We need to be role models for girls

I RECENTLY attended the launch of a photographic exhibition, called Her Story, staged by Plan Ireland as part of their Because I Am A Girl campaign. The photos by Jason Clarke featured portrait shots of girls of all ages from both Ireland and Sierra Leone. The differences in circumstances of the girls from two very different worlds were obvious and made for a captivating exhibition. But what is the reality for Irish girls today?

I have three daughters and I am convinced that growing up today is much more complicated than it was in my day, although lots of things are the same. My girls love One Direction with a fervour that I once felt about Donny Osmond. They ache for the latest Converse shoes, in just the same way I once did for proper Levi jeans. Teenage years are as full of angst today as they were in the 1970s, as girls strive to deal with their changing bodies and work out who they really are. But back in the ’70s we were free to work it all out at our own pace and without much interference from the outside world. Today it is different.

Our girls are bombarded with the same disturbing message. It arrives in music videos, in films, in advertising and even sometimes in the news media. That message tells them that their worth as girls shall be judged first and foremost on their ability to be sexually attractive. Even more sinister is the fact that often when this message is queried or criticised, it is often dressed up as being empowering to women.