Young girls in America today face peer pressure derived from the media. They suffer loss of individuality and true identity, and if they chose not to follow the media image of young girls they risk being rejected by their peers and society.

Giving young women more space to be whom they want to and find their own path with the helping hand of better role models will truly benefit America.

“The ideal woman must be very thin, tall and look flawless. This has affected a majority of the girls and women in the U.S. to become obsessed with looking like the models and actresses that grace magazine covers and appear in films,” according to “Child’s Play” author Elizabeth Dau.

Most young girls, amidst a whirlwind of change, will often find comfort in believing that they can be like the princess on their lunch pail or the latest pop star. But it is really all too good to be true.

A princess’ hair falls perfectly, she has beautiful skin, most are great dancers with perfect grace, she can find true love right outside her door and live the lifestyle of a millionaire. Unfortunately, not everyone can achieve perfection of this magnitude.
“Magazines frequently have articles telling teenage girls how to attract men of their dreams, how to lose weight and how to look perfect. In the same magazine it will also tell the reader to love herself for who she is and not to obsess over her body,” according to “Toxic Culture for Girls” by Melinda Resit. It is quite the contradiction.

It is not possible to walk throughout the aisles of any toy store without having to see a Barbie that has the hair and make-up of a prostitute.

“Dressed in miniskirts, fishnet stockings, and feather boas, sitting in hot tubs wearing bikinis, drinking mixed drinks and hanging out with boys. These dolls know how to flaunt their sexuality. And these companies are being paid dollars for it is sickening,” said an outraged mother in Early Childhood Newsletter last March.

Is this how they expect young men to view women as well? I understand sex sells, but what does a 9-year-old have to do with this market? Selling a toy or magazine that is more appropriate could be the first step in changing the image of what a girl thinks is beauty.

In a world that is so cynical and self-absorbed, how is a girl to find herself? At such a young age it is hard to really know what direction to go. The more I look around, the more I constantly see cliques and groups of girls that are losing their individuality from the fear they may not fit in.

I think we can fix this by implanting the idea that it’s okay to be different and introduce your own style.

We can achieve this with public speaking, and reaching out to younger age groups about the self-worth issues. If we encourage this idea, girls today will not be as confused when they come out of adolescence about what they want out of the rest of their lives. They will have had a chance to talk about their feelings, ideas or concerns with how their lives are unfolding.

Girls can become easily fragmented. Young women are confident in the morning and overwhelmed with anxiety by nightfall as they rush through their days with wild energy and collapse with lethargy, they try on new roles every week – this week a good student, next week the delinquent and an artist the next.

All these ideas and images from the media clearly haunt the adolescent years of the girls in America today. Instilling different values and ideas into young minds can alleviate these constant pressures.