Hello. I am Siobhan Dougherty and I reside in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. I recently earned my Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Creative Writing. The culmination of my undergraduate experience was writing a thesis on Feminist Theory. I conducted a comparative analysis of different types of feminist theory to define feminist class-consciousness. The time I spent conducting that research awoke in me an underdeveloped passion for the history of young girls and women. 

I currently work at a museum in Philadelphia where I give public lectures on art to our visitors. This means I spend a lot of my time reading, researching, and writing about art predominantly in the 20th century. Through my work I find ways to prioritize highlighting women’s art specifically. Aside from that, most of my free time consists of reading historical fiction (Isabel Allende is fantastic), watching television, hiking, writing, spending time with my cat, and learning about herbal remedies. I love artmaking of all kinds and often make jewelry, sew, and embroider, however, throwing clay and painting are my favorite mediums. 

As a recent graduate, it is difficult to pinpoint my dream job. I often imagine myself writing regardless. Working in museums has clearly been my path so far and I am excited by prospects where I can produce research-based writing for the preservation of public, local, and global history. I have a strong affinity for the genre of creative non-fiction which perfectly blends research and knowledge with personal narrative. 

I have visited many museums and have felt strongly about all of them. As it stands, my current favorite museum is the National Museum of Women in the Arts located in Washington D.C. I had never understood the emotional responses I see in gallery spaces until the day I saw a work by Helen Frankenthaler hung inside their galleries. A gallery of all female artists has an air like no other. 

It hasn’t been that long since I was a girl amid girlhood myself. Through my personal experience, I have noticed some significant issues facing girls today. Among many issues, I believe girls are facing predatory media—both social and not—that is threatening their self-confidence, bodily integrity, and physical safety. Educating young girls on the many ways girls can be is one way I believe I can help combat this.

-Siobhan Dougherty
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.

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