friends while putting up a mask of hiding their emotions, the message boards allow girls to converse with strangers while putting up that mask. The anonymity of the message boards allow girls to be who they are more freely. As individuals, we tend to care more about what others think of us when those others are our friends and family. When it comes to sexuality girls tend to be shy about talking about sex to their friends and family. This is because society has taught girls that being interested in sex is considered to be wrong and dirty. Girls also don't want to be judged by their friends and family.

I know that as a teen, even thinking about sex made me feel dirty and immoral. It's nice that gURL.com offers girls a safe place for them to express those thoughts about sex without being negatively judged by others. My service learning project I'm working on right now entails a webpage that is similar to this one in the sense that girls will be allowed to express themselves without receiving any negative judgements. I hope to see some form of success in my project that the creators of gURL.com has seen in theirs.