Whether you just turned twenty and are off to college or a middle-aged woman, your teenage years are some of the most memorable ones in your life. Often, you will hear your mom reminiscing about her adolescent years and how wonderful they were, but what does it truly feel like to be a teenage girl now? Behind the everyday makeup and hair, what is truly happening in their thoughts?
Many young girls find joy in playing with Barbies or having playdates with friends, but that naturally transitions into going to Ulta or Sephora and trying different shades of lip glosses and blushes.
Every day, getting your hair done by mom changes to trying to curl your hair, and, often, the “I love school!” shifts to “Do I have to go to school?” These differences can show the beauty of how girls slowly change into teenagers and how teenagers change into adults.
One of the main issues that high school girls face today is social pressure. Almost all girls go through this, Whether from friends, families, or strangers. Being a teenager in today’s society is heavily influenced by social media, and although social media connects us, it can also be used to bring people down. Through the digital world, many girls get told what to do, like how to dress, what to look like, and how to act, which can cause the creation of this fake mask that is put on to please other people. While these comments can be ignored at first, they can soon pile up and affect how we think and act negatively, which can plant a seed of insecurity that will eventually grow.
An additional problem that teenagers face is surrounding themselves with the right people. Because girls want to be accepted, they can make friends with people who make them feel small just because they are “popular.” A famous proverb from the bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” This is a prime example of good friendship: a relationship goes both ways, not one way. You should not be the only one contributing, but you should be building each other up. One of the big adventures in life is finding a group of people that make you happy and bring you joy; your teenage years are when the most trial and error happen.
Life is never just a smooth road; it always has hills and oceans, especially as a teenage girl, but that is the beauty of growing. Being a girl in today’s society has many standards, but one thing we learn is that we are all perfect in our ways and should never worry about meeting other people’s views of excellence. Although the Barbies turned to makeup and the playdates turned to hangouts, everybody is always a little girl on the inside who deserves to be loved and cared for.
