"Girls State" (2024), directed by Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, is a necessary companion piece to the 2020's "Boys State" by the same directors. For its tonal shift away from the political thriller style of the first documentary, to a broader consideration of the impacts of a program like Boys State, Girls State and Boys & Girls State, I have to applaud the directors for encapsulating what I think is an important piece of the program: losing. "Boys State" narrows in on the gubernatorial election, a smart move for a documentary of its style, but one that paints a somewhat inaccurate portrait of the program at large. "Girls State" highlights the program's other quality, the impact on one's self-image. Emily's final talking head interview, alongside Nisha's discussion of her self-image, really encapsulates this facet that goes under-discussed in the first documentary.
The contrast both structurally and in reality of Boys State and Girls State as programs as presented in the film, though, is where the meat of the documentary lies. The inequality discussed by the delegates scratches the surface of a larger point, as I see it, that the Girls State program takes its delegates less seriously. It is not so much Cecilia's point that it's preparing them to deal with sexism, but that in and of itself it demands less from the Girls Staters than the Boys State program does of its delegates.
The counselors are wrong. The programs are not "incompatible for comparison." They demand comparison. Why should there be a Girls State program that devalues the contributions of its delegates? Why separate the programs at all? In some sense it's tradition, because of the respective programs' inceptions and formations by different (though related) organizations. But it's also legally protected. In the 1970s, Congress amended Title IX which bans sex discrimination in educational programs to give an express exemption to the American Legion and American Legion Auxiliary for their Boys and Girls State and Nation programs. The legal protection helps stifle the kind of change that the Girls State citizens in the documentary want to see. Even in "Boys State," Steven questions why there isn't a "People's State" only to back off when he's met with resistance from other delegates who see the separation as traditional (and note the existence of a Girls State, with no recognition of the disparities between the programs).
I've digressed from talking about the film though, and I will again, but looking at the way that "Girls State" frames the division doesn't so much undercut as it does reframe the discussion of inequality. Emily's right, as I see it (based on the film and my own experience), her headline was changed because the program leads wanted to alter the meaning. "Girls State" starts a conversation about inequality on the grounds of disparate dressing standards and learning a "Girls State Song," but the discussion Emily had about funding is far more pressing. That and the opportunities presented to the two programs. The connections Boys State programs have are far reaching, from the current Speaker of the House to letting the Boys Nation 2023 Senators meet General Mark Miley and get a private tour of the Capitol Building, sitting in the House chambers while the Girls Nation Senators of the same year left Capitol Hill earlier and had fewer speaker opportunities. The framing of "Girls State," in only putting that larger discussion at the end, is at the same time helpful and hindering, making it feel smaller while opening up the door for more conversation.
While Missouri presents an interesting juxtaposition between the two programs, given that they take place on the same campus at the same time, there is a state that has a conflict that takes all of the discussion of inequality, the truly life changing experience of a program like Girls State, and the political thriller aspects of the original "Boys State" documentary and rolls them into one: California. California has the only integrated American Legion Boys & Girls State program in the nation. At the same time it has a separate American Legion Auxiliary Girls State. The programs don't happen simultaneously, but they do happen on the same campus back-to-back.
One question ruled over all others during the inaugural session of California Boys & Girls State: who gets to go to Boys Nation? Boys Nation and Girls Nation are smaller programs just like Boys State and Girls State, but the emphasis is on federal government. Two delegates from every respective Boys and Girls State program are selected to be the senators representing their state. It's a high honor, and a fascinating program deserving of its own pair of documentaries. In California, the girls of Boys & Girls State weren't allowed to be selected. The national American Legion wouldn't allow them to be named as delegates. So, the California delegates fought and pushed at home and at Boys Nation to change that, to much resistance. There's a conflict there, and a fascinating story of what really happens when you get an integrated program, not just hosted on the same campus. It's a topic that merits discussion, and you get the best of both worlds. So, Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, please do a documentary on California Boys & Girls State. There's a wealth of material, and some brilliant rising high school seniors who would be spectacular subjects to follow.
Watch "Girls State" (and "Boys State") and think about what Emily says at the end. We have to stay hopeful. There's no other way we'll change anything.
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