Secret Keeper Girl tour encourages girls to feel comfortable in their own skin

A program that encourages tween-age girls to practice modesty and to appreciate true beauty is making a stop in Raleigh.

The Secret Keeper Girl Masterpiece World Tour is a traveling show that brings mothers and daughters together to change the way they look at the world and themselves while moving closer to Christianity.

“It’s about making the girls feel comfortable in their own skin and making them feel beautiful as God has created them and how they are masterpieces,” said Ashley Munn, the tour’s road manager.

“We look at all different kinds of masterpieces that have been painted,” Munn said. “And we travel through time and space to look at masterpieces all over the world and reframe the girls’ thinking of what a masterpiece really is – and how we’re each created unique but we’re also beautiful.”

The Secret Keeper Girl Masterpiece Tour will visit 85 cities this year and is making its first ever two-night stop when it lands in Raleigh March 8 and 9 at Mt. Vernon Baptist Church.

Secret Keeper Girl is a movement begun by Dannah Gresh, a self-described “mom on a mission,” to urge girls to keep their beauty for one man. What began as a small group Bible study has become a nationwide movement for modesty and purity. Gresh has written books, maintains a blog and takes the show on the road.

The program is targeted to the specific tween audience because of research that shows girls at risk of developing a distorted body image is between eight and 10 years old. The shows are also intended to be viewed by mothers and daughters together.

“During the event, we have a lot of moments where we have them turn to their Moms and ask questions,” Munn said. “Sometimes they are fun questions, sometimes they are serious questions.

“There are also moments throughout the night when we have them pray with one another and take the time right then to pray over any of the things they are learning or any of the things they are thinking through and that they struggle about with their body or what they look like or about friendships and relationships at school.”

The show is designed to be a two-and-a-half-hour Bible-based connecting experience for the mothers and the daughters. There is time for worship, balloon sculptures, a beach ball competition, confetti cannons and even a runway fashion show featuring modest clothing worn by both generations.

And at every turn organizers hope to implode myths that girls aren’t pretty unless they are skinny or have perfect skin or look like everyone else.

“We just really want to allow the girls to be girls and be young and not feel like they have to grow up too fast,” Munn said.

This story was originally published March 6, 2018 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Secret Keeper Girl tour encourages girls to feel comfortable in their own skin."