Imagine the very first moment you see your child. Young, innocent, and completely untainted by the dark world that lay before them once they leave that clean, sterile, hospital room. From that moment on, everything the world has to offer is new and exciting. Everything is at bay, waiting for the first moment it can filter through and touch this new life. Throughout your child’s lifetime, they will encounter an innumerable amount of new things, both good and bad. One of these experiences, and not a very good one, is the startling amount of sexualization of young girls that takes place in everyday life, which can effect both young girls and boys. Through the different standards held for sons and daughters, the assumed promiscuity of teenage girls,
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As young girls come of age, beginning to have sex and wanting to “show some skin”, becomes the mark of a true woman amongst peers. This leads to a relentless pursuit, by these same girls, to become the epitome of sexual allure and sensuality that they feel the world wants them to be. These types of unrealistic expectations of oneself can lead to a tremendous drop in self-esteem and confidence due to these girls feeling as though they can never live up to the standards set before them. A very common “accomplishment” within the general population of young girls right now is the ever-unattainable “thigh-gap”. This is the lack space between your thighs where they, hopefully, do not touch. Many young women currently view this trend as a mark of being “pretty” and “thin”. While this may be a feature found on some thinner women, it is often not even a possible goal for many girls solely because their body types simply will not allow it. The need for girls, younger and older, to be pretty and wanted has become such a large stigma in society that it is beginning to become all that matters to many young girls in the population. According to a recent study, found in an article by the Dove Self-esteem Project, 91% of teen social media users have posted a selfie of themselves, and the top answer among girls to the question of what they would like to be described as, is “pretty”. While merely taking self-portraits of yourself is not essentially a harmful thing to do, in their adamant attempts at being perceived as attractive by their followers, these pictures are becoming exceedingly revealing and provocative
As young girls come of age, beginning to have sex and wanting to “show some skin”, becomes the mark of a true woman amongst peers. This leads to a relentless pursuit, by these same girls, to become the epitome of sexual allure and sensuality that they feel the world wants them to be. These types of unrealistic expectations of oneself can lead to a tremendous drop in self-esteem and confidence due to these girls feeling as though they can never live up to the standards set before them. A very common “accomplishment” within the general population of young girls right now is the ever-unattainable “thigh-gap”. This is the lack space between your thighs where they, hopefully, do not touch. Many young women currently view this trend as a mark of being “pretty” and “thin”. While this may be a feature found on some thinner women, it is often not even a possible goal for many girls solely because their body types simply will not allow it. The need for girls, younger and older, to be pretty and wanted has become such a large stigma in society that it is beginning to become all that matters to many young girls in the population. According to a recent study, found in an article by the Dove Self-esteem Project, 91% of teen social media users have posted a selfie of themselves, and the top answer among girls to the question of what they would like to be described as, is “pretty”. While merely taking self-portraits of yourself is not essentially a harmful thing to do, in their adamant attempts at being perceived as attractive by their followers, these pictures are becoming exceedingly revealing and provocative