There is no gesture more devastating than the back turning away.

If I had been armed with a feminist understanding that no girl deserves to be called a slut, perhaps I would have fought back by reporting the harassment to my school's headmistress or another school authority, or at least I might have had the strength to tell of the name-callers on my own. But at the time, all I knew was that if I avoided eye contact, it was a hell of a lot easier to get through my days.

Don't get me wrong. I love to be alone. When I am by myself, I get to create my own version of reality where I am the popular girl and really pretty, and friends can't wait to talk to me. -Madisyn

I was a little adult for my age as a teenager, and I didn't feel like I socially fit in with my peers.

When kindness comes at the expense of truth, it is not a kindness worth having.

The stereotype of a bully is that he's male, overweight and a stranger. But a lot of what we are learning about girls is that they hurt their friends.