Jezebel: Girls

Researchers Determine That Social Media Is Ruining Girlhood

Doug Barry — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 13:45:00 EST

Based on the specious data collected from a new Stanford University study, researchers have determined that girls between the ages of 8 and 12 who spend "considerable" time using social media are likely to be "less happy" than their unplugged peers. More »

Purity Balls Still The Creepiest Shit Ever

Erin Gloria Ryan — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:40:00 EST

On today's episode of Anderson Cooper's eponymous talk show, the silver haired action figure discussed the issue of father-daughter "purity balls." Specifically, is it the creepiest shit ever or what? Verdict: Yes. More »

Professional Pearl-Clutcher Worried That Internet Will Turn Girls Into Successful Harvard Grads

Erin Gloria Ryan — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:40:00 EST

What happens when you take one delusional nostalgia-peddler in a twinset, one accomplished young female journalist, and one public radio host, mix in a few splashes of princess culture, a liberal application of slut-shaming, a twist of incoherence, and a backhanded, condescending ad hominem attack? You get a matronly lecture from the fuzzy mind of Caitlin Flanagan, who warns radio listeners that unless they're careful parents, their daughters might end up like Salon writer Irin Carmon. More »

Guys Aren't Always Better at Math

Philip N. Cohen — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 10:45:00 EST

In my opinion, there is no way to administer a math test that will identify inborn ability. So people who think the greater presence of men in high-end math and science positions is a result of the distribution of inborn abilities generally rely on the observation of (a) big gender gaps, (b) long-standing gender gaps, or (c) widespread gender gaps, to make their case. More »

Frightening Girl Loves Her Hitler Doll

Erin Gloria Ryan — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:45:00 EST

Check out this picture of an adorable little girl hugging her OH SWEET CHRIST THAT IS A HITLER DOLL. More »

HPV Vaccine Side Effects Do Not Include Sluttiness

Margaret Hartmann — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 16:05:00 EST

The HPV vaccine is pretty scary stuff. For starters, you probably heard from your aunt that this lady told Michele Bachman that it totally made her daughter "mentally retarded." And even if those who get the shots don't end up like that poor girl no one was ever able to locate, the vaccine is rumored to transform girls into little harlots. After all, everyone knows the only thing keeping 12-year-old from having sex is their deep-seated fear of cervical cancer. More »

Orthodox Israelis Spit On Whorish 8-Year-Old Girl For Going To School

Erin Gloria Ryan — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 15:40:00 EST

An American girl attempting to walk to her Jewish school in Israel is subjected to daily taunting and physical intimidation so bad that she says it makes her afraid to go to school. Her tormenters aren't fellow children, but rather adult men upset by the presence of the "immodest" girls attending school in their ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. And now, the town's male residents are clashing with police and media over their the gender integration they say insults their faith. Eight-year-old girls can be such whores. More »

Dudes, Bettys, Ladies, And Men: The Gender Categories Of Online Retail

Anna North — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:40:00 EST

A tipster recently wrote to tell us that Forever 21 didn't divide its wares into "men's" and "women's" categories — rather, its clothes were for "men" or "girls." We decided to investigate — and to take a look at what its competitors call their male and female customers. Below, a breakdown. More »

Lego Targets Girls With Pink Blocks, Cute Figures, & No Creativity

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:10:00 EST

Lego is universally beloved because it's a toy that's fun and surreptitiously educational. Instead of just allowing kids to reenact scenes from superhero movies or shoot their sister with a foam dart, Lego bricks let children develop their motor skills, solve problems, and use their imaginations to create anything they want. There's nothing gendered about the most basic sets, which just contain colored blocks in different sizes, yet Lego is considered a toy for boys. Now after extensive research, the company is releasing a new line to woo girls, but the way they're going about it may give you the urge to kick over your brother's Tatooine playset. More »

What The World Needs Now: A New Princess Marketed Toward Little Girls

Dodai Stewart — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:10:00 EST

Since Snow White is 74 years old, Aurora from Sleeping Beauty is 52 and Belle from Beauty And The Beast is a decrepit 20 years old, Disney, the font of all things princessy, has created a new princess, just for little girls. Really little: Youngsters between ages 2 and 7 years old. More »

Shit Girls Say, Now In Video Form

Dodai Stewart — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 13:10:00 EST

The comedic Twitter feed Shit Girls Say is now a web series, starring Graydon Sheppard, who, along with his boyfriend, Kyle Humphrey, came up with the idea for the Twitter account earlier this year. Honestly? Funny because it's true, except for the part where guys dress up as women in order to mock them. That part is tired. But "could you do me a huge favor?," "first of all eww" and bag-rummaging R us. And if we could have lunch with Juliette Lewis, you bet your pita chips there would be some high-pitched squealing. I am not even joking right now. More »

A First Look At HBO And Lena Dunham's 'Girls'

Whitney Jefferson — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:20:00 EST

