I have complicated feelings towards girlhood. It's *fun* to be a girl, but there's also so much pressure. I feel like we've become so good at optimizing for external things (like aesthetics, style, health, glow-ups, etc.). They're definable goals and they're immediately satisfying — you can rock a new outfit or a new haircut! Internal growth, though, is so much harder to focus on, since it's not as immediately tangible or measurable or linear, but it's so important. You have to kind of define it yourself.
I think as I age into my thirties it's freeing in a way: you're no longer the age that society puts all their attention on. (Yes you're definitely still being marketed to... but in media, it seems like there's not really a clear image of what a 30 year old should look or be like. You can decide for yourself and lean into what works for you.)
reading this activated so many new ideas and perspectives on girlhood for me—I really admire how you approached this with so much freshness!
especially this insight: “Everyone wants to be a girl, but girls themselves always fear that they don’t measure up to their occupation”—which so perfectly articulates the recurrent, restless anxiety motivating many girlhood essays (are we doing it right? when will we know if we’re doing it right? are we running out of time to get it right before we become AGED CRONES incapable of attaining the things that society has promised us on the basis of our femininity??)
That is a fabulous post you wrote on girlhood. Oversaturated is key. Finding that defining moment is the variable. I kind of look at it as incubus and succubus. One draws on the other. It's the constellations. It's the moon versuses the sun. Night and day.
Things seem very basic. I understand AI is just in the planning stages. Though one important thing and let me break it down. There is always generalization. Though it's that emotional factor that is key. That's the variable I find missing.
I think if someone has that much time and money to spend on their appearance, they need to revaluate their life and priorities. Age comes for us all, and no amount of Botox or working out will prevent that. For me, I want to look back on my life for the fun i had, the joy and help I gave to people, that my life was really lived. Go do some volunteering, get involved in local campaigns or political causes you believe in, do anything other than focus on your appearance. It's fleeting and it won't last.
I'm coming back because the commentary in this post made me mad LOL
it's a form of patriarchal enslavement that young women and girls are conditioned to hyperfocus on irrelevant cultural references, how they look on the outside, what other people think of them instead of any of the myriad aspects of occupying a female body that are actually nourishing
I have complicated feelings towards girlhood. It's *fun* to be a girl, but there's also so much pressure. I feel like we've become so good at optimizing for external things (like aesthetics, style, health, glow-ups, etc.). They're definable goals and they're immediately satisfying — you can rock a new outfit or a new haircut! Internal growth, though, is so much harder to focus on, since it's not as immediately tangible or measurable or linear, but it's so important. You have to kind of define it yourself.
I think as I age into my thirties it's freeing in a way: you're no longer the age that society puts all their attention on. (Yes you're definitely still being marketed to... but in media, it seems like there's not really a clear image of what a 30 year old should look or be like. You can decide for yourself and lean into what works for you.)
reading this activated so many new ideas and perspectives on girlhood for me—I really admire how you approached this with so much freshness!
especially this insight: “Everyone wants to be a girl, but girls themselves always fear that they don’t measure up to their occupation”—which so perfectly articulates the recurrent, restless anxiety motivating many girlhood essays (are we doing it right? when will we know if we’re doing it right? are we running out of time to get it right before we become AGED CRONES incapable of attaining the things that society has promised us on the basis of our femininity??)
That is a fabulous post you wrote on girlhood. Oversaturated is key. Finding that defining moment is the variable. I kind of look at it as incubus and succubus. One draws on the other. It's the constellations. It's the moon versuses the sun. Night and day.
Things seem very basic. I understand AI is just in the planning stages. Though one important thing and let me break it down. There is always generalization. Though it's that emotional factor that is key. That's the variable I find missing.
Girl, so confusing charlie xcx 🙂↕️
I think if someone has that much time and money to spend on their appearance, they need to revaluate their life and priorities. Age comes for us all, and no amount of Botox or working out will prevent that. For me, I want to look back on my life for the fun i had, the joy and help I gave to people, that my life was really lived. Go do some volunteering, get involved in local campaigns or political causes you believe in, do anything other than focus on your appearance. It's fleeting and it won't last.
I haven't ever read anything so gender-affirming before..
very glad I no longer identify as a girl, or woman 😂
I'm coming back because the commentary in this post made me mad LOL
it's a form of patriarchal enslavement that young women and girls are conditioned to hyperfocus on irrelevant cultural references, how they look on the outside, what other people think of them instead of any of the myriad aspects of occupying a female body that are actually nourishing