The article, "Pressure to be a supergirl is causing teen mental health crisis" talks about the "triple bind" that teenage girls are in today - pressures from adult expectations, consumerism and a "highly sexualized pop/cyber culture that celebrates physical perfection and stratospheric success." (had to quote that one - it had alliteration in it!) Apparently, according to this author, teenage girls in this generation are experiencing depression and other mental health problems earlier than ever before because of all the contracting messages they receive, and their inability to cope with failure to meet these standards.
To quote one paragraph, which I find most interesting (short of the other people's comments after the article, which I shall definitely touch on later):
Now, I don't know about you, but I know quite a few kick-ass female authors who are ready and willing to show up these other 'role models'. Tamora Pierce comes to mind as one of my all-time favorite quasi-young adult writers who specializes in powerful and quirky feminine figures. Also up there are Patricia Wrede (the "Dealing with Dragons" quartet of hers is fantastic - also decidedly young adult-esque). Anne McCaffrey is a little older target audience-wise, but she is equally fantastic. Then there is my current favorite female author - Robin McKinley - writer of Sunshine, Spindle's End, Rose Daughter, Deerskin, and others. McKinley does a fantastic job retelling stereotypical fairytales with a decidedly un-stereotypical cast of characters. My favorite part: the princesses aren't ditzy and powerless. (I'll side-step my usual rant about lack of agency in women in fairytales for the moment...I daresay you'll hear it from me eventually.) McKinley's women don't need to depend on some handsome prince to ride to their rescue - they take matters into their own hands. Best of all, they don't come across as these unattainable figures, either. Unlike the super-thin, glamorous stars and models our culture apparently is pummeling us with, McKinley's (like most authors I read, actually) characters are down-to-earth, witty and practical.
"It's [this 'triple bind' idea, that is] why girls who once had a bit of breathing room to figure out their futures now feel under the gun before they finish sixth grade, already anxious about getting perfect SATs and a roster of impressive extracurriculars," the book goes on to say. "And it's why girls who once might have identified with alternative female figures - a rock star, an athlete, a female author - now have trouble finding any role models other than those who are beautiful, hot, thin, and thoroughly focused on conventional notions of success."
I would take these authors, or the characters they write so well, as role models over some starlet or uber-poweful CEO any day, thank you very much.
That's not to say that I don't feel stressed out or unable to achieve the standards I set for myself, though. I understand what the author is trying to say about our culture and its demands - although I agree with one of the commenters who noted that it isn't just teenage girls who feel these pressures. Maybe guys are culturally conditioned to hide it better. Or maybe researchers are overwhelmed with all the hype about the new opportunities for women in the workforce (women power! and all that jazz) and would rather investigate a "new" phenomenon rather than finding out more about something that's been going on all along.
Additionally, Hinshaw (the author of this book on the triple bind idea) notes that while genes and biological factors, naturally, have a role to play in which person develops a psychological disorder and which does not, the changing trends in girls' mental health cannot be explained by changes in genes - he says that would take generations to show up. Obviously, it must be our culture's fault. We must not be raising our girls right if they succumb to these cultural expectations and believe that they must achieve the perfect body and the perfect job and the perfect life to be perfectly happy.
Wait a minute - this sounds familiar. Oh wait - my mom fought against these sorts of ideas when she was 16. In the 1970s. Maybe the end goals have changed with the years, but the stress of achieving the ideal lifestyle - I think - is very much the same.
Okay, so if the cultural expectations haven't changed all that drastically, can we blame the prevalence of those messages in the media for the increase in mental health problems? Or is it just that our world moves so much faster with cellphones and blackberries and the internet allowing a more constant stream of information, communication, (indoctrination?), and flusteration? (Yes, I just made that word up.)
Hinshaw suggests volunteer work. Obviously that will help young girls to get a different perspective on what is important, and will give them goals that they can achieve.
I agree with one commenter who laughed and pointed out that this is just adding another time commitment to an already hectic lifestyle. Even if these young girls give up something else in order to participate in volunteer programs (as another commenter suggested), I'm still laughing. Get a 13 year old to volunteer rather than spending time with her friends or watching TV? The idea is ludicrous. It will never work.
So "suck it up" says another commenter. The world is the way it is and to get ahead, this is the lifestyle you have to lead. Men and women alike deal with the increased pressures of the world today - basically by becoming emotionless automatons with no free time and no social life (says the commenter). Deal with it, or don't become the CEO of your company (because that's the end result of not having enough extracurriculars to pad your resume with, obviously.)
So what if "dealing with it" means that our young girls have more and more mental health problems? Is that the end of it? Isn't there something that we can do that both fits with the current speed of the world, but also keeps down the depression rate?
We've all see the Dove commercials, trying to get girls and women to feel better about their own bodies. Shouldn't there be something similar telling them that getting into the top school and aiming for the best job maybe isn't the ultimate goal in life?
Read more books, watch less tv. Eat dinner with your family. Parents, spend more time with your kids and less at the office (haven't you heard Cats in the cradle by Harry Chapin?).
Will that help? I don't know.
Just some food for thought.
Okay, that was really interesting. Thank you, Jess, for helping me procrastinate :).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, when you were talking about role models, I distinctly remember a conversation I had with my mother when I was in high school. She kept nagging and nagging me to listen to music that was written by women as opposed to men. She wanted me to have a strong, positive role model, but honestly, I just couldn't find it. Almost every single one of MY role models are men. I feel as if the women who are expected to be our role models today are weak and unsubstantial, going back to the comment of those highly sexualized pop culture figures. While there isn't necessarily anything wrong with hyper-sexuality in women (if it gives you a sense of self, I don't see a problem. Men seem to be allowed to embrace themselves as sexual beings wholeheartedly, why not us?), it's society's half-formed idea of what women should be that puts girls in this turmoil. We're supposed to be demure. We're supposed to be bad-ass tough chicks. We're supposed to be mothers. We're supposed to flash the cameras at Mardi Gras. We're supposed to have no idea what sex is. We're supposed to be dominatrixes. Society needs to get its act together and leave girls alone. They need to stop pressuring us in so many different directions so that we can choose our OWN role models, who suit us, our ideals and our interests, so that we can become people who aren't plagued by mental issues that force us to not eat or aim for the perfect body or personality through poor means.
I'm proud to have men as role models, because I think it's made me stronger as a woman. It is unfortunate that strong women are often disliked by other women, and men (for being TOO strong), because it's yet another one of society's faults. And yes, there are men who suffer from similar pressures, but for the most part, they're allowed to dream, and those dreams tend to go in a singular direction, guided by society.
I'm not sure this makes any sense, but I completely agree that parents need to spend more time with their kids and tell their children that they are more than what society thinks they should be.