Good Example Of Young Girls Today And Pressures And Difficulties Argumentative Essay

Introduction

The world in which young people grow up today is very different from that faced by their previous generations. Like all other issues, this too has its pros and cons. Today, the transition from childhood to adulthood takes longer thus giving more significance to the phase adolescence. They have more independence and also more access to television and internet.
It’s with these newer technologies that include reality television and celebrity cultures, the girls are bombarded often with almost unreal expectations of what they should be. Reducing social pressure and negative media influences can actually help today’s young girls to cope better with these changes. In addition to this is the problem of drug abuse that is fairly common in adolescent girls of today.
So both advertising as well as addiction has magnetic effects on the inexperienced minds of adolescent girls. Most of them are sensitive towards peer pressure and find it difficult to abstain from or question the predominant messages spread by them and supported by communication in the media. So in today’s world media has a greater role to play than the parents in shaping the mind of an adolescent.

Adolescence is a challenging and life changing time for everybody, especially young girls these days. Due to the numerous changes taking place in their body and mind, they feel anxious and insecure and can often end up in damaging their lives if not guided properly. When a girl reaches the age of an adolescent, she loses her self-confidence, often becomes hesitant, insecure and self-doubting.
Cigarette smoking, binge drinking, poor eating habits, premature sexual activity, date rape are some of the most common factors observed to have an impact on young girls. Young girls today face far more health risks in alarming numbers than that of any prior generations. We can even find evidence about the difficulties faced by young girls during adolescence in the book “Reviving Ophelia” by Mary Pipher .
In the first chapter itself, aptly titled “Saplings in the storm”, the author lays emphasis on the effects of the struggles that a girl faces during adolescence and which remains with them mostly throughout their adulthood. She tells the story about one of her cousins who were a free spirited girl until her adolescence but found herself a misfit in her growing years, thus changing slowly and painfully into the stereotyped lady which was a far cry from her usual self.
Even Leigh Haldeman in her article “Loss of self-confidence among adolescent girls: Can saplings in the storm grow stronger?” writes about the painful transformation of girls into adolescent young women. She also narrates her own experiences during the period she took up a job as a nanny for two young girls. She recalls how small girls are uninhibited, carefree and completely honest even with strangers. She wonders and then experiences firsthand the effects of society on the transformation of a young mind .
A simple negative opinion even from a family member makes a little girl self-conscious. It’s then that the author wonders that if a trivial comment from an elder sibling can change a little girl’s perception about herself, how much the everyday effects of society can change the adolescents! For most girls adolescence is uncomfortable and confusing and it becomes more so for today’s girls due to the ever increasing role media gets to play in their lives.
Therefore by decreasing social pressure and negative media influence, the passage into adulthood can be made easier. In today’s competitive world, girls become self-conscious and starts comparing themselves to others at a very early age. Competition sets in and due to a feeling of insecurity, there’s a strong urge to blend in with the more popular type. This again creates undue pressure which more than often leads to losing one’s self identity . When comparing the pressures faced by today’s girls during adolescence to that of their previous generations, undoubtedly the most important factor is social pressure.
In recent times, with advanced technology, mass communication has made possible a kind of national peer pressure that erodes private and individual values and standards, as well as community values and standards. For example a cigarette provides a symbol of independence and a pair of designer jeans or sneakers convey status . Most young people fall prey to these messages which create undue pressure upon themselves as well as their family. Adolescence is the age of comparison and competition between peers and more than often young girls take drastic measures to fit in.
Probably the best of the psychological insights of authors and psychologists about the life of adolescent girls can be found in the compilation of essays that have been presented in the work of Mary Pipher in her work ‘Dreams and Inward Journeys’. The compilation of rich essays and works by multiple authors on the essence of coming of age by adolescent girls is truly commendable. Specific aspects, such as dreams, perception and the development of a young girl’s psychological framework are specific aspects of the work. On close attention to works such as ‘The Symbolic Language of Dreams’ and ‘Dreams, Myths and Fairy tales’ helps one to gain a very relevant idea of the different things that create an impact in the minds of adolescent girls while they grow up.
Many are of the opinion that as compared to earlier times, today’s adolescent girls are overwhelmed by the constant bombardment of media as far as lifestyle is concerned. Having many boyfriends and premature sex is shockingly, portrayed as a norm of society. Peer pressure further contributes to the same, as a teenage girl who has reached puberty is concerned to be somewhat backdated or ‘weird’ in social circles among teenagers and adolescents.
Another important factor that has been highlighted in the compilation by Pipher is the fact that adolescent girls are becoming more prone to emotional isolation due to comparatively greater ‘exposure’ to an independent lifestyle. It is easy for them to be obsessed about someone from the opposite gender at one moment, only to find another the next. Leigh Haldeman, in her article rightly suggests that the shallow fixation on appearance must be changed in order to promote healthier lives for adolescent girls as they begin to grow into young women .
The picture portrayed by media is often that being thin or wearing fashionable clothes are the keywords to success. Adolescent girls of this age are especially vulnerable to the obsession with thinness because they become overly self-conscious during this time and there is a terrifying fear of shame and humiliation . Normal weight gain during adolescence are considered undesirable which can lead to chronic anxiety and concern about weight control in today’s girls even at a tender age of just 10 years.
It leads to obsession and girls as young as thirteen year olds start trying to lose weight by dieting, vomiting, using laxatives, or even taking diet pills. It has become a matter of prime concern because the way fat girls are treated from the moment they enter school and are made to feel so terrible about themselves that they prefer to be dead than fat. They are subjected to public contempt and scorn and often these girls end up with eating disorders like bulimia and anorexia.

Conclusion

It is strongly felt that it is unwise to focus only on the negative aspects of society as far as psychological and physical development of adolescent girls is concerned. Yes, there is great influence of media, there is a major difference in social outlook as compared to earlier generations and there are greater dangers and threats that are omnipresent to have an adverse effect on any girl’s development into a woman. Apart from the adverse influence on the mental development, there have been a lot of adverse effects observed on the physical health of young girls as well.
On the other hand, the bright side to these aspects is the fact that it has become possible for the guardians to take proper care, as new concepts and aspects have been uncovered, which were probably considered a taboo in earlier times. The best example could be helpful guidance and discussion on sexual health that is a possibility today, which was not the case in earlier times. If it is perceived that media has a negative impact on girls, it cannot be overlooked that in its own way media helps improve awareness levels of adolescent girls in many ways which cannot be done by guardians or others. As there are two sides to a coin, greater pressures and difficulties, even though paramount, also has the potential to develop stronger and smarter daughters to society.

References

Ford, M. and Ford, J. Dreams and Inward Journeys. 8th. New York: Longman, 2011.
Hyde, J. S. “The Gender Similarities Hypothesis.” American Psychologist 60.6 (2005): 581-592.
Pipher, M. Reviving Ophelia. New Jersey: Penguin Books, 2005.