Looking back on our childhood, we often miss the days without stress. Becoming of age, especially as a girl, is stressful and can influence our modern-day choices.
Being a girl is not easy. If not for social media, magazines or social standards pressuring you to look a certain way, then it is pressure from other girls, friends or even boys too. Most girls don’t start to gain insecurities and worry about beauty standards until about 12 years old. However, that age is getting younger and younger. Girls nowadays are growing up faster. Some could blame this on social media. Eight year olds are wearing makeup, midriff tops and acrylic nails. To older generations, that may be concerning.
“My best childhood memory is playing board games with my family. Growing up, I played games like Monopoly or Clue almost every Sunday night,” freshman Caitlyn McCabe shares. Unlike girls growing up now, McCabe spent time off screens as a kid instead of playing on an electronic to remain entertained.
Nowadays, the expectations for girls are far too unrealistic. I started playing basketball at 4 years old. At the time there was no all-girls team for that age, so I played for the YMCA on a co-ed team with my best friend. The boys on the team would never pass to us just because we were girls, but when they started to see our skills, they started passing to us. We were stereotyped just because of our gender. Since the uniform for basketball includes shorts that are longer than standard girls’ shorts, I had to face name-calling at just 7 years old. Girls should be able to do what they love, wearing what they love without being called “boy-like.”
Growing older, the media tells young women that they have to always fit the “trendy body”. It is hard to keep up with trends, especially if the trend is a body type because everyone is different. Since younger girls have the freedom to be on social media, they are learning from ages, younger than ever, to be ashamed of things they cannot control.
Some parents are more lenient today, not enforcing rules upon their young daughters. It has been a trend recently to see young girls in stores like Sephora and Ulta Beauty. Girls spend lots of money on skincare and makeup products that they have seen online that they do not need. For health reasons, physical and mental, 10 year olds should not be insecure about their looks, therefore, they should not be encouraged to buy expensive products for those issues. Social media platforms contribute to the pressure to buy these products.
The main issues for girls are the expectations society has for us. We shouldn’t be expected to be perfect.
