Culture Club

The girlhood you can still have

A lot of women bonded growing up over the same films, books and songs, quoting Mean Girls at each other or crying over Little Women. If you missed that, whether because you weren’t allowed, weren’t interested back then, or grew up as a different version of yourself, it’s not too late. Lots of trans women talk about a joyful “second girlhood”, and plenty of cis women happily rewatch these as adults too.

Here’s a menu. Nobody needs to see everything. Pick what sparkles.

🎬 Coming-of-age films

Film	Why it’s loved
Clueless (1995)	Plaid skirt sets, “As if!”, and a big heart. Peak 90s.
Muriel’s Wedding (1994) 🇦🇺	ABBA, friendship and finding yourself in Sydney. Funny and tender.
Legally Blonde (2001)	Pink, smart and unstoppable. Elle Woods proves femininity and brains go together.
Bend It Like Beckham (2002) 🇬🇧	Football, family and friendship in London.
Mean Girls (2004)	The most quoted girl film ever. “On Wednesdays we wear pink.”
Lady Bird (2017)	A messy, loving mother–daughter story.
Little Women (2019)	Sisters, ambition and fabulous costumes, based on the 1868 novel.
Barbie (2023)	A pink, playful (and surprisingly emotional) look at being a woman.

🏳️‍⚧️ Trans women’s stories

Title	What it is
Paris Is Burning (1990)	A documentary about New York’s ballroom scene, the origin of “voguing”, “reading” and “throwing shade”.
Pose (2018–2021)	A joyful, heartbreaking drama series set in that same ballroom world, starring trans women of colour.
Tangerine (2015)	A funny, chaotic Christmas Eve in LA with two trans best friends.
A Fantastic Woman (2017)	An Oscar-winning Chilean film starring trans actress Daniela Vega.
Disclosure (2020)	A documentary in which trans people unpack how Hollywood has portrayed us.
Heartstopper (2022–) 🇬🇧	A gentle, sweet teen series, and Elle’s storyline is a lovely trans girlhood.

📚 Books

• Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (1868), and Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery (1908): classic girlhood that’s still delightful.
• Looking for Alibrandi, Melina Marchetta (1992) 🇦🇺: an Italian-Australian teen in Sydney working out who she is.
• Redefining Realness, Janet Mock (2014): a memoir of growing up trans in Hawaiʻi.
• Nevada, Imogen Binnie (2013), and Detransition, Baby, Torrey Peters (2021): sharp, funny novels by trans women.
• Whipping Girl, Julia Serano (2007): a classic of transfeminism, for when you want something meatier.

🎧 Albums to play start to finish

• Spice Girls, Spice (1996): the birth of “girl power”.
• ABBA, Gold (1992): every girls’ night ever.
• Kylie Minogue, Light Years (2000) 🇦🇺: disco glitter.
• SOPHIE, Oil of Every Pearl’s Un-Insides (2018): a trans pop masterpiece, and the song “It’s Okay to Cry” is a tender anthem.