Tuesday, June 18, 2013

A Letter to Twelve Year Old Girls

Act #169:  Choose the messages you wish to receive.

Dear 12-year-old Girls,

Today we give you permission not to accept what is being marketed to you.  No matter how glittery the packaging, how flawless the messenger - ask yourself, is that who you want to become?  Glittery and flawless?  This is not some underhanded effort to radicalize you into future feminists, because truly, you already are one deep down inside.  Yes, it's true, you were born with the same intellect, drive, and power that your male counterparts have - and if you haven't already discovered this to be true, it's probably not your fault.  You are working against a powerful force that reduces you every day to a boy-crazy, competitive, drama-ridden aspiring teen singer, her dim-witted girlfriend, her self-obssessed fame-seeking sister, or her sarcastic, mean-girl frenemy.  You are being told that if you don't fit neatly into one of those categories, you are a mere outcast who won't get invited to the parties, who won't get the spotlight, and who won't get the boy.  Not to mention the fact that it's OK if you don't even want the boy.  You are being told every day that beauty comes only in size 2, long shiny straight hair, pale, light skin tones, and tight-fitting mini skirts.  You are being told that your greatest achievement is whether or not you can attract attention from a guy using every ounce of that painfully narrow definition of beauty. 

Twelve-year old girls, you should know, that to those behind this manipulative force, you are a mere statistic, a target audience, "12-year old tweens".  Someone that is being profited from, marketed to, so systematically that there are entire staffs devoted to figuring out how to break down your inner feminist, so that you may be influenced to buy accompanying soundtracks, beauty products, toys, and video games perpetuating over and over again, the notion that you will never be good enough until you become like those images staring back at you on the television set, on your laptop screen, and on your iPad. 

Twelve-year old girls, today we give you permission to believe that you are perfect just the way you are.  Even if your dress size is 10 sizes more than the girls on the screen.  Even if you have kinky hair.  Even if you can't sing.  Even if a boy never gave you butterflies in your stomach.  We give you permission to rise above that which is being preached to you day in, day out.  To break the social conforms of shallow, competitive, female relationships, and to invest in true friendships based on trust, support, and kindness. 

Twelve year old girls, today, we give you permission to be twelve.  To trust in your inner feminist voice that is telling you that you are worthy.  That you are indeed beautiful.  That you are enough.

Sincerely,
All the former 12-year old girls who finally learned to love themselves.  


12 comments:

  1. First let me say that I love this. Being a father of 2 girls I try to encourage them to be strong and independent.

    But... I have one question. What is an opaque skin tone? Isn't opaque the default? I suppose some people have semi-translucent skin, where you can see veins in places. (I'm asking because I've never heard of this being a standard for "beauty")

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    1. That is such a good question! And here's where I'm pulling the "raised outside of the U.S. between the ages of 8-14" card ;-) So when brown gals like me go shopping for tights, it was my understanding that opaque tights were white, but lo and behold, I stand to be corrected - opaque can be black too! Just not translucent! With your forgivness of this grammatical (and fashion) faux pas, I will now change the term to "pale, light" :-)

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  2. Interesting image attached to this letter. No one 10 sizes larger than the others, and all with short mini skirts and long straight hair. At first I thought the image used may have been picked as a sort of generic, sassy posed, be happy with yourself "every girl" image, but then after reading the post I see a lot of what the writer rails against. I wonder how or why this image was chosen as it relates to the letter. At first blush it might seem like a rather insignificant detail, but when so much of the letter discusses images of girls, I would have to think that the image associated with it should indeed hold significance.

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    1. Hello! Yes, the image was actually my very inspiration for the post. For some reason, I found myself watching this popular tween show on a major kid's cable network.....and was appalled. It was quite intentional. I use a lot of sarcasm in my blogs - sorry for the confusion :-) You might be happy to know that I used a far more diverse photo for this particular blog though: http://plainjaneactivism.blogspot.com/2013/05/how-to-redefine-cool.html.

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    2. Thanks for the clarification. You should be happy to know after seeing the image (as thumbnail to the article posted elsewhere), then reading the post, then seeing the image again, I was able to viewthe pic differently than i did the first time. Instead of seeing a vaguely "diverse" collection representing the every girl, I was able to analyze it through the terms you brought up. Good perspective for a man with one son, and the possibility of daughter (s) in my future.

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  3. The image is from a "popular" tween show - a description would be nice.

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  4. Who is the author of this fine article?


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    1. Why, it's just some 'ol plain Jane :-)! Thank you!

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  5. I have a 12 year old niece and I want, really want, her to read this. She struggles with not conforming to the expectations of her peers, and her mother (my dear sister) has done a fabulous job of allowing her to be a little girl, while not restricting her in a way that hinders who she is. By the way, Mae, I just found your blog and I'm making my way through it. LOVE, love LOVE it!!

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    1. Diane! So glad ours paths have crossed again - it was so nice running into you! I have a 12-year old niece too and I passed it on to her :-) Thanks for reading and I just now we'll see each other again soon!

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  6. I am really enjoying your blog. You post some very thought-provoking and well-thought out posts. God bless!

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