In the span of the last 30 years Miami transformed from a tourist destination into a top-tier global city with one of the nation’s fastest growing economies. Despite that transformation, the general perception remains in the beach-and-beauty mode of decades back. Miami women have to contend with the strongest negative misconceptions created by the hypersexualized image of “Miami girls” popularized by the media and perpetuated as public opinion. The result? - Many young women living in Miami hesitate to self-identify with the city.
In 2015 Miami Girls Foundation made it its mission to reshape this damaging stereotype. We launched the platform allowing Miami women to tell the story of the city they love and the communities they support on a daily basis. With the many voices of Miami women we will change the narrative to engage all of Miami in inclusive prosperity.
Miami Girls Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit media for social change platform empowering women in South Florida. We support Miami leaders shaping the future of our city by amplifying their voices through media partnerships, social media campaigns and multimedia art projects.
When artist and photographer Ekaterina Juskowski chose Miami for her graduation Sociology thesis project in 2013, she was struck by a recurring theme in her conversations with women here:
None of them wanted to identify as “Miami girls.”
“Ten of 10 women said, ‘I’m not a Miami girl and a Miami girl is something negative,” she recalled.
“Many industries use a hypersexualized image to advertise certain services and lifestyles. This image promoted in the media becomes the image of Miami. Women who live here refuse to identify with the city.”
It’s no surprise why. A quick Google image search of “Miami Girl” sends a parade of women clad in bikinis (or less) across the screen.