Here's a first look at Girls, the Judd Apatow-produced series from HBO about women in their 20s trying to make it in New York City. While you're busy trying to decide if this falls more into the "Revamped Sex & The City" or "What I Thought MTV's Awkward Was Going To Be" category, let me give you a few more details. The show stars Lena Dunham (of Tiny Furniture fame) as our dry, lovable protagonist and Jemima Kirke and Allison Williams (daughter of Brian Williams, FYI) as her two besties. From this short preview, we're not entirely sure that Apatow will have redeemed himself on the matter of his track record with female characters, or whether Dunham actually will turn into the "voice of a generation." The series premieres in April; until then, we'll walk the tightrope between high hopes and managed expectations. More »

Finally, A Cute Shirt For Girls Who Love Math

Anna North — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:20:00 EST

T-shirt designers sometimes seem embroiled in a race to the bottom of the offensiveness barrel. However, one purveyor gives us hope with its cute new shirt for girls who get As in math. More »

Gap Kids Recommends Little Girls Eschew Pants This Winter

Erin Gloria Ryan — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 10:30:00 EST

As the temperatures drop, clothing store racks fill with warm snuggly sweaters, cozy fuzzy boots, and child sized black sequined booty shorts. Wait, what? More »

Sanitary Pads Are A Real Life-Saver For Girls In Somalia

Cassie Murdoch — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 13:05:00 EST

The news out of Somalia is so often bad, which makes it extra nice to hear the heartwarming story of how a project there is using sanitary pads to change lives. In an area of Somalia where there are many settlements for internally displaced people, a wonderful-sounding program has found a way to provide girls with sanitary pads and also to provide much-needed employment for the girls who are hired to sew the pads. More »

'Unwanted' Girls Are Given New Names

Cassie Murdoch — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 12:05:00 EDT

It's hard to imagine anyone in the United States naming a child "unwanted" and getting away with it. (Of course we name our kids things like Moroccan and Pilot Inspektor and nobody bats an eye, but that's another story.) In India, however, the cruel practice of naming a daughter the Hindi equivalent of "unwanted" is, sadly, not uncommon. More »

Girls Told To Stop Wearing School Uniform Skirts To Ward Off Perv

Margaret Hartmann — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:25:00 EDT

Earlier this month, two girls who attend the private school Greenwood College were followed on the subway by a man who looked up their skirts. Police in Toronto are looking for the suspect and in the meantime, an officer advised that perverts can be kept at bay if kids don't wear their uniforms on public transportation. As our tipster snarks, "clearly SlutWalk made a difference for the cops and their consciousness around gender." More »

Just Freaking Give Boys The HPV Vaccine Already

Irin Carmon — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:40:00 EDT

The facts: Roughly half of adult males in the US are infected with HPV. Some strains, passed along to women through sexual contact, can cause cervical cancer. HPV can also increase the likelihood of penile or anal cancer in men, and can cause genital warts. The FDA has already approved the vaccine for boys. But the CDC is still deliberating over whether boys should get it. A significant decision in the process is expected at a meeting next month. More »

What Formspring Means For Friendship And Female Aggression

Rachel Simmons — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 15:00:00 EDT

The parasites of the social media world are websites and applications that let users post anonymous messages about others. Formspring.me has been leading the pack. Untold thousands of teenagers have accounts on the site, which allows your audience –- almost always your classmates –- to write anything on your personal page without being identified. More »

The Politics Of Baseball's Little Pink Backpacks

Anna North — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 10:10:00 EDT

In a new hazing ritual, rookie relief pitchers are forced to carry gear and snacks for the rest of the bullpen in colorful backpacks meant for little girls. It's hard not to snicker at the image of a top athlete carrying a little cartoon pack, but the tradition also says something about gender politics and the culture of the game. More »

The Gadget Camp For Girls

Irin Carmon — Fri, 19 Aug 2011 10:55:00 EDT

This particular summer camp isn't a place to debate the iPhone versus the Droid — it's a hands-on camp to get girls interested in engineering and manufacturing, a field in which only a quarter of the workers are women. Profiled in The Times today, the sixteen-girl camp, made up mostly of girls from low-income families, is a nice dose of constructive inspiration. More »

French Brand Markets Lingerie For Little Girls With Requisite Over-Sexualized Images

Margaret Hartmann — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 21:45:00 EDT

The French will see our alarm over inappropriate photos of 10-year-old model Thylane Blondeau and raise us a line of lingerie for girls ages four through 12, and the accompanying images styled to look like a sensual bedroom romp. More »

Young American Men Prefer To Have Male Children

Lisa Wade, Ph.D. — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 10:30:00 EDT

I've argued in the past against framing a preference for boy children as "culturally Asian." New data from Gallup shows that this preference is alive and well among Americans, at least among young men. While women are most likely to have no opinion and about equally likely to prefer a girl or boy, men are significantly more likely to prefer a boy. More »

Do Teens "Catch" Pregnancy From Their Sisters?

Anna North — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 14:35:00 EDT

A new study reveals that an older sister's pregnancy increases a teen girl's risk of getting pregnant herself — and the effect is stronger than that of education. More »

Climate Change Could Hurt Teen Girls The Most

Anna North — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 17:20:00 EDT

A new study shows teenage girls could face the worst harm from climate change. That's because families often pull their daughters out of school in times of extreme crisis, and may even sell them as so-called "famine brides." Girls also may not be taught the skills — like swimming or tree-climbing — they need to survive natural disasters. Study author Kelly Hawrylyshyn says, "I think it's a call to action … We can't just look at poor people as a homogenous whole but we need a more nuanced understanding of how people are influenced by climate change and tailor our responses to that." More »

Some Advice On How To Cover Young Girls Playing Sports

Mike Adamick — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 14:50:00 EDT

I'm surprised there are professional women athletes at all. It's shocking, really, given the way we treat little girls. More »

US Girls Triumph In Google Science Fair

Anna North — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 18:03:00 EDT

Three US Girls beat out nearly 7,500 other entrants in Google's first-ever international science fair. The grand prize winner, Shree Bose, apparently "discovered a way to improve ovarian cancer treatment for patients when they have built up a resistance to certain chemotherapy drugs." She's won a $50,000 scholarship, an internship with the European Organization for Nuclear Research, and a trip to the Galapagos. More »

Girl Skater Wows Dudes, Ladies Alike

Anna North — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 11:55:00 EDT

Fifteen-year-old skater Brianna Beristain is slated to compete in the prestigious Girls Ride Organization competition later this month. But, says her friend Triston Harris, More »

Should We Tell Little Girls They're Pretty?

Anna North — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 16:50:00 EDT

Telling a little girl she's pretty seems like a harmless compliment. But this usually innocent observation can have long-term effects on a girl's relationship to her looks — should we refrain from making it at all? More »

Panel Of Little Girls Discussing Weight Issues Is Completely Depressing

Whitney Jefferson — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 15:55:00 EDT

Good Morning America assembled a crew of 5 to 8 year old girls to ask them about weight stuff — what's fat, what's thin, what looks good and what looks bad. Their bluntly honest answers aligned, sadly, with a recent study that suggested almost half of 3-to-6 year old girls worry about being fat. More »

Incredibly Young Children Think They're Fat

Sadie Stein — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:20:00 EDT

According to a 2009 study, half of little girls 3-to-6 think they're fat. Oy vey. More »

A Ten-Year-Old's Rant To "Boys Around The World"

Irin Carmon — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 14:48:00 EDT

Reader Becky Sayers writes, "I found this on 10 yr old [daughter] Eliza's bulletin board this morning in her room— when I asked her about it, she said it was an "editorial" she wrote last night after looking at the miniboden children's clothing catalog." With permission from both mother and daughter, we happily share this editorial with you. More »

How The "Good Guys Are Hard To Find" Narrative Hurts Women

Hugo Schwyzer — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:00:00 EDT

It's not news that girls are feeling more pressure than ever to be perfect. As I've written before in my posts on the Martha Complex, this generation of teen girls is more stressed about, well, everything, than any generation of women before them.* The pressure to do well in school, the pressure to please parents and peers, and the pressure to live up to an impossible ideal of physical perfection is crushing. More »

Abercrombie & Fitch Introduces Padded Bikini Top For Girls

Lane Moore — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 15:45:00 EDT

Swimsuit season is just around the corner and Abercrombie & Fitch: Kids knows exactly what you've been looking for and is more than happy to provide you with it: More »

Wimpy Cartoon Girls Offer Lip Service To Bravery

Mike Adamick — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 14:07:00 EST

In our Daddy Issues series, a father of a young daughter seeks guidance, hoping to raise a strong woman. He looks to you, dear readers, for insight. More »

Girls Underestimate Their Own Intelligence

Sadie Stein — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 18:40:00 EST

A now-classic study found something curious: when they posed 5th graders with tough problems, the brightest girls were the quickest to give up. And apparently not much has changed. More »

Video Games Are Good For Teen Girls

Sadie Stein — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 17:23:00 EST

Well, with caveats: they're good for them if they play with their parents. More »

Of Course Facebook Increases Risk Of Eating Disorders

Anna North — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 11:58:00 EST

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Another day, another story about something bad Facebook does to kids. Today's finding: it may contribute to eating disorders. More »

Hey, Nice Outfit

Lauri Apple — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 15:20:23 EST

[Chicago, IL, January 21: Dancers from McCormick Elementary School perform a traditional Chinese handkerchief dance for Chinese President Hu Jintao. Image via AP.]

"Hot List" Author Delivers Creepy Woman-Hating Rant

Anna North — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 13:00:00 EST

Yet another Facebook "hot list" recently made the rounds at a high school — and its author's scary rantings show the connection between such lists and outright woman-hating. More »