1. - Growing up a Girl

Summary

Half of all mental health problems start by the age of 15 and the teenage and young adult years are particularly difficult for girls with high and increasing rates of anxiety, depression and self-harm. Many different factors contribute, including social media, peer pressures, focus on appearance, friends, relationships, schoolwork and, as Everyone’s Invited has recently highlighted, personal safety. There is tremendous pressure to conform with the expectations of others. Attitudes to women and girls seem to have gone into reverse during the author’s lifetime. It is too simplistic to view the problems of young women as a simply a ‘lack of self-esteem’. The difficulties they face in society are consistently underestimated and not taken seriously. Fast access to therapy is crucial. Bullying must be addressed effectively. Sexist and mysogynistic attitudes in school must be challenged and, given the easy access now to pornography, the issues of consent should addressed head on by both parents and schools. Using the example of Everyone’s Invited, women and girls need to reach out and support each other. The personal is still political.