When I was twelve years old, my neighbour told me the only way I’d ever be beautiful would be if I started wearing makeup.
It wasn’t uncommon for me to hear this- since about the age of nine, individuals had been telling me to dress better, fix my hair, and start shopping at more fashionable stores. Makeup was simply the newest weapon they could hurl at me, the best way for them to tell me that I did not conform to their standards of beauty. They hid insults within their helpful suggestions like one hides a knife within a cake, covering up their nasty commentary with flowery words and silky tongues. To be honest, it wasn’t just those directly around me either. Television suddenly became a dangerous minefield, attacking me without mercy. …show more content…
A recent study from the American Journal of Child Nursing showed that self-esteem in girls significantly decreases at age 12 and does not improve until the age of twenty, thanks to a growing hatred of their bodies during their teenage years. This is largely thanks to western society as a whole, and their very narrow-minded ideals of what makes a girl beautiful. During the teenage years, when girls are changing and developing at different rates, society often begins to criticize them harshly, outwardly shaming them on their appearance. This can take many different forms- for example, a girl who developed curves early might be shamed for looking overweight, whereas another girl who hit puberty later may be shamed for her lack of breasts. Teenage boys in particular are often the culprits for these negative actions and messages, as they are also taught to believe in the unrealistic standards of beauty for women. When a girl does not fit what they believe to be the ideal look, then they may begin to shame them for not meeting societal expectations. Not meeting these expectations of beauty pushed upon young girls is quite obviously very damaging for their self-esteem, as they grow to believe that if society does not believe them to be beautiful, then they must not be. It is at this point when girls begin to think of themselves as ugly and worthless, which then can send them into a downward spiral of negativity. To put it simply, what society believes young women should look like places great pressure on girls to conform to unrealistic standards and may end up leading to lasting issues with their level of
It wasn’t uncommon for me to hear this- since about the age of nine, individuals had been telling me to dress better, fix my hair, and start shopping at more fashionable stores. Makeup was simply the newest weapon they could hurl at me, the best way for them to tell me that I did not conform to their standards of beauty. They hid insults within their helpful suggestions like one hides a knife within a cake, covering up their nasty commentary with flowery words and silky tongues. To be honest, it wasn’t just those directly around me either. Television suddenly became a dangerous minefield, attacking me without mercy. …show more content…
A recent study from the American Journal of Child Nursing showed that self-esteem in girls significantly decreases at age 12 and does not improve until the age of twenty, thanks to a growing hatred of their bodies during their teenage years. This is largely thanks to western society as a whole, and their very narrow-minded ideals of what makes a girl beautiful. During the teenage years, when girls are changing and developing at different rates, society often begins to criticize them harshly, outwardly shaming them on their appearance. This can take many different forms- for example, a girl who developed curves early might be shamed for looking overweight, whereas another girl who hit puberty later may be shamed for her lack of breasts. Teenage boys in particular are often the culprits for these negative actions and messages, as they are also taught to believe in the unrealistic standards of beauty for women. When a girl does not fit what they believe to be the ideal look, then they may begin to shame them for not meeting societal expectations. Not meeting these expectations of beauty pushed upon young girls is quite obviously very damaging for their self-esteem, as they grow to believe that if society does not believe them to be beautiful, then they must not be. It is at this point when girls begin to think of themselves as ugly and worthless, which then can send them into a downward spiral of negativity. To put it simply, what society believes young women should look like places great pressure on girls to conform to unrealistic standards and may end up leading to lasting issues with their level of