I’m Just a Teenage Girl

Olivia Rodrigo’s new album GUTS is exactly what being a teenage girl is like: messy, boring, stressful, fun, and depressing all at the same time. Her songs, which range from commentaries on unattainable beauty standards to complaints about crushes who turn out to be gay, cover her demographic very well. Her persona is all about being a teenage girl, but outside of her audience, she and her fans are often ridiculed with hints of misogyny. It’s no secret that young women in Hollywood and the music industry are often mistreated, sexualized, and even abused. From the 1990s to the early 2000s, the media often egged on this brutalization of celebrities, from outrageous weight-shaming to paparazzi harassing female celebrities. Thankfully, a lot has changed since then, but the caricature of the teenage girl has persisted throughout generations.

Teenage girls have been satirized in almost every coming-of-age movie: some care about fashion too much, some are nerds who are completely unfashionable, and others are rebellious emos. In truth, teen girls are incredibly interesting and complex people. Unfortunately, there is a culture of putting down their interests. She likes Taylor Swift? Basic. She listens to Nirvana? Probably can’t name five songs. There’s also an arbitrary descriptor of “not like other girls,” a meme that has existed on the Internet for so long that it has become ironic. The “pick me girl” phenomenon has also grown, describing a girl who only pines for male validation and separates herself from her feminine peers. This is dangerous because it teaches impressionable girls that femininity is prodigal and shameful, leading to internalized misogyny. Benevolent sexism is the hidden justification of male dominance and forced gender roles, and it is much harder to recognize one’s contributions to this phenomenon. A study by the University of California, Santa Cruz, found that women conveyed internalized sexism on average 11 times per 10-minute increment of conversation. It also states that adolescence is the base of the spread of gender-related practices, including internalized sexism. The study alleges that over girls’ teenage years, they lose their confidence, becoming more self-critical and depressed. In interactions with peers, their changing attitude towards womanhood can be through a sexist lens. Of course, this is the intention of misogyny from the beginning, creating divisions in the oppressed group to maintain more power.

Significant connections exist between sexism and the psychosocial well-being of those who experience it. Encountering bias and unfair treatment have been discovered to lead to various adverse effects on mental health and overall well-being, as well as to impact the dynamics within romantic partnerships. In a survey, 382 female participants were measured for gender-related stressors, frequency of experienced sexist events, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. The findings demonstrated a positive correlation between the extent of everyday sexism experienced and scores related to PTSD. This connects to the mental health crisis among teens today: thirteen percent of adolescents in 2019 reported having a major depressive episode, a 60 percent increase from 2007. Emergency room visits by children and adolescents for anxiety, mood disorders, and self-harm have also climbed sharply. Consistent reinforcement of sexist standards or off-hand comments made by girls can perpetuate this everyday sexism that adds to mental health issues suffered by many teens.

Teenage girls have to grapple with the challenges of peer pressure, low self-esteem, and unrealistic expectations as they graduate into adulthood. Music can be a great creative outlet to deal with the issues that teens face today. Mocking or shaming this expression of the mind takes away from that resource. Creating a nurturing environment where anyone, regardless of gender, can have interests without judgment can prevent adding more obstacles to an already confusing period in life. Teenage girls are the leaders of tomorrow’s society, and they need to recognize themselves as such, because their voices and aspirations form the future.