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Recommended: The effects of social media on human behavior
What does it mean to be a girl according to society? How does society see it? In many countries, a girl is seen as powerless, uneducated, and too emotional to handle a man’s job. For example, women in Saudi Arabia are not allowed to drive. In the past, writers used to describe a woman’s role as the victim of many forms of discrimination in the United States of America. In other words, women were only involved in things that men thought were not important. For instance, women did not have any other role than being a housewife. They had to stay at home, watch the children, be responsible, and do all the chores. Nonetheless, American women got their freedom earlier comparing to other countries in the world. Now they are more independent, more educated, and they have more civil rights. However, there are still some inequalities in the workplace for women. Some women get paid less than men doing the same job. Even more, there is more competition among women because they compete with each other to see who is prettier, or who gets more attention from men. Students can learn connotations and themes about the different ways women are being affected by the mass media, society, and their parents by reading "Cinderella " by Anne Sexton, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been" by Joyce Carol Oates, and ''Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid.
First of all, teen girls are victimized by the media. Teen girls within society are obsessed with their physical appearance. They do what it takes to become the number one center of
attention. Teen girls need to find a way to change their natural appearance, so they can get more attention from males. For instance, they would wear clothing that is too tight, see through, or exposes the entire mid-section. As in “...
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...a "girl" in society is a tough job. A girl must know how to cook, wash clothes, and most importantly, a girl should behave like a girl. Overall, teen girls in society are victims in part by mass media, they can develop mood disorders, and their relationship with their parents play a huge role during their developmental years through puberty and maturity.
Works Cited
Cohen, Kerry. Dirty Little Secrets; Breaking the Silence on Teenage Girls and Promiscuity.
Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc. 2011. Print.
Kincaid, Jamaica. Girl. Web
Lilienfeld, Scott, Steven, Jay Lynn, Laura Namy, Nancy Woolf. Psychology; a framework for Everyday Thinking. Boston, Massachussets: Allyn & Bacon, 2010. Print
Oates, Joyce. Where Are you Going, Where Have You Been. 1966. Web
Sexton, Anne. Cinderella. Web
Schaefer, Richard. Sociology. Thirteen Edition. McGraw-Hill Company.USA. 2012. Prin
In this book therapist Mary Pipher writes about her experiences at work with adolescent girls. It is intended to make the reader aware of the perils of being a teenager in today's sexualized and media-saturated culture. She talks about how this new and more hostile environment affects adolescent girls' emotional growth and development, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself while trying to fit in with peers. For the most part this book is Dr. Pipher's attempt to reach out to adolescents, as well as their parents and teachers, and tell them that this "problem without a name" is not a death sentence but rather a journey to adulthood, and tells adults how to help these impressionable young girls through what might be the most trying period of their lives.
Societal constructs of bodily perfection have a massive influence on both genders and on all ages. If you look at any magazine, you will see women constantly being compared to each other, whether it is in the “who wore it better” section or in the “do’s and don’ts” part of the magazine, comparing body images and overall appearances. All parts of the media that encompasses our daily lives are especially dangerous for young and impressionable teens because they see people being torn down for trying to express themselves, and are thus taught to not only don’t look like “don’ts”, but also look like the “do’s”. This is dangerous in that women in the magazine set very high standards that teens want to emulate, no matter the cost to themselves or their health. Celebrities have the benefit of media to make them appear perfect: Photoshop and makeup artists conceal the imperfections that are often too apparent to the naked eye. Viewing celebrities as exhibiting the ideal look or as idols will, in most cases, only damage the confidence of both young teens, and adults, and warp the reality of what true “beauty” really is. It makes teens never feel truly content with themselves because they will be aiming for an ideal that is physically impossible to attain and one that doesn’t exist in the real
In the article, “Little Girls or Little Women: The Disney Princess Affect”, Stephanie Hanes shows the influential impact that young girls, and youth in general, are experiencing in today’s society. This article goes in depth on the issues that impressionable minds experience and how they are reacting as a result. “Depth of gender guidelines” has been introduced to youth all around the world making it apparent that to be a girl, you have to fit the requirements. Is making guidelines of how you should act and look as a gender going too far?
