> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Feminism through a child’s eyes Harassment project is subject of documentary - URL: https://www.smdp.com/feminism-through-a-childs-eyes-harassment-project-is-subject-of-documentary/ - Published: 2006-11-25T16:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-25T01:17:13.000Z - Author: Melody Hanatani - Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import *Girls spent months deconstructing Crystal* 14TH STREET — “It’s not fair.” They’re the words of an adolescent girl named Crystal, a junior high school-aged student who is being sexually harassed by her peers and doesn’t understand why she is always the target of ridicule. It’s a problem that anyone seldom hears about in junior high and high school, but is unfortunately a regular occurrence, according to four John Adams Middle School students who spent 10 months studying the topic of sexual harassment and other feminist issues through the “Girl House Art Project” at the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside. “I see it happen,” said Lily Jacobius, an eighth grade student at John Adams on Friday. “It’s kind of depressing.” “It’s different kinds, like whistling and making noises (and other acts that would make a girl uncomfortable),” said Jacobius, describing the forms of sexual harassment she has seen at school. As part of the 10-month project, which included workshops and discussions, Jacobius and three friends addressed the topic of sexual harassment and created “Crystal’s Room,” belonging to a fictional character who is being sexually harassed by her classmates. The room was located inside a cottage on the YWCA Santa Monica/Westside site on 14th Street and Pico Boulevard. The process of creating Crystal’s Room,from concept to reality, was documented by a film student at the University of Southern California. The students will view the 16-minute documentary,which will be targeted for non-profit women’s organizations and schools, during a private screening on Monday. In June, the students transformed the room to depict a scene in which an adolescent girl of about age 13 is expressing her fears and worries through artistic expression. To accomplish this, the students added items like a mirror that was scribbled on in red lipstick; a Scrabble board where the letters form provocative words and phrases; and a bed with tissues strewn about. “What happened to her, most people don’t understand that it really happens to people in real life more than they imagine,” said Jacobius. The room also included a giant diary where the girls wrote Crystal’s entries about how a boy in class would make gestures or statements that would make her uncomfortable. The stories told in the diary were situations the four girls had either heard about or had witnessed themselves at school, said Kesa Kivel, a volunteer at the YWCA who conceptualized and coordinated the 10-month project. “I’m not surprised it (sexual harassment) is the topic they chose,” Kivel said. In fact, more than 80 percent of girls experience sexual harassment at school, as stated in a YWCA Santa Monica/Westside pamphlet Sexual harassment can have lasting effects on young girls, causing embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, poor grades and depression, according to the pamphlet. Crystal’s Room not only gave the students — Jacobius, eighth grader Angelica Malone, 13-year-old Kaitlyn Nickel, and a fourth student (whose name was made public for this article) — the opportunity to not only learn about feminist issues that might not be covered in their school curriculum, but to express their thoughts on the issue artistically. “I loved installing Crystal’s Room and writing the diary for her,” said Malone on Tuesday. Malone’s middle name, Crystal, was used for the character. The installation was open for a public exhibition in June, when the girls gave tours of the room and asked visitors to record their thoughts in a guestbook. While the experience of creating Crystal’s Room and teaching others about the issue was gratifying, discussing sexual harassment initially made Jacobius uncomfortable, as it is something rarely mentioned. “A lot of girls are shy about this topic,” she said. “It’s not something people usually talk about.” Inspired by Judy Chicago and Miriam Shapiro’s 1972 art exhibit titled “Womanhouse” — an installation in a mansion in Hollywood where each room dealt with a feminist issue — Kivel decided to create a curriculum addressing adolescent girl issues after imagining how a “girl house” would look. Beginning in September 2005, Kivel began meeting with the four girls weekly to discuss feminist issues such as the wage gap, the “glass ceiling” and other forms of discrimination. The girls also explored the issues through collages and other artistic means, such as the “North Star Values,” a star where the girls wrote their guiding values in life. For example, one student wrote her guiding value in life was to be brave. The idea derived from the sailor’s practice of using the North Star for guidance. Another mini-project looked at different employment statistics, feeding the argument that the students live in a male-dominated society. “Although I have the ambition to help empower girls and to change the status quo and help make a more equitable world, the heart of it is the girls,” Kivel said about the project on Friday. “It’s a blessing to be in their presence.” The 10-month project taught many things about the differences between the way men and women are treated,the students said. The experience opened their eyes to a world of sexism. “I started noticing more examples of harassment and discrimination,” Malone said. “Society is sexist. It favors men over women.” To receive a copy of the documentary, contact Kesa Kivel at ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/112506-05_01.jpg) (Photo: Photo courtesy) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/112506-05_02.jpg) (Photo: Photo courtesy) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 25, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/112506.pdf?ref=smdp.com)