Girls want to learn how to say no to sex and still say yes to intimacy. Girls admit that sexual pressure comes not just from boys but from other girls, from their friends, and from the media. While the pressure on teenage girls to have sex at an early age knows no ethnic, racial, or geographic bounds, African American and Hispanic girls cite pregnancy as an issue in their lives more than white and Asian American girls and do so at a younger age. Only a small number of girls voice concern about birth control, abortion, and AIDS despite all their talk about sex. A number of girls talk about the climate of sexual harassment in schools.
Girls face conflicting roles as they struggle with what it means to be a girl today.
They are torn between a traditional view of femininity and the contemporary realities of being a woman. We are encouraged to be assertive through TV, magazines, and some adults, but we're punished indirectly by the world when we are. Many girls point their fingers at the media for promoting a very narrow, restrictive image of women and girls as skinny, sexually alluring, and popular, to the exclusion of more important attributes and values. With all the different messages from all different angles, it is sometimes hard for a girl just to find the person she really is. Educators focus on academics and standards, yet generally ignore social pressures girls face every day in school.