News | Topic: Girls

“What Should I Do?”: Young Women’s Reported Dilemmas With Nude Photographs

A thematic analysis of young women’s stories reveals that they received conflicting messages regarding sexting. Read the research here.

What Do Moms Of Tweens Worry About Most?

There is one thing that moms of tween girls have to deal with in an unprecedented way, and that is society’s push to sexualize our girls at a very young age. Read the article here.

Silent Struggle: 4 Ways Girls Get Pulled Into Using Porn (And What You Can Do To Help Them)

The truth is that girls are just as susceptible to sexual addiction as boys are, and it’s time to start talking about it to help end their silent struggle.

Read the article here.

The ‘Princess Industrial Complex’ Is Inescapable – Is That Bad For Girls?

Some experts say the key to living happily ever after could be limiting your kids’ exposure to their favorite princesses. Read the article here.

Nudity and Social Media Harm Girls

Celebrities routinely appear in compromising and salacious photos, and the tabloid press rewards them with adoring attention. Read the article here.

Many Stores Honoring Parents’ Requests for ‘Gender-Neutral’ Kids’ Clothing

Pink for girls. Truck motifs for boys. A growing number of parents want to get outside those parameters when it comes to dressing their kids.

Read the full article here.

Breast Enlargement Advert is Banned in England Because It ‘Could Cause Harm to Teenagers’

The TV promotion featured 21-year-old fashion blogger Sarah Ashcroft talking about her dislike of her body before having a boob job. The Advertising Standards Agency said it was concerned that the advert’s focus might encourage younger viewers to think about their own body insecurities.

Read the full article here.

More Than Half of Teen Boys Think Porn Is Realistic

A new study shows that 53% of teen boys and 39% of teen girls think the sex acts they see in porn are realistic.

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Drink Spiking a Problem on U.S. Campuses

Drink spiking may be prevalent on U.S. college campuses, and women are at much greater risk than men, new research finds.

Read the article here.

How To Deal With Adolescent Girls (And Their Parents) Who Think Their Genitals Look Weird

The reasons for adolescent girls’ increased interest and dissatisfaction in their appearance “down there” isn’t clear, but theories include the availability of images of genitalia on the Internet and the “idealization of the body, that there is one perfect body.”

Read the article here.

Strong Evidence For Double Standards Among Adolescents Regarding Sex

Adolescence is a developmental period of immense social, physical, and emotional change. In the midst of it all, both boys and girls face double standards regarding how peers react to sexual experiences, new Penn State research shows.

Read the article here.

Why Are More and More Teen Girls Getting Cosmetic Genital Surgery?

An increasing number of American teen girls are asking their doctors for cosmetic genital surgery, according to a new paper from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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Girls and Sex

Author Peggy Orenstein says that when it comes to sexuality, girls today are receiving mixed messages. Read the article from NPR’s Fresh Air here.

Social Media Can Leave Young Girls Vulnerable

A new book called “American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers” examines how easy it is for predators to befriend girls online.

The publication comes following a case in Virginia where two college students are charged with the murder of a young girl one of them had met online.

Read the article here.

Boys Victims of Dating Violence, Too

Contrary to what many people may think, teenage boys commonly suffer dating violence — including physical and emotional abuse, a new U.S. government study finds.

Read the article here.

Girl, Send Me a Frext

How female friends have turned sexting into an act of bonding and empowerment.

Read the article here.

1 in 4 College Women Report Unwanted Sexual Contact, New Survey Says

A quarter of undergraduate women surveyed at more than two dozen universities say they experienced unwanted sexual contact sometime during college.

Read the full article here.

What Girls Should Demand

Melissa Edgington posts a powerful reminder for girls on her website “Your Mom Has A Blog.” Read the blog post here.

Teen Sexual Double Standard Impacts Circle of Friends

New research discovers early adolescent girls lose friends for having sex and gain friends for “making out,” while their male peers lose friends for “making out” and gain friends for having sex.

Read the article here.

U.S. Teen Turning More Often to Morning-After Pill

More than 1 in 5 sexually active teen girls have used the morning-