THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, April 19, 1996 TAG: 9604190059
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E9 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: TEENSPEAK
SOURCE: BY VALERIE CARINO, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
GIRLS TODAY are fighting a battle to keep from self-destructing. A battle, some girls say, they are losing.
Most girls, including the overachievers, don't have much confidence, said a group of teenage girls who met at Norfolk Academy last week for a special Teenspeak on girls and self-esteem.
The discussion was part of a series of forums organized by Norfolk Public Schools and Norfolk Academy in preparation for a lecture on the book ``Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls,'' by Mary Pipher, a clinical psychologist who has been treating girls for more than 20 years. Pipher will speak next week at Chrysler Hall about the deadly cultural forces that destroy girls' images of themselves.
In a sun-drenched courtyard on Saturday morning, 10 girls sat in a circle and talked candidly about why so many girls are turning to suicide, promiscuity, substance abuse and eating disorders as the answers to their problems.
The media - by forcing girls to accept impossible beauty standards and treating women as sex objects - are mostly to blame for girls' unhappiness, said Noelle Gabriel, 15, a sophomore at Granby High.
TV shows like ``Beverly Hills 90210'' and ``Melrose Place,'' with their voluptuous vixens, encourage girls to give in to sexual pressure.
``Because of the media, all girls think they have to have sex at an earlier age,'' Noelle said. ``Evidently the producers of `90210' and `Melrose Place' don't care. It's disgusting.''
And because of the media, which tout pencil-thin models and actresses, girls have negative body images, the group said.
Most of the girls in the group have friends who are diet and exercise fanatics. Some know girls who starve themselves for that perfect look.
``A lot of the girls see women on TV and say, `If I'm not a size 2 then I'm fat,' '' said Candice Gabriel, 14, a freshman at Granby. ``The media are saying that any other size is abnormal.''
The media aren't interested in what girls think of themselves, the group said. It's interested in promoting self-hate.
And statistics support their feelings.
About 7 million women in the United States have eating disorders, according to data from the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders. Of those, 10 percent reported the onset of eating disorders by age 10, and 33 percent reported the onset by age 11 to 15.
The key to helping girls combat those negative messages, said Georgia Wainger, 18, a senior at Norfolk Academy, is awareness. Not talking about weight is one way girls can improve self-esteem.
Everyone - parents, teacher, boys and girls - should be part of the solution.
``It's up to everyone to realize that who we are is OK,'' Georgia said.
Mary Pipher will speak at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk April 25 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.25 and may be purchased through the Junior League of Norfolk and Virginia Beach, from the Chrysler/Scope box office, or from any TicketMaster outlet. ILLUSTRATION: Valerie Carino is a junior at Old Dominion U.
PHOTOS
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