Inside the Dangerously Empty Lives of Teenage Girls

In the May 10th edition of the popular Maclean’s magazine, a controversial article written by family doctor, Dr. Leonard Sax, titled "Inside the dangerously empty lives of teenage girls" received mixed feedback. Dr. Sax was drawing from his book "Girl’s on the Edge" where he expresses the fact that teens, especially our girls, look and act much more confident than they really are feeling. They struggle with low self-esteem and are trying to impress themselves with sex, booze and Facebook on the internet.

Dr. Sax says that girls are pressured into presenting themselves in a sexual persona from the media. This includes the presentation of girls and young women in our magazine ads and television with the emphasis on being thin, beautiful and very sexy in their attire. Clothes in the department stores are fashioned in very suggestive sexy designs and are available to the very young girls in their sizes. He went on to say that the girls use their sexuality experimenting with the boys in sexual encounters just so they can become more popular with their peers. I agree with the author that our world is presenting images of sex to sell their products and that young girls could easily be influenced with the media, however if the girls have had positive feelings instilled in them about their bodies they won’t be giving into the sexual pressure.

The author goes on to say that booze and going to parties and getting drunk is prevalent among the youth of today. He states that girls again want to be popular and so will go along with their peers. Girls cannot take as much alcohol as the boys because of their weight and size and may not realize this, also they might not realize the effect of drinking on a empty stomach if they have been trying to watch their weight and not eat much. He states that many girls are on anti-depressants for stress and anxiety issues in their lives. Again I disagree with the author on the number of girls involved in this type of activity. If the girls are confident in themselves, especially girls that are into sports, drama, the arts and other community activities they have no time or need to party. Their self image does not come from being popular by using sex or booze.

Facebook is a very popular avenue for kids to make and talk to their friends. Used in the correct manner it can be very helpful for the girls to keep up with what their friends are doing and saying to each other. Dr. Sax is saying that the girls are using Facebook pages to present themselves in a sexual way by posting pictures to give themselves popularity and publicity. He states that parents are so busy with their lives they allow the girls to have the computer and phones available at all times for these girls. He even stated that if the girls are texting in the early morning hours that these girls come to school tired and stressed. I can say that Dr. Sax has some points on this issue.

Dr. Sax’s main ideas that our young anxious girls trying to gain confidence through sex, booze and Facebook so have some valid points, however I wonder where he got his statistics for the number of girls involved in this manner. I believe it is not as prevalent as he is saying. Again if the girls are encouraged to become who they are because of their talents and achievements, I believe they will not be caught up in these self-destructive activities.