A Conversation with Cecilia Bartin of Girls State
What would a government under girls look like? The documentary Girls State (2024) recently premiered at Sundance, spotlighting teenage girls from Missouri as they navigate a week-long democratic experiment building a mock government. Boys State and Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship experiences funded by the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary. Both programs operate throughout the United States for high school juniors and focus on American government politics. By the producers of Boys State, Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine chronicled the companion program in 2020 to much critical acclaim.
However, if you’re thinking of flippant drama and shallow dialogue, think again. The girl’s concern for the boys concurrently participating only extends to the discrepancies between the programs. These girls are vivacious and bold, rich with ambition and empathy, as they run for respective positions within the program, bonding and competing with one another.
Cecilia stands out as embodying these qualities, coupling humility, patience, and intellect in political discussions and campaign appeals while maintaining constant joy and positivity. Each girl in Girls State uniquely approaches politics, either through incessant confidence or breaking out of shyness, each works a balance between the political, the self, and the collective. In her successful run for governor, the highest position in Girls State, “I’m supposed to come up here and tell you the most important, the most compelling part of myself, so I will. I’m selfish. I’m selfish because I have to be. We all have to be.”
Cecilia relates her own lived experience with that of each participant, while addressing issues directly impacting the girls of Girls State, such as the dress code. Clearly, her remarks hit home, leading her to win the position of Governor in a moment bursting with energy and excitement. In a conversation in late April, Cecilia recounts her time at and takeaways from Girls State.
How did you end up participating in Girls State, and more specifically the Girls State documentary?
My school nominates people. I didn’t get nominated, probably because I was late to AP Government too many times. However, my friend was thinking of participating and asked me to apply. She ended up not doing it, but then I did. With the documentary, you filled out a google form and they zoomed with and picked people from the zoom. I didn’t get chosen for the documentary after my zoom meeting. Then I gave my speech to them and afterwards they asked me to mic me up because, honestly, it was awesome.
How has Girls State impacted your perspective on leadership and civic engagement?
One of the biggest ways I learned from being a part of Girls State and in that community was seeing the leadership of Girls State and how they run the program. First of all, they are all volunteers. They are also just very receptive leaders. They are really good about making sure the girls need to come first. I think that has been the best example of leadership I’ve ever seen because they are so selfless and they do so much work. As soon as a girl starts complaining, instead of getting defensive and saying “well, we did all this for free”, they immediately say “I’m sorry, you should not have to deal with that. How about we change things for the future.” That takes so much self-awareness and courage and selflessness. I definitely learned the most about leadership from them.
What are some challenges you faced during the program? Was it difficult to balance the competitive and the collective?
I lost a lot. I lost the positions of mayor, city councilman, fire chief, municipal judge, and I didn’t get into the talent show. That was really hard for me, and I felt very defeated. As far as competition and making friends, we all were competing for positions., but at the same time, we still were all just teenage girls. We all wanted to hang out and have fun. People were also focused on making friendships.
Can you share a memorable moment from your time at Girls State?
I got married twice. I proposed to a girl in the cafeteria with a ring pop. We got married. It was a beautiful ceremony.
What were you able to change in your role as governor? What has changed since you were in Girls State?
The next year the dress code was basically gone, which was awesome, and was a point I highlighted in my run for governor. A girl came up to me during the Girls State week talking about microaggressions she faced. I brought her to the leadership of the camp and they organized a panel discussion with the girls who had brought up the complaints. They asked what could be changed to make the camp more inclusive. We had sports which the Boys State program had and we had not. Also, pronouns are on the name badges now.
What further changes would you like to see in Girls State in the future?
The documentary is big about funding. I think that is Girls State’s biggest limiting factor right now. We don’t have equal funding to Boys State. Every year, the leaders have to either beg American Regional Auxiliaries for more funding, or are very reliant on Boys State. A lot of times they need Boys State to give funding to Girls State. That is very stressful for the leadership. It really limits all the things the girls can do throughout their time. So honestly, I would like to see the funding change. The leadership will make Girls State amazing if they have the resources to do it.
Did your experience at Girls State influence any future career aspirations or goals?
I really don't know what I'm going to do with this in my life. It definitely secured me the fact that I always want to stay involved with politics. So whatever I'm doing with my life, I know that I will still be politically active.
What message would you like to share with other young women thinking about pursuing politics?
At Girls State a speaker came and said that women on average need to be asked 7 times to run in politics and men only have to be asked once. My friend once said to me, if you’re scared to run, run scared. That’s a big message. A lot of women often believe “I don’t see myself in those roles” or “I’m afraid” or “It’s not for me”. I think a lot of that is, if you are afraid to run, run scared and do it anyways.