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Feminists Around the World: Elyse Fox and The Sad Girls Club · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Anny and Samantha and welcome to Steffon
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Never Told You production of iHeartRadio.
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  Speaker 2: And today we want to take some time to celebrate
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  Speaker 2: a nonprofit and I think we're going to try to
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  Speaker 2: do this at least once a month, figuring out specific organizations,
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  Speaker 2: even though oftentimes when we do we talk about the
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  Speaker 2: people and the organizations. We're going to do that throughout.
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  Speaker 2: But we did want to highlight one organization that's been
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  Speaker 2: helping the black communities, specifically women and girls to lessen
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  Speaker 2: the stigma of mental health issues and seeking help when
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  Speaker 2: they need it. And that organization is called the Sad
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  Speaker 2: Girls Club, which great name, by the way, great name,
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  Speaker 2: and just at the top, yes there is mention of suicide,
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  Speaker 2: not no details, just let you know that that is mentioned.
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  Speaker 2: And of course with the Sad Girls, we're going to
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  Speaker 2: be talking about their founder, Elise Fox, who started this
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  Speaker 2: organization in twenty seventeen, So Fox released a trailer from
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  Speaker 2: her very personal documentary titled Conversation with Friends, which documents
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  Speaker 2: her struggle with depression and it was then that she
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  Speaker 2: realized there are so many women and girls like her
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  Speaker 2: that understood her struggles and needed help, which is how
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  Speaker 2: the Sad Girls Club began. In twenty seventeen, a self
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  Speaker 2: dot com article, right after confronting her own depression head on,
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  Speaker 2: Elise Fox founded Sad Girls Club, an online group for
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  Speaker 2: young women dealing with mental health issues, particularly women of color.
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  Speaker 1: The article continues asking Fox why she decided to start
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  Speaker 1: the organization. Quote, after I released that film, an abundance
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  Speaker 1: of girls reached out to me from all over the
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  Speaker 1: world to thank me for telling my story, and they
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  Speaker 1: said they wanted to be more brave and honest toward
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  Speaker 1: their parents and friends. I felt that way too when
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  Speaker 1: I was younger, so I wanted to create a community
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  Speaker 1: for women who were feeling the same way as the girls.
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  Speaker 1: I wanted to create a community around mental illness and
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  Speaker 1: not make it something that were ashamed of, but something
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  Speaker 1: that we're proud of.
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  Speaker 2: Right. And here's a quote from a more recent article
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  Speaker 2: from Pop Sugar in February twenty two eighty four. Alice
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  Speaker 2: Fox started Side Girls Club in twenty seventeen when she
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  Speaker 2: was at her lowest. She had attempted suicide and was
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  Speaker 2: looking for a community of black women with whom she
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  Speaker 2: could talk about mental health. I always call it an accident.
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  Speaker 2: I'm an accidental activist, she says of House Out Girls
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  Speaker 2: Club began, but in a way that feels like this
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  Speaker 2: is my calling and this is what's true to me.
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  Speaker 2: What she didn't know was that the nonprofit organization she
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  Speaker 2: started in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn would reach more than one
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  Speaker 2: million women and girls of color and counting who are
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  Speaker 2: dealing with the same mental health challenges she has faced.
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  Speaker 2: While I was navigating my healing journey, I was looking
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  Speaker 2: to platforms of like minded people, women who looked like me,
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  Speaker 2: have similar stories, were from the hood, but were still
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  Speaker 2: navigating things. And I didn't find any of that. I
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  Speaker 2: couldn't find a place where I saw myself reflected. So
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  Speaker 2: instead of complaining about it, I just decided to create
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  Speaker 2: that space, not knowing what it would grow into today.
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  Speaker 1: And the organization has flourished since its inception and continues
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  Speaker 1: to be a great resource for so many people struggling
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  Speaker 1: with mental health care. The organization works to have people
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  Speaker 1: meet irl, as they explain on the site Sadgirlsclub dot org,
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  Speaker 1: quote real talk in real time, connect with the community
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  Speaker 1: through poetry, slams, live seminars, yoga sessions, and more. In
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  Speaker 1: a safe space for anyone with feelings in progress.
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  Speaker 2: And in addition to the IRL and online support, they
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  Speaker 2: have been quite busy also from their site. Since twenty seventeen,
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  Speaker 2: we've touched two hundred thousand lives across five continents and
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  Speaker 2: forty countries, with over two hundred and fifty hours of
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  Speaker 2: free therapy, seventy million immediate impressions, and over two hundred
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  Speaker 2: and sixty five thousand Instagram followers. And Fox and the
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  Speaker 2: organization continue to show the importance of mental health support
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  Speaker 2: and breaking down the stigma. She told Pop Sugar. Sad
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  Speaker 2: Girls Club is changing the trajectory of how mental health
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  Speaker 2: is perceived within the black community by one removing the
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  Speaker 2: veil of the stigma and then two showing that vulnerability
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  Speaker 2: is okay. I think we're flipping the narrative on what
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  Speaker 2: we worked programmed to think as far as our wellness
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  Speaker 2: and really putting a new definition to it in a
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  Speaker 2: way that makes you feel prideful, confident, and aligned with
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  Speaker 2: the world. There's so much power in numbers. The more
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  Speaker 2: you see representation of where you want to be or
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  Speaker 2: what you deem as successful or this is where I
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  Speaker 2: want to be in my mental health journey, the more
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  Speaker 2: you would thrive to be in that space.
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  Speaker 1: And Fox talks about how she felt starting the organization, quote,
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  Speaker 1: I really had a lot of shame around it. Even
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  Speaker 1: starting Sad Girls Club, I was like, I might just
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  Speaker 1: have one other person by my side, but that's fine.
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  Speaker 1: At least one other person had somebody else to talk to.
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  Speaker 1: It was definitely definitely scary. Starting something and putting it
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  Speaker 1: online is one thing, but starting something and then running
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  Speaker 1: into friends in person and them knowing that you have
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  Speaker 1: this experience was a whole different game. And I was
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  Speaker 1: honestly surprised at how I was embraced and also how
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  Speaker 1: many people in my clothes circle were going through the
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  Speaker 1: same things as me but never had the confidence to
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  Speaker 1: talk about it until I started speaking about it. So
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  Speaker 1: it was kind of like that thread of when you
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  Speaker 1: run a relay race, you pass the baton and you
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  Speaker 1: see someone going faster than you were, you're cheering them on,
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  Speaker 1: and they passed the baton and you both are cheering
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  Speaker 1: that other person on. That's what Sad Girls Club kind
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  Speaker 1: of is. It's like this relay race of women or
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  Speaker 1: just a community of people who want to see everybody win.
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  Speaker 1: They want everyone to find peace and community within their
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  Speaker 1: mental health.
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  Speaker 2: The Sad Girls Club continues to reach so many young
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  Speaker 2: girls and women as many navigate their mental health needs
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  Speaker 2: and escaping the stigma behind it. Fox has been working
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  Speaker 2: with many others to break down these stigmas and advocating
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  Speaker 2: for others around the world and their own journeys. She
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  Speaker 2: has continued to work in the film world, even starting
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  Speaker 2: her own brand called Produced by Girls, which quote lift
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  Speaker 2: up other women in the film industry, born out of
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  Speaker 2: the need to tell more stories centered around women. So
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  Speaker 2: obviously there's a lot going on. You can go to
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  Speaker 2: their site Sadgirls Club dot org and see if you
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  Speaker 2: can connect. If you think this is something that could
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  Speaker 2: be relevant to you, support their work. Follow their Instagram
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  Speaker 2: that gots a really great updated posts, being able to
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  Speaker 2: ask questions and give you resources, so it's a good
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  Speaker 2: thing to look into. They also have great merch which
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  Speaker 2: I'm about to order a sweatshirt. On the sweatshirt it
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  Speaker 2: says the anti Sad Girls Sad Girls Club. I think
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  Speaker 2: that's what it says anyway, but I'm like, yeah, I
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  Speaker 2: want I want that shirt. That's amazing. They are doing
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  Speaker 2: a lot of work still. They have a lot of
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  Speaker 2: good representation. A lot of cubelebrities have been behind this
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  Speaker 2: initiative and really really seem to support what they're doing,
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  Speaker 2: So go check it out. Thank you so much to
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  Speaker 2: Alice Fox who has seen a need and took up
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  Speaker 2: that mantle, as we often see with amazing people who
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  Speaker 2: realize the need there needs to be changed and they
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  Speaker 2: become that change.
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  Speaker 1: Love it, absolutely love it. One of our favorite things
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  Speaker 1: to see on this segment. So listeners, yes, go check
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  Speaker 1: out all of this. If you haven't already. If you
• 6:58
  Speaker 1: have suggestions for this resources, please let us know. You
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: can email us at Stephania mom Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com.
• 7:06
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• 7:07
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• 7:10
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• 7:12
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• 7:15
  Speaker 1: as always to our super producer Christina, our executive producer Maya,
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: and your contributor Joey. Thank you and thanks to you
• 7:21
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