In September 2013, we went to the high school for the “Day of the Girl” assembly. Many EI high school girls shared their experiences in honor of this day. We learned a lot about students’ experiences of being girls and the different negative images and stereotypes about them. Many girls read what they had written about their experiences being a girl and how they are affected by society’s stereotypes. One girl at the high school talked about how girls always have to do different things to be pretty. She decided to do something about this, so she stop shaving. This made me think about how much time and money girls and women spend on beauty, while boys and men are doing other things.

The Day of the Girl logo

My group learned that boys as well as girls are affected by these stereotypes. Everyone sees these negative images of women, and how narrow the range of “acceptable” looks is. There aren’t many positive images, either. When boys see all of these inaccurate images of women in the media, they start to think that all women should look like that. It’s not good for young girls to see these images because it can make them feel that they need to be skinny and the “typical” pretty. There also different images depending on what skin color you have. You’re supposed to be tan, but not too dark. This can be bad for girls’ self esteem, because young girls shouldn’t be going on diets and feeling the need to be like the typical girls on ads, tv, and in social media. Girls have to constantly worry if their clothes are nice enough, whether they have perfect hair, of even if they shave. It also affects what girls think they can do and what they’re allowed to do. They might not want to swim because it could mess up their hair or make their shoulders too broad. We learned that these stereotypes start at a young age and can continue into high school, college, and even further.