Female Empowerment

[Rowena]

*revives topic*

Sorry, I just had to pop back in here and say that I finally read Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the frontlines of the new girlie-girl culture by Peggy Orenstein (which I highly reccomend to everyone) and I found it really interesting (and accurate) that, as she said, "image has been recaste as a source - often the source - of female empowerment," cause that's sort of what we've been discussing here. She also talked a lot about how today's culture teaches girls to act "sexy" but doesn't teach them to pay attention to their own desires...I dunno, she said it better, like equating pleasure with pleasing...either way I found that a really interesting point too which sort of ties in to the image thing.

[Peeta the Frosting Prince]

She also talked a lot about how today's culture teaches girls to act "sexy" but doesn't teach them to pay attention to their own desires...I dunno, she said it better, like equating pleasure with pleasing...either way I found that a really interesting point too which sort of ties in to the image thing.

Yeah, it really is. Girls will dress this way, and then not actually know what they want, and that's another form of disrespecting themselves, in a way.

[maxrider12]

Okay, I am too lazy to read everything everybody wrote ('cos it's about 11 PM) so here's what I think. And also, I'm not gonna get very into talking about sex like everyone else, 'cos I'm turning 13 in a week, and therefore have 0 experience.

If you have great legs, [glow=yellow,2,300]show them off.[/glow] If you have a skinny waist, [glow=green,2,300]show it off.[/glow] And if you have great breasts, [glow=red,2,300]show them off.[/glow] (But be good about it )

If you feel comfortable enough in your own skin to show it off, do it! But if you don't feel comfortable enough to wear tight shirts or short shorts, DON'T WEAR THEM. It's that simple.

What drives me crazy in my school is when people act like they HAVE to have boyfriends and girlfriends. In seventh grade (I am currently in that limbo between seventh and eighth grades :/ ) there was a girl who got a hickey. And then, as if to add insult to injury, she lied to her own mother about it, but then flaunted it around homeroom.

Also in my school, most of the girls dress--and act--like complete sluts. We had this day where we went ice-skating and then swimming for gym class or something like that, and about 20 percent of the girls came in bikinis that were mostly just strings tied around their breasts and butt. Then they started swooning over the guys ('cos they were shirtless). And while my friends and I wear stuff from Hot Topic--stuff like Invader Zim, panda bears, Mario, etc.--they wear things like tank tops that start late and end early, then everyone loves them for it.

Anyway, here's how I feel about having boyfriends in middle school: if you meet someone you genuinely like, act on those feelings. But if you're just looking for someone to flaunt around your friends, you probably shouldn't be going out at all.

These are just my honest opinions about female empowerment. I hope you enjoyed my thoughts!

[Rowena]

As one of those people who had a boyfriend in middle school (very end of eighth grade, if you count it), I would like to say that I didn't actually like him. I mean, at the time I liked him as a friend, but not to date. However I had never ever ever expected anyone to like me, and had in fact convinced myself that no one ever would (thanks, mass media!) that I agreed to go out with him because of that.

I mean, that didn't last long at all. But yeah. My little mini-story