Conversations about teenage girls and what people think they should do has been around since the dawn of time. The only difference now is that with the rise of social media, now everyone thinks their voice is important. Where anyone and everything should be heard on all topics, everyday, 24/7.
Teenage girls have been the particular group of interest for mass harassment, bullying and the like. If a Tiktok dance trends, it’ll suddenly become cringey because a girl did it; or a videogame with a high demographic of teenage girls will be seen as automatically weird and terrible.
And while this topic is one that can be discussed all on its own I believe this conversation ties into why teenage girls are so afraid of growing up.
There is inherent worth in being a teenage girl to a lot of people. And yes, it’s for the simple fact of being young, and inexperienced. But as many of us already might know as girls get older and older, a new problem sets in. Aging.
Aging may be the natural process of simply being human but it is an absolute diabolical offense for girls. While older men become described as ‘silver foxes’ and still handsome in his own respect, women even touching their 30s are ‘past their prime.”
The difference? Why of course, it’s because she’s a ‘she’ and he’s a ‘he’. Obviously, there was never supposed to be something else. It’s simply another way where women are being brought down for no reason.
And the reason why all of this is being brought up is for the simple fact that young girls are expected to start early and try to slow down that process as much as possible. Because if they don’t, then when they hit that 30 mark and still don’t look 18, a switch will go off in people’s heads. And when I mean everyone, I mean everyone. Girls have also been implanted with this switch in their heads.
They’ll see social media, the people talking around them about how bad wrinkles are and how bad aging is and how anyone out of their early twenties is aging out and gain an automatic curse from Aphrodite herself. Where now, they’ll buy skincare products and makeup and do all sorts of procedures to try and stop it all. Where young girls as young as 12 are uploading their skincare routines. Where young girls are flooded with comments such as “You’re thirteen?!”
And this conversation ties into why girls are expected to grow up too fast. But now it’s manifested itself into “starting your prime” as soon as possible. Because once you get to your twenties, you’ll only have a few years before that switch will turn on.
This is both the problem of our society first and our social media second. Society has had unbelievable, unachievable standards for girls and women for centuries. Society has only simply evolved and social media is simply an enhancer. An enhancer that on one hand, can help others be confident in their skin (regarding skincare) but then also pressure and scare young girls into believing it’s the end all be all of their entire life.
We need to really step back and evaluate our standards for girls in this society. How far is too far? How young is too young? Why aren’t we telling these girls to grow up as they are: children?
The consequences for such actions can be grave. From the least extreme to the most extreme, and while I do believe many women and girls are realizing this fact and trying to counter it, the battle is still ongoing and simply getting bigger.
