Meet Laila, Summayah, Duree, and Mariana – the fearless foursome redefining the blogging game! Breaking barriers and smashing stereotypes, these powerhouse pals are fearlessly tackling taboo topics while celebrating the strength of female friendship. Under the banner of ‘Girls In The Twin Cities’, they’re not just blogging; they’re leading a movement. From podcasts to posts, they’re igniting conversations about everything from contraception to confronting online abuse. With each click, they’re sparking change and challenging perceptions. Discover how they fearlessly navigate the complex terrain of feminism, relationships, and more. Join Social Diary as we delve deep into their inspiring stories and uncover the essence of their unyielding determination to effect change!
SD: What was the vision behind creating your blog?
Laila: We often jokingly say that the blog started as both an accident and an adventure and that we didn’t have a vision behind it. But reflecting back, we recognise that the vision was always there. We wanted to create a community with other like-minded women and create content that we wanted to see. We saw that although there were many amazing women-led blogs in Pakistan, very few focused on friendship. Since we grew up as friends foremost, it was almost natural for us to showcase this aspect of our lives on the blog. We also wanted to share our thoughts on what empowerment and independence mean, and how women can live lives truly for themselves.
SD: Emphasizing women empowerment and relationships, what remains the most important topic you’ve highlighted through your platform?
Duree: Very often when we discuss a topic, we don’t realise how big the impact will be, because we don’t understand how much this resonates with other women. It’s hard to find one topic that we have discussed that we feel is most important. But the one that our female followers reach out to thank us for the most, is highlighting that toxic and abusive relationships are NOT okay. Unfortunately, toxic and abusive relations have been normalized to such a degree that many women don’t even realise they deserve better. Or even when they want better, they are discouraged by friends and family and told to simply compromise. When we talk about the importance of healthy relations with parents, siblings, spouses and friends, we are inundated with responses from women who say these conversations give them so much courage to change their circumstances.
SD: How often do you create videos together?
Summayah: This varies from year to year, but we try to dedicate at least two months every year where we are together and can create content together.
SD: Do you get subjected to trolling? How do you combat that?
Mariana: Unfortunately the online world can be very unsafe for women, and online harassment is something that we do sometimes encounter. As strong-minded women who have a certain degree of exposure, we may be able to deal with online abuse, but we are followed by many young women who may be more vulnerable. This is why it is important for us to raise our voice against online harassment, and to remind our followers that it is NOT okay.
Laila: Our main response to online harassment is to raise awareness on how problematic these actions are, and how it is NOT okay to abuse someone. We remind our followers that online abuse is just as bad as abuse in the physical world – and something that should never be tolerated. This is important as many of our followers are young women, and we want to encourage them to stand for themselves.
SD: Now that three of your members have moved to other parts of the world, how hard is it for you all to collaborate on new videos?
Duree: Video making is more than just standing in front of a camera. A large part of our job is coordinating with brands, brainstorming ideas, writing scripts, and editing videos. Thankfully, these are all things that the internet allows us to collaborate on. While we would love to be in the same place and also appear in front of the camera together, we also enjoy collaborating on other aspects of video making that we can work on from a distance.
SD: How important is your blog in terms of highlighting the dynamics of feminism?
Sumayyah: Most of our followers are women who already believe that women are equal to men. However, the term “feminist” is still understood as a Western import and a term that many don’t like using. Our aim has always been to highlight what this term really means and to showcase and support the feminist movement in Pakistan.
SD: Have you ever faced setbacks when talking about issues that matter?
Laila: Oh so many times! Initially, it used to bother us but not anymore. While we do see a lot of hate and backlash on raising an issue, we also realize that there is a huge sector out there that receives our message and as long as we are getting to change even a single mind out there we are more than happy. Contraception is this one topic that we always get a backlash on but we continue to talk about it.
SD: One particular video/post which you are incredibly proud of creating?
Mariana: We recently got to shoot in old Rawalpindi and it was an incredible experience for us! Not only did we immensely enjoy the shoot, but we also loved how the video came out. It was also an eye-opener for us that we live amidst this heritage if only we could save it.
SD: Do there come times when you disagree over the content and how it’ll be presented?
Laila: Not really! Even if one of us doesn’t want to be part of any particular video, we still encourage each other to create content they believe in.
SD: The most rewarding aspect of being a digital personality?
Summayah: To be honest we did not expect to receive this much love and support from people and it has been so rewarding but what touches us the most is when women message us with their issues, seeking our advice and it’s just such an overwhelming feeling that people find this blog to be their safe space and they trust us with their issues.
SD: Having recently entered the realm of podcasts, what kind of issues and subjects do you wish to highlight through it?
Duree: Unfortunately we live in a society where there are so many issues to talk about that if we make a list it probably won’t end. Our priority is talking about all issues women face here but that is not all we will be talking about. There are some really fun episodes where we are just chatting about day-to-day issues. The whole point of this podcast is to make it as relatable to our audience as possible. We need to show the world a little glimpse of discussions that take place between women of the 21st century.
SD: Your visions and aspirations for 2024?
Mariana: After much planning, we have finally entered the world of YouTube and that is our focus right now. We have already shot Season 1 of our podcast, let’s pray and hope that we receive as much love and support as we did on Instagram and who knows you might see us with some fun guests in our upcoming seasons! 
