“That boy who’s a champion gamer is
not going to fall apart if some other guy gets to level two in a game before he
does. That’s okay, he still has status among other boys. Whereas the girl whose
identity consists of being the ‘smart girl’ or ‘Justin’s girlfriend’ tends to
crumble if she doesn’t get into the university of her choice or if Justin dumps
her.” –Dr. Leonard
Sax
There are many stereotypes
concerning modern teenage girls. The title “INSIDE THE DANGEROUSLY EMPTY LIVES
OF TEENAGE GIRLS” brings several of these stereotypes to mind. However, the
article that follows lacks both relevance and accuracy to back up such a bold
title. The article was published in the May 10th, 2010 edition of Maclean’s magazine. The author is Dr.
Leonard Sax, a family physician, PhD psychologist, father, and also author of
several books; his most recent book was titled Girls on the Edge. The basis of his article is centered on the
increase of anxiety in the lives of teenage girls, their preoccupation with
their self-image and social standing, and also their tendency to self-harm and
binge drink due to a “fragile sense of self.”
“A whole lot of girls find solace in
the notion that anxiety is now the norm” due to the fact that they are
efficiently managing it. The article addresses the fact that many teenage girls
–and teenage boys– have an increased amount of anxiety in their daily lives
than in the past. Sax highlights cases in which anxiety is based on trivial
things but fails to recognize how teenagers have successfully adapted to
dealing with the increased stress levels. He connects their anxiety to their
self-worth, but contradicts himself by stating that “being the best student or the
fastest runner” still leads to one’s “sense of self [being] undernourished…
starving.” Also, he explains that “there’s been an enormous escalation in
anxiety and depression among girls and young women,” based on results from the
Hamilton anxiety rating scale, published in 1959. Who is to say that this form
of scale is still accurate for testing anxiety levels in modern society? Sax also
states that “so many girls in North America are obsessed with what they eat and
how slender they are or are not.” In other words, girls have become more aware
of their health and body image. Sax twists this by saying they are obsessed. In
a society where obesity is increasingly becoming an issue for young teens
should they not be commended for their health awareness? He makes it seem that
it is unhealthy to strive towards a healthy lifestyle and achieve a body that one
is proud of and has worked hard for. He said it himself, “Only a minority of
girls have diagnosable eating disorders.” The others are using sound methods
for safe weight loss.
Another topic highlighted in the
article is teenage girls’ fixation with their self-image, social standing,
public image, and sex. Sax believes that “girls spend a lot of time
photo-shopping their pictures, making themselves look a little bit thinner than
they are and getting rid of their pimples.” However, it is extremely
unrealistic to assume that the average teenage girl possesses intricate
photo-shopping skills to successfully be able to alter her own photos
flawlessly. Although Sax’s ideas may
stem from genuine concern as a parent and as a doctor, they are blown so far
out of proportion to such an extent that they are no longer plausible. Sax also
takes an example of young girls’ promiscuity out of context to try and make his
point. When Sax was asked if girls are frequently the ones pushing sex, he not
only concurred but added that “it’s girls who are cornering the boys… if it
were just one boy… [then Sax] wouldn’t pay any attention, but [he] hear[s] this from
many, many young people across North America.” The evidence that Sax uses in
this example is far from credible and concrete. He states that he has heard this same
story in more than one case, from “many, many young people.” So has he heard it
twice? Five times? His audience is left to assume that a girl providing sexual
favours to boys is a recent epidemic based on Sax’s statement without him
providing any statistics.
The issue of self-harm and binge
drinking is also emphasized in the article. Although he recognizes that both
of these problems occur with boys too, Sax keeps the focus on teenage girls. He
blatantly states that “the guy who’s captain of the hockey team, who’s popular,
is not secretly cutting himself with razor blades” yet “the girl who’s very
popular, captain of the basketball team and doing well in school, is as likely –maybe
even more likely– than the
average girl to be cutting.” Once again, his research and statistics only
regard that a percentage of girls do in fact cut themselves. As a psychologist Sax
has a tendency to explain the reasons that he
believes these issues are occurring, but there is no mention of teenage girls
being interviewed to affirm his suspicions. Sax also brings binge drinking to
the attention of his readers. He feels
that it is “unprecedented, a huge change from all previous eras of which we
have any record” for girls to be “at least as likely as her brother to abuse
alcohol.” Why is he so shocked by this statistic? In this modern society girls
are at least as likely as boys to become successful, so it should not be a
surprise that girls have the same flaws. To explain why so many girls are
drinking alcohol, Sax assumes that one reason is because there is “a lot more
anxious girls” and “alcohol relieves anxiety, at least while [one is] drinking.”
He once again –without the use of statistics or even anecdotal evidence– leads
the reader to believe that teenage girls are incapable of dealing with their
stress and anxiety in healthy ways, so they begin cutting themselves and binge
drinking.
Sax’s article lacks credibility,
accuracy, and plausibility, but it certainly does not lack personal opinion and
assumption. Due to the fact that he is both a PhD psychologist and a medical
doctor, Sax feels entitled that his opinions on this topic are reliable and
conclusive. Many readers will rely on the fact that he is a very educated man,
and his opinion on the matter is to be trusted. The article is very persuasive
but there are no statistics, references to studies, concrete or anecdotal
evidence to back up any of his opinions.
Because without proof, that’s just what they are: opinions. It is arguable that
these are very prominent issues in society especially concerning teenage girls,
and in most cases they are. However, Sax uses only extreme cases as examples to
try and distort opinions of teenage girls. Why doesn’t a PhD psychologist
realize that there is enough negative content in the media already concerning
teenage girls? Sax is only adding to the real problem.
