Growing Up a Girl
Growing up a teenage girl is different than it has ever been
The culture of teenage girls
Things have changed for youth, especially teenage girls. Where once they spent their time in adolescence learning how to knit, sew, crochet, cook, clean and keep a household, they now have the freedom to learn what they want.
No more do girls have to stay home and obey their family’s orders. Rather, most teens are out in the world dis-obeying any orders they can. Rebelling has become integral, it seems, to teenage years.
Lauren Greenfield explores this culture of girlhood, which is a culture all on its own. From prom, debutante balls and fat camp, into spring break at college, exotic dancing and the quest to become a model, Lauren captures in photographs young women as they exist in their everyday lives.
To some, that means post-surgery after breast implants or giving a lap dance to the camera, while for others it means eating disorder treatment facilities, preoccupation with appearance and cutting to relieve the pain.
It’s striking how some of the photos contradict each other, with innocent girls at a baseball game sporting ball caps, dirty pants and cute nail polish, to the same-aged girls in cheerleading uniforms or primping expertly in front of the mirror on their way out to a party.
What Lauren depicts is the complexity and confusion of growing up female in a world where conflicting messages tell young women to be someone other than themselves in order to succeed. The pressures to portray a certain appearance are prominent and girls know, only too well, how easy it is to get by on their looks.
The intro by Joan Jacobs Brumberg and end essay by Lauren herself tie the photos together into a thorough look at girl culture.
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Lauren Greenfield is also the author of Thin, Fast Forward, and the documentary Thin.
