Amy Poehler is fantastic for many reasons (she has a hilarious show, she is half of our nation’s Best Friendship, and she just announced an upcoming memoir!), but one of her projects that I most appreciate doesn’t get a lot of attention: Smart Girls at the Party, her collaboration with fellow awesome ladies Amy Miles and Meredith Walker.
Full disclosure: I’m potentially twice the age of the target audience for Smart Girls at the Party. I’m more of a…Smart Lady at the Bar. As you might have guessed, I’m choosing to believe that’s normal (I feel like we should have That’s Normal badges or IDs to flash, at this point).
So yes, Smart Girls gives great advice to teens and young women, but I’ve found tons of their videos both hilarious and inspirational as an adult. Here’s a great quote from Amy on the Smart Girls mission:
“…what worries me the most is this trend that caring about something isn’t cool. That it’s better to comment on something than to commit to it. That it’s so much cooler to be unmotivated and indifferent. Our culture can get so snarky and ironic sometimes, and we kind of wanted Smart Girls to celebrate the opposite of that.”I love that! As someone who is snarky and sarcastic on a daily basis, Smart Girls is my daily multivitamin of positivity. Perhaps you’ve heard of Ask Amy? Behold:
She is just the best. I know she’s probably not talking about the kind of parties I go to (did I succeed in making myself sound cooler than I am?), but this is universally good advice. I moonlight as Anxiety Girl, an oft-overlooked superheroine, and this is better than Xanax.
In addition to some grade A life chats, Smart Girls features…Smart Girls! These include YouTube personalities, musicians, scientists, and more. Most are teens, some are adults. They are all changing the world by being themselves, per the Smart Girls motto. Like this awesome girl:
Don’t get me wrong, I love snark and sarcasm (um, I’m from New York). I also think it’s pretty kickass to support girls being themselves without worrying about whether it’s cool. I know I could use a reminder now and then! I swear, if I had a kid, I’d be giving them a daily dose of Smart Girls. Good on you, Amys and Meredith. Thanks for making a great resource for Smart Girls and Smart Ladies alike!
Have you checked out Smart Girls at the Party? What other celebrities are doing awesome side projects that you like?
