“Kim grew up with a taken-for-granted
notion of gender equity. Being a girl has not been experienced by her as a barrier
to education or aspiration” are the comments of Mary Jane Kehily about the
experience of a girl in the post-feminism era (p. 65). Based on this
comment, one can innocently think that women’s position in these days is equal
to men’s; hence girls don’t worry about feminism like women in the past have
done it. However, Kehily in her study adds that this same girl who has not experienced
the gender barrier is a young single mother who depends morally and economically
on her parents and is “unlikely to achieve independence in the near future.” Unfortunately,
this is the dilemma of the teenage girls of today. Girls are facing a society
that has increasingly “hyper-sexualized” the image of young women converting
them into mass consumption subjects. What does this mean to the future of
girlhood? Unless there is a change from consuming to producing in girls’ culture,
the future of girlhood looks very similar to that of the 60s and 70s where many
young women believed that feminism consisted of being free to express sexual desire
and pleasure –note that girls’ sexy image is clearly connected to the same
beauty/decoration image that women of centuries ago had—.
Girls are more educated and visible than
ever, then why does popular culture –with all its beauty standards— still seems
to have a powerful grasp on girls’ identities? Are pop culture and media doing
a better job than us parents? These are questions still unresolved. Kehily
accurately indicates that family and parenting need to be part of the equation
of girlhood studies. Socio-economic status stands out as another key factor in
the future of girlhood. And although we have seen different forms of girls’ resilience,
there is more to do to instill further resistance in young women; this is where
the future of girlhood resides.
Nora
Your question regarding pop culture and media influence superceding parents is a good one, and it has much to do with socio-economic factors as well as gender. Often, as seen in the article, these girls are from single mother/single parent households. TV was once a suitable babysitter, but now with the Web there are so many different voices vying for time with parental values and control. It's tricky and definitely a place to look for possibilities for change.
ReplyDeleteI agree that pop culture and media influence seem to supercede parents, but I think that it does so because the parents are so induated with media as well, and want to live up to the standards themselves. How many mothers have you heard say in front of their daughters, "oh I wish I had that shirt, oh that jewelry is so pretty... Oh don't forget to wear your sunscreen you don't want ugly wrinkles.... I wish I could have a boob job... your body is never the same after having kids etc etc etc." I think that kids learn from a young age to pick up from their parents that this is an accepted behavior (to believe the media) and thus live up to this Pink Think Hype so as to emulate their parents.
ReplyDeleteParents need to monitor their own and their children's media intake. Yep, on my soap box again. Sorry. ( :
ReplyDeleteI like this discussion it raises good points about the role of parents and media in forging girls' identities. It also alludes to the complexity of cultural influences, i.e. media, parents, schools, friends, ect. that all play a part in the construction of girls' identities.
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