I’m a part of a sorority on campus and we like to refer to ourselves as strong women building strong girls. We support Girls on the Run as our philanthropy, which is a 10-week program that ends in a 5K and helps third to eighth-grade girls to build confidence in themselves and their relationships.
I find this program so empowering because this age range for girls is the most life-shaping. No girl goes through puberty/middle school age feeling great about herself. I hated the end of elementary school and middle school; I started wearing a training bra in fourth grade, I was the first girl to get my period during the summer going into sixth grade, and I had acne on my face, chest, and back by seventh grade. Long story short, I felt ugly.
I was definitely most insecure about my skin. I wanted to wear tank tops and scoop neck t-shirts and not worry if everyone is looking at my volcanoes erupting on my skin. I wore so much makeup to cover up my zits that it probably only made my skin worse. I had hundreds (and I mean hundreds) of medications and ointments to get rid of my acne, and of course, everything worked for a short while, but the skin gets used to routines. I went on birth control in eighth grade, which helped clear my skin entirely and it helped me finally become more comfortable in my own skin.
I thought it was a bit ironic when a girl in my chapter said my skin was like butter the other day. Even though my skin is cleared up, I still don’t ever see my skin as completely smooth. I think this is due to a distorted vision of myself. Although my skin is not as bad as it used to be, I will still feel insecure or ugly if I have one very noticeable zit.
Today tall, thin women are the nation's biggest sex symbols. Men: Who is selling you that shampoo and deodorant? It's definitely not the guy using it, it's the sexy woman getting into the bed with the guy who used the shampoo. Ads are targeted in a way for men to believe that they will attract women by buying/using the products advertised, whether it's hygiene products, alcohol, or cars. Women and girls (specifically adolescent girls) see this and believe that girls are “supposed” to look like what they see in magazines and on TV, and maintain a distorted image of themselves since they don’t look the exact same. This causes insecurities, low self-esteem, and a loss of identity and can lead to very serious psychological problems such as depression and anorexia. Girls and women can be a healthy weight, but not see themselves as thin, especially now that people are referring to a size eight as plus sized.
I remember learning about Girls on the Run, and crying while I was going through recruitment because I wish that I was offered that opportunity before I was sucked into the dark pit of low self-esteem. I wish I knew that I didn’t need a man to make me feel pretty, or strong, or confident. Honestly, I feel more confident without a man in my life. I had a boyfriend call me “big” once. Guess what that did to my self-esteem.
This is why I fully support Girls on the Run. Women and girls are shafted in the world every day, whether it’s from the media, a paycheck, or a simple wording such as “you run like a girl”. When a boy hears “you run like a girl”, you’re teaching him that he is more superior than girls and that he should strive to not be/act/or enjoy anything that associates to girls. Girls are portrayed as weak and dependent, and that we need strong men to save us from our lives. The truth is, we don’t.