Girl by Jamaica Kincaid is about the roles and expectations in society. The article is written as
The idea that teenage boys should act a certain way towards females is usually instilled in them at a young age. According to Devor, “ Femininity must be expressed through modes of… action which communicate weakness, dependency, ineffectualness, availability for sexual or emotional service, and sensitivity to the needs of others” (Devor 6-7). In other words, men have to place women on a lower pedestal because of a woman’s so called “needs” (Devor 6). The “needs” that women express are feminine characteristics. The characteristics of females listed by Devor, does not show any sign of power or dominance. Since society believes gender is a patriarchy, females have no influence and need attention. This shows that men adjust their actions around women, since they believe that women need special attention. Furthermore, if a male possesses anything non-masculine,
Adolescent girls growing up in today’s society endure many more hardships than in previous years. Adolescence is no longer a time of endless sunny days spent on the back porch with a glass of country time lemonade and a smile extending ear to ear. Adolescence for girls is now generalized as a dark and depressing period of life that often seems hopeless and never ending. Mary Pipher PH.D tries to illustrate just how drastically life has changed over the years for teenage girls through her best selling book “Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls”. Although Mary Pipher was once a clinical psychologist, she articulates very well for everyone to clearly understand her ideas and perspectives. One way she is able to transfer her ideas to her readers without losing any of the emotion and feeling is by using actual quotes by her adolescent girl clients. I feel this is a very effective way to keep the readers attention and to convey the reality of the problems many teenagers are trapped in. I agree with Pipher that our society has changed for the worse even though we are persuaded to think that we are moving in the right direction. Yes, equal right movements have been placed in the law, but the respect that people once had for women has been eliminated. Comparing girls’ true selves to the Bermuda Triangle, Mary Pipher goes to great depth to explain what a mysterious trend this has become. No one can reason why these girls can no longer appreciate anything in life when just a few years before a spittle bug could have kept them mesmerized for an hour. Pipher recalls early in the book the image of Shakespeare’s Ophelia drowning herself due to failed attempts to please both her father and hamlet. She states that adolescent girls are similarly drowning in confusion as they try to sort out details in their life, and decide whom they really want to please. I really liked how Pipher points out that during the most stressful time during girls lives, our society stresses the importance of cutting the emotional ties with moms and dads although this is the time when parental guidance and support would most likely be needed, but maybe not appreciated at the time. However, some parents can actually impact the girl’s choices negatively by insisting that they grow up too fast or to confine to the norm.
Girls on the Edge by Dr. Leonard Sax, is all about the things that are driving a crisis for girls. The book cites sexual identity, the cyberbubble, obsesssions, and environmental toxins as the four main factors. The book is 272 pages and was published by Basic Books in July of 2011 and sells for around 13 dollars for a paperback copy or 20 for the hardcover edition. The book begins with an explanation of teenagers and how they are different from the teenagers of 50 years ago. More and more teenagers are depressed, and on medication. The author states that teenagers now are on alot more medications than the teenagers of the past. In the first part of the book Dr. Sax discusses the four forementioned factors he believes are affecting the crisis for girls.
Waiten,W., (2007) Seventh Edition Psychology Themes and Variations. University of Nevada, Las Vegas: Thomson Wadsworth.
Although teenage girls can be impacted nagatively, it also makes them aware of the issues that face women in our world today and empowers them to make a change.
Now I’m going to give those teens a way to ignore what others think and think about themselves in the most important years of their lives. Body image has become more important that education and it needs to stop. I am going to point this article more towards teenage girls. Although I know guys are self conscious about themselves too I cannot relate to that. Girls when you look in the mirror do you see what you want to see?
Whether you realize it or not everyone is influenced or affected by fashion models through the media in some sort of way. I believe that teenage girls are a specific target and remain more so negatively pretentious by this. How so? Well throughout my writing I plan to tell you why I believe this is an issue.
Olsen, Ginny. Teenage Girls and Exploring Issues Adolescent Girls Face and Strategies to Help Them. Zondevan. 2006. Print.
Society makes being a girl harder than it should be. Growing up and transitioning from girl to woman is harder than it looks, and often goes unrecognized. From the basic small things like dealing with boys and high school to the human body girls don’t get the credit they deserve because they have it harder. Dealing with all the social issues, science and knowledge and how the world works, girls deal with growing up and growing old harder.
In the past the traditional concepts of what it means to be a woman were taught in the early stages of development. Parents encourage outdated roles in the way little girls are dressed, the toys they play with, and the books that are read to them. As pointed out in "X: A Fabulous Child's Story" by Lois Gould, girls were treated a distinct way. In the late 1800s, women did not play an important role in society at all. Their job was mainly to cook, clean, sew, take care of the children, and keep the house in order. They were treated as a material possession rather than a human being that could think and act for themselves and looked upon as a decorative member of the household. Women were treated just as sex objects , alive just to satisfy a mans needs and desires. They were robbed of their true identity. The male always dominated over the women and it was not viewed as "unfair." The history...
Teenagers constantly worry about their body image. Magazines, newspapers, and television don’t exactly help to boost their confidence. The portrayal of stick thin woman and body building men forces teens to believe they need to achieve that “perfect” body and look. The biggest issue of these images being broadcasted to teens is the effects that the images have on them. Teenagers who obsess over their body image can experience stress due to trying to impress others, develop an eating disorder, and neglect, and even jeopardize, important aspects of their lives when they focus too much on their body image.