When the Girls with the Mics Get Silenced

Growing up, Teen Vogue felt like a guidebook for becoming the kind of woman the world told us didn’t exist. It wasn’t just lip gloss and runways; it was where a lot of us first learned about politics, identity, and activism. It taught us that beauty and voice could coexist; that you should care about what’s on your mind and what’s on your lips.

Now we’ve stepped into the very womanhood those pages once prepared us for; and somehow, those same voices are being shut down. The journalists who shaped how we see the world, the ones who spoke boldly and asked questions that mattered, are being laid off, cut, or quietly pushed aside. It feels like the moment we grew up and found our voices, someone decided we shouldn’t use them.

And it’s not just Teen Vogue. You can feel it everywhere; in newsrooms, broadcasts, and creative spaces where truth gets trimmed down for being “too political” or “too emotional.” It’s when late night hosts catch heat for saying what everyone’s thinking. It’s when women reporters are told they’re “biased” for opinions men get applauded for. It’s that unspoken rule that women can be loud; but only when it’s convenient.

But we’re not girls anymore. We know what silence costs, and we’re done paying it. We’ve seen what happens when the mic gets taken away, and we’ve learned to build our own. From small blogs and indie magazines to podcasts recorded on bedroom floors and TikToks made on lunch breaks, women are still finding ways to speak; and people are listening.

Censorship feeds on burnout. It wants us to give up; to think staying quiet is easier. But we grew up on stories that told us otherwise; by writers who turned fashion pages into manifestos and interviews into revolutions. Their words stuck to us; they still do.

So no, we won’t be silent. Not when democracy’s at stake. Not when the world keeps telling women their power is “too much.” Not when voice itself is treated like a privilege instead of a right.

We were taught to speak; and even if they take the microphones, they’ll never take the message.