After reading the article and the accounts of three generations of women (wow--so many hardships, it read like a Danille Steel novel!) I think that girlhood identity is going to revert back into a more conservative role.
Right now, girls and boys are putting themselves on 500x magnification of what all they do in their lives--texting, facebooking, playing on tumblr, pinning, blogging, etc etc. it never stops! While this may seem like a dream to researchers--heck, we know what type of foods girls like, what lyrics hit them hardest, hell you can even like your favorite brand of tampon on facebook (tmi in my opinion...) one of these days this urge to purge information is going to come to a halt. I'm not saying that girls are going to be back at staying at home, but I believe that girls are going to want to be empowered and reserved... any politican will tell you that his power comes from not showing all his cards at one time--girls need to take heed of this.
There's a reason why Mad Men is so successful on television right now--it's because there are so many plot lines, so many secrets and ulterior motives that it is interesting to watch! I'm sure girls are going to want to emulate this behavior--I think the current generation is just on the mindset of "ya-hoooo I have all these doors opened to me, which one should I pick--and I can go party and drink and partake in debauchery and not looked *too* down upon, AND I can still have my career and go to school etc etc etc." It's all so new-but I think once the novelty of being free from restraints wears off, girls are going to want to reel it in a bit more and not be so transparent, for there won't be a need to be.
I think girlhood studies is going to start moving even moreso into social media and politics. What does having an African American president mean to girls? Does it raise their hopes that women can be in office one day?
I think girlhood studies should also move into talking to previous generations, and asking what their thoughts are on girlhood today--especially to see that since some previous generations may have regrets on what they were not able to do as girls, seeing what they'd advise girls with this new freedom to do.
OMG, -SOCIAL MEDIA- finally someone who agrees with my thoughts. Whatever happened to privacy, and its not like people should have secrets, it just somethings are private.
ReplyDeleteBut, I do like the aspect of girls having an outlet and sounding bored.
From a social psychological standpoint the eradication of the need for privacy is concerning and fascinating. I'm older and just don't understand needing to post what I'm eating, take pics of the street corner I'm standing on, etc. It'll be interesting to see how the objects of social media will negotiate their virtual identities in the upcoming future.
ReplyDeleteI love your post. Girlhood and any identity to me is a type of "Secret Garden." Everything shouldn't be exhibited to the public. To really know someone doesn't come from reading their Facebook page; it comes from time and silence as well as instantaneous chatter.
ReplyDeleteAre individuals who are projecting excessively trying to fill a void in their identities? Constructing identities that they feel are expected?