Growing Up Female in America: Challenges Girls Face

Introduction

Although the status of women in America has improved significantly in recent decades, girls in today's American society still face a number of unique challenges. Growing up female in America therefore remains relatively difficult. This paper highlights why girls in today's American society still face greater challenges than their male counterparts, how the situation is likely to unfold going forward, and offers suggestions on how gender-related challenges facing children as they grow up can be eased.

Growing Up Male or Female in America

According to Seeman, it can be argued "that girls face certain challenges in early adolescence that boys do not face" (77). A number of reasons support this assertion. One involves existing gender differences, particularly regarding aggressiveness and assertiveness. In general, boys tend to be more assertive and aggressive than girls. Indeed, in Seeman's view, it is their less aggressive style of interaction that makes girls more prone to depression than boys (77).

Secondly, girls are more prone to sexual abuse than their male counterparts. To highlight the seriousness of this issue, Finkelhor et al. (qtd. in Seeman 79) point out that "girls are two to three times more likely than boys to be the victims of sexual abuse." This is yet another indication that growing up in America remains more challenging for girls than for boys. According to Seeman, this disparity is also among the reasons cited for increasing depression rates among girls (79).

Additionally, due to perceived gender roles, parents tend to use different approaches when raising boys and girls. Parents tend to be more restrictive toward girls than toward boys. According to Block (qtd. in Seeman 78), the level of independence granted to boys by parents is significantly higher than that granted to girls. This not only makes girls feel constrained but can also negatively affect their social development.

In my opinion, more needs to be done to lessen the challenges girls face both when growing up and later in life. The situation does appear to have improved over the last few decades, and if this trend continues, the status of the girl child in today's culture will gradually improve. The primary concern remains the slow pace of that improvement.

Co-Education as a Path Toward Gender Equality

Over time, a number of suggestions have been put forward for how gender-related challenges facing children as they grow up ought to be addressed. Allowing children to grow up in an equal-status environment is particularly important. As Lippa points out, the public school system is the only "institution in the United States (excluding the family) that has most successfully brought boys and girls together in relatively equal-status settings" (213). According to Lippa, it is in school and in the classroom that girls and boys learn to intermingle and complete similar tasks — that is, based on the similarity of assignments (213).

With this in mind, co-education stands out as one of the most practical long-term approaches for eliminating the various gender-related challenges faced by girls. As Lippa argues, integrating the two sexes in a school setting has a significant impact in fostering gender equality (213).

Conclusion

Although great strides have been made in addressing the challenges faced by girls as they grow up, more still needs to be done to completely level the playing field. Further research should be conducted to identify the root causes of the challenges girls face during childhood and adolescence, so that relevant stakeholders can address such challenges more efficiently.