- Joined
- Jul 28, 2024
There's girls calling 23 year olds ancient in instagram comment sections, genuinely surprised they don't look haggard and could "pass as a teenager". I've been repeatedly told I don't look my age either and I'm not even 30 yet. It's like there's no in between and you either look like a high schooler or a middle aged soccer mom.TBQ I feel like people have become much more afraid of aging in the past decade or so, and "women are dried up egg cartons by 30" is only one aspect of that.
I think it's partially due to the rise of skincare/anti-aging routines but also young girls being pressured to look and act older. It's not that twenty somethings look like teenagers, it's that teenagers are looking like twenty somethings. We're missing a transitional period here where you're supposed to look awkward. I was bullied relentlessly for wearing thrifted clothes as a preteen because other options were expensive and immodest. Imagine how they feel in a digital age where it's not just peers at school - companies have direct access to them through influencers and online advertising.
And to make matters worse, they're given few other options because now the clothes at thrift stores are cheap shein shit. I refer to it as corporate grooming, companies that target teenage girls like Abercrombie, Brandy Melville, and Victoria Secret/Pink offering ONLY revealing clothes. Or at least these were the brands when I was a teenager, I'm not sure if they're still popular but I know the practice has not fallen out of favor. The pressure to sexualize themselves is on an incomprehensible scale and to not do so is "cringe" and "childish" despite the fact they are children. Eight year olds having make up routines should not exist, twelve year olds in two piece string bikinis should not exist. These girls are not expressing themselves through fashion, they're being groomed to be attractive for adult men.
And to make matters worse, they're given few other options because now the clothes at thrift stores are cheap shein shit. I refer to it as corporate grooming, companies that target teenage girls like Abercrombie, Brandy Melville, and Victoria Secret/Pink offering ONLY revealing clothes. Or at least these were the brands when I was a teenager, I'm not sure if they're still popular but I know the practice has not fallen out of favor. The pressure to sexualize themselves is on an incomprehensible scale and to not do so is "cringe" and "childish" despite the fact they are children. Eight year olds having make up routines should not exist, twelve year olds in two piece string bikinis should not exist. These girls are not expressing themselves through fashion, they're being groomed to be attractive for adult men.