These risk-taking, game-changing, rule-breaking women come from different backgrounds and communities, but they have one thing in common: They are challenging what society expects from them, and shaping the world on their own terms.
In honor of Women’s History Month, Levi’s® has partnered with Girlgaze, a digital media company that promotes the work of women behind the lens in photography and film, to create four short documentary films about women who have stepped up and made a difference in their communities and the world at large. The “#IShapeMyWorld” film series follows a successful Levi’s® campaign launched last year in India highlighting the stories of inspiring women in that country.
“Both Levi’s® and Girlgaze want to showcase women who have shaped their own world; these films tell a unique story of how each woman has stood up in a time of adversity and inspired other people to stand with them,” Girlgaze founder Amanda de Cadenet told Levi’s®. “Each of these films is directed by a talented Girlgaze community member and also helps shift the perspective we’re used to seeing in mainstream media.”
Jasilyn Charger took the strength she learned facing down addiction and the sweeping challenges confronting her Lakota Sioux community, and used it to help ignite the Standing Rock protest that became a movement.
“Standing Rock was just the opening act of a very long journey fighting for the betterment of your community and your people,” Jasilyn said. “And for me it was just the starting point of the road that has become my life.”
In addition to Jasilyn’s story, the films feature Sam Gordon, a teenage football star who co-founded the Utah Girls Tackle Football League; Mona Tavakoli, co-founder of the Rock n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Los Angeles; and Tarana Burke, whose drive to combat sexual violence and make a better world for her daughter – and young women everywhere – gave birth to the #metoo movement.
Watch their stories now:
