Free comic books featuring fictional, locally-originated heroines.

Our group discussed how girls in many low-income neighborhoods are raised to be subservient and quiet. Many do not stand up from themselves and fail to report abuse. Even during an attack, many women do not have the courage to yell and make noise. Our idea is to give girls a relatable role model who can instill self-respect and a sense of empowerment. An enjoyable and cheap to produce form factor for these heroines can be comic books. The origin of this idea is a variant of Ms Marvel: a 16 year old muslim crime-fighting heroine (see pictures). Using her as the lead character in South Asia would be great because she already has a fair amount of international recognition, but new characters can be created by local artists as well.

Part of this is finding the right heroine (or gathering local artists to create one). Local artists can collaborate on characters/stories until one with a right cultural/religious spin is found. 

If something takes off, relevant merchandise can be distributed as a symbol of support. The first that comes to mind are simple yet distinctive bangles, similar to Livestrong's.

 

Explain your idea in one sentence.

Distribute free comics and posters featuring locally-relevant heroines to help young girls build self-confidence and a sense of empowerment.

What is the need you are trying to solve?

Our goal is to change gender expectations by making women feel more independent, capable, and intolerant of social malfeasances.

How might you prototype this idea and test some of the assumptions behind it?

Put a poster and a stack of comics and hand them out to girls in low income neighborhoods. Have 2-3 editions, possibly once a week, and then ask the girls for feedback.