“At Birdee we believe that every girl’s opinion matters, and if given the opportunity, girls today will change the world” — Hayley Gleeson, Editor.
‘Born on the fourth of July’, as the song goes, Birdee is a newborn Australian web magazine for teenage girls and this 1990s teenager thinks it is fantastic.
Birdee joins a fine club of Australian ‘online mag’ sites aimed at females including Mamamia, Women’s Agenda, Daily Life and The Hoopla. Published by We Magazines, who also publish The Hoopla, Birdee has some smart and interesting women establishing this new place for teenage girls to talk about, read about and be themselves — including The Hoopla editor-in-chief and co-founder Wendy Harmer.
Birdee posts articles about pop culture, body image, global news, ‘nerdy Birdee’ and all of the topics we now-older ladies read in the ‘Dolly Doctor’ column when we were young. In its first week, covered the Supreme Court of the United States (aka ‘SCOTUS’) decision on gay marriage and an article about the next Australian female prime minister by Victorian high school student Rachael Ward. However, this article about Barbie and body image was my favourite — a great way to discuss a more serious issue.
This new online mag on the block will be one to watch.
Amy Feldtmann 