The Problem I Have with Girls

Ew. This article reminds me of that scary show Toddlers and Tiaras. This LITTLE girl Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau is only 10 and she looks like she's 25. Why does she have to look like that? Her face is so caked with makeup she looks like a freaking porcelain doll, aka FAKE. I despise these hypocritical magazines. Besides the fact that you pay 4.99 to flip through what is basically a book of ads (which I realized much too slowly on a recent flight), on one hand they print articles telling girls they should have self-confidence, that they are beautiful and should be comfortable in their own skin. Then that article is immediately followed by size 00 models half-naked and sprawled over equally scantily-clad men. Hypersexified, overdone, and just plain out of touch with reality. Unless you have a heaven-blessed metabolism or spend hours upon hours working out and always watching what you eat (which is what models and celebrities do because this is what they are paid for) you're not going to fit into 00 pants.

The problem is that this image has become the aesthetic standard by which we judge our girls' attractiveness. Why else would skinny always be in? This is putting aside whatever personal preferences people have towards weight--maybe you are an exception who prefers to look a little plumper (if you are a woman) or prefers a girl on the cushier side (if you are a man). But OVERALL, the skinny girl will usually win out when it comes judgments and perceptions of beauty. Parents do not help either. I am thoroughly exasperated whenever I am in a nail salon and a mom takes her 5 year-old-daughter to get her nails done. At age 5 your little girl should be running outside breathing in fresh air and making necklaces out of dandelions, not in a cramped, fluorescent-lit, chemical fume-filled place getting her toes polished.

I've had a debate with some friends (GUYS, Asian guys) over this very topic. I think image issues are something every girl deals with, regardless of your ethnicity. They were saying it's mostly a WHITE girl thing, because it's in that strata of society that is most exposed to the pressures of idealized standards of beauty, whether it comes from the media, family, men, or social norms. I think it's just a girl thing, even if the types of issues may be different between whites and non-whites.

If I ever have kids I hope I don't have a girl, if only for this reason. The world has become too difficult and cruel a place to raise a well-adjusted, well-balanced female.

Chemically imbalanced--hair, makeup, and hormones.