Supposing . . .

Supposing that 9 to 12 yr old girls-tweens, as they're sometimes called-are really better off dressing sexier (I have my doubts), I wonder if the massive amount of insecurity little girls that age tend to have has anything to do with the fact that society begins to ~punish~ them, in a sense, for being attractive and taboo at the same time.

What I mean is, as a society we are supposed to look at young girls-especially prepubescent girls-as non-sexual entities, and yet we all know full well that such girls do begin to think about their attractiveness to the opposite sex. (Boys do too but to a much lesser extent, as they mature a little slower.) And so, isn't it only natural that, as society goes out of its way to disavow a little girl's sexiness that its going to do harm to her sense of self-worth?

We live in a sexual culture, and we also live in a culture where we put value on well-behaved and mature children, and yet, we hypocritically deny them the right to be mature in certain ways that our increasingly sexual culture almost demands, namely as erotic and empowered individuals. Adults are not allowed to pursue sexual encounters with children, or even TELL a young girl how sexy and hot she is. I neither condemn nor support this fact, but the reality is, something has to give.

What it will be is already abundantly clear as little girls start to wonder what's wrong with them and why they aren't seen the same as big girls. The cost to these girls' self esteem is immense and will only get worse as eating disorders, the desire for plastic surgery, the need to have the sexiest clothes, etc. increases among young girls. They are beginning to worship people like Britney Spears because they see her as the ultimate role model; they want to be sexy like her, and the more society denies their sexuality the higher toll it will take on them.

There are ultimately only two solutions to solve this dilemma. One is to eliminate sexuality altogether-not very likely-and the other is to allow them to play the game by the same rules grown-ups do (but with added safety measures of course.) The pressure building against this dam is far too high as it is. Society is going to destroy its little girls if it doesn't either allow some of the water through or start bailing the water out of the dam altogether (and even then, where are you going to put it?)