Becoming a Woman

Teenage girls all over the country talk candidly to Catherine Carr about what it is like to be a girl in 2026. They reflect on where they get their ideas about femininity from, and how these are often shaped by the boys.

They explain how they feel that women are innately programmed to care for those around them as well as to care about what they think, leading them to modify their behaviour. They also talk extensively about their fears as girls and young women, and how that could affect the kinds of lives they might have.

Catherine hears from adults making a difference in girls’ lives and finds out how girls struggle to find their niche in a world where ‘cool girl’ reigns.

Thanks to:
Cardinal Langley School Rochdale
Dr Hannah Yelin, University of Oxford
The Girl Guiding Association
South Dartmoor Community College
Ola Demkowicz, University of Manchester
The Children’s Society
North Birmingham Academy
Dance United Yorkshire
Dumfries & Galloway’s Young Women’s Network

Producer: Catherine Carr
Researcher: Jill Achineku
Executive Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for BBC Radio 4