"Whether they are influenced by the trickle-down effects of feminism, which has taught girls to be assertive in all areas of life, or have internalized the images of sexually powerful women in popular culture, American girls are more daring than ever."
"Ever since Sadie Hawkins, teenage girls have chased and flirted with boys. But now they are initiating more intimate contact, sometimes even sex, in a more aggressive manner, according to the anecdotal accounts of many counselors, psychologists, magazine editors and teenagers."
"Girls have been told in every part of their lives to go for it," said Atoosa Rubenstein, editor in chief of CosmoGirl, which is aimed at readers 11 to 17. "Their mothers have told them, Go for student council, go for the team, go for that job, and that has turned from a message directed toward achievement to being something their whole lives are about. So they apply it to pursuing boys as well." Whether that pursuit is sexual or an expression of a crush, Ms. Rubenstein said, "is up to the girl."
- ALEX KUCZYNSKI She's Got to Be a Macho Girl
This article irks me...it really, REALLY irks me. Ninety percent of the text consists of quotations that say what a negative thing sexually aggressive female adolescents are. Why? Why is that necessarily a bad thing? Men have always been seen as sexual aggressors and teenage boys are probably the most warned about group. I can understand how some people would be upset that teenagers are having sex. But the article then gives the statistic that "The percentage of high-school students who remain virgins has climbed steadily over a decade..." So let me get this straight, as teenage girls are becoming more sexually assertive the percentage of high-schoolers having sex is declining. I'm sorry but I'm still missing the part where this is a bad thing. What about a decade ago when men were the prominent sexual aggressors and more teenagers were having sex?
I think that if girls want to take control of their sexuality they should have every right to do so as long as they are educated well enough to know what they are doing. If they are having sex because they think it's the only way to be "cool" and that's what the boys want them to do then it is a bad thing. But if they are having sex because it is what they want, and are educated about how to be safe, then the problems become minimal. One of the reasons why this double standard exists could be that society is uncomfortable with the idea of sexually assertive females. Well society, you need to get over it.
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