A queen's message to girls: More than tiaras and cupcakes

To be born a girl in Afghanistan is often to be ushered into a life of servitude, where girls have very little worth and very dim futures. Amina is forced to marry at 12, to bear a child though still a child herself -- while her own brother is given her dowry money to buy a used car. But Amina, whose name was changed and story portrayed by an actress out of concern for her safety, has had enough, and she is fighting back. 

CNN Films' "Girl Rising," airing June 16, tells the stories of Amina and other girls from around the world and how the power of education can change the world. Learn more about the girls' inspiring stories. 

(From 10x10)

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Girl Rising

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STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Queen Rania of Jordan writes an open letter to girls of the world
• CNN Films' "Girl Rising"premieres June 16

Editor's note: Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah is queen of Jordan and has been an advocate for children's education for years in her country, across the region and around the world, working with such groups as UNICEF. This open letter to the girls of the world is part of the "Girl Rising" project. CNN Films' "Girl Rising" documents extraordinary girls and the power of education to change the world.Watch on CNN International Dear Girls of the World,

Some of you will be familiar with the childhood rhyme, "What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice, that's what little girls are made of."

Marketing and stereotyping combine to have us believe that you're also made of pink dresses, pigtails, dolls, ringlets, ribbons, bows and tiaras. That you like cupcakes. That all you will want to be are wives and mothers. That you're more "inclined" to the arts and "better suited" to caring professions like teaching and nursing.

Queen Rania of Jordan

And, maybe, that's true for some. But my daughter Salma teaches me every day that there's so much more to you -- and for you.

Salma is 13, and I can count, on one hand (in fact, on one finger!), the occasions she's worn a dress -- and they've never been pink! Dolls always stayed on the shelf. She's happiest dribbling a soccer ball past her brothers and scoring goals or building model airplanes with her father. She dreams of being an engineer. That's my Salma; that's why I love her.

So, when I think about girls rising, I think of girls like her and her sister, Iman. I think of the millions of courageous girls all over the Arab world and beyond who, every day, summon inner strength, surmount barriers and make a difference in their communities.

Let me tell you about 16-year-old Wafa Al-Rimi.