.

The Pink Snowsuit Project

o.jpg

April 2017 - May 2018

In partnership with Second Story Women’s Centre

Funded by: NS Sexual Violence Strategy Prevention Innovation Fund

Funded through Nova Scotia’s Sexual Violence Prevention Innovation Fund, and coordinated by Alison Smith, this project gathered diverse groups of parents to talk about socially constructed gender norms and their role in raising confident, empowered, authentic children. The project explored how pressure to conform to gender constructs shapes parenting decisions and choices and their children’s social relationships, as well as how it informs sexual violence prevention.

We sought to create blame-free, non-judgmental, supportive spaces in facilitated kitchen table conversations for:

  • Honest exploration of gender and healthy relationships

  • Generating parental strategies to navigate these issues as children grow

  • Adding to the body of knowledge about preventive approaches to sexual violence

The project involved:   

  • Working with 6 different community groups or organizations

  • Organizing and facilitating 11 groups that met a total of 19 times

  • Hosting 2 popular Zine Workshops with artist Flavia Testa Nasrin, and a public forum on “Parenting in the Digital Age”

On our RESOURCES page, you will find a treasure trove of resources for parents and concerned adults in navigating these topics.

Picture1.png

ORIGIN OF THE “PINK SNOWSUIT” PROJECT NAME

A conversation with a mother searching for snowsuits for her young sons at Frenchy’s unearthed a surprising revelation for her.  A snowsuit was found that was perfect in every way-- size, construction, quality, warmth – everything.  Except it was pink. Her first thought was to offer it to a friend who had a daughter of about the same size.  And then a realization that she herself was reflecting the unconscious biases born of the gendered conditioning we all are subject to.  This led to some interesting conversations, and the idea for this project was born.