Written By Nevaeh Garrett
Edited By Minakshi Stalhamer
It is an ongoing debate of who struggles more in today’s society, men or women. Many people would lean onto the women’s favor of the debate and others would turn to the men’s. Truly it depends on what you have experienced yourself, or through others, and where research is done. On such a controversial topic, one’s opinion can be indescribably swayed towards one position or another, but from a woman and a feminist perspective, women do have it worse than men, especially in their adolescent years.
Out of the myriad of obstacles women and girls face, the most salient could not be farther from halcyon: pregnancy and periods. Women usually get their period at around 11 or 12 years old, and it is not strange for adolescents to expect such changes even earlier. Professor, John Guillebaud, from the University College London claimed that period pain can often reach pain as severe as a heart attack. Periods are afflictions, and such pain while in school, work, or while completing home chores can cause a colossal amount of suffering and turmoil for the average adolescent. Some people may argue that women can take medicine like birth control to prevent pregnancy, or Midol, Ibuprofen, etc. to relieve pains from cramping, fibroids, and heavy bleeding, but none of these medicines prove to be as effective as they are advertised. Not to mention, women’s Dysmenorrhea is often ignored by doctors, school nurses, and even family members. Those with this condition are often acknowledged as weak by their peers and family, when in reality, there could be a prominent underlying health issue. It’s comparable to covering a flashlight in layers of dark, black cloth; where’s the logic?
Furthermore, women and even young girls are subjected to sexual harassment daily, not to mention, society has begun to welcome it into societal norms. When a man sees a girl [or woman] walking down the street and he thinks she’s attractive, or in casual language, ‘hot’, he will catcall her, announcing something about their physical appearance publicly, but everyone will stay silent. People counter that catcalling is equivalent to complimenting, however, catcalling is done in a publicly humiliating, and objectifying manner that coerces women to feel insecure about their physical appearance. Eventually, intruding and obsessive thoughts about one’s appearance that result from this, can deteriorate a woman’s mental well-being. Catcalling can be incredibly frightening to a woman walking down the street alone because she has no idea what those men may do; it’s impossible to predict if they will take it a step further. She has no idea if anyone will step up to help her if something goes wrong. In 2017 study, it showed that 1 in every 4 women have experienced sexual harassment at least once in the workplace (Gaille, 2017). And unfortunately, that number only reflects the percentage of the female population comfortable to shed light on their experiences.
Then there’s the impossible beauty standards held for women. Women are expected to have big lips, long lashes, a small waist, a big chest, a bigger behind (not too big or you’re fake), a flat stomach, long hair, slender arms, and flawless skin. Small girls are raised thinking they aren’t pretty enough, that they are not enough to be a person. As soon as a woman is pretty, she’s considered unintelligent, but if a girl is not pretty and intelligent, her smarts aren’t enough. If a woman is decently pretty, she doesn’t have the right to be insecure. Evidently, no matter what a girl does she is always in the wrong somewhere according to the public eye. Girls struggle an unworldly amount with being a perfect image, to always have to be the most beautiful girl in the room. The pressure that women must experience continuously in regards to their looks is unfair to them.
Without a doubt, adolescent females struggle more than adolescent males. Not only do they have to struggle with pregnancy periods, harassment, and the beauty standards structured to them, but the opinions’ of her peers. To grow up as a young female while dealing with an uncountable number of impediments and, evidence reveals that young girls do struggle more than males.
Works Cited
Driver, G. (2018, July 12). Doctors have finally ruled menstrual cramps as painful as heart attacks. Retrieved February 11, 2021, from https://www.elle.com/uk/life-and-culture/articles/a41956/doctors-rule-menstrual-cramps-as-painful-as-heart-attacks/
Gaille, B. (2017, May 22). 23 statistics on sexual harassment in the workplace. Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://brandongaille.com/23-statistics-on-sexual-harassment-the-workplace/
Flores, J. (2014, May 30). 10 reasons why it's harder being a girl than being a guy (from a Guy's perspective). Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://thoughtcatalog.com/jayson-flores/2014/05/10-reasons-why-its-harder-being-a-girl-than-being-a-guy-from-a-guys-perspective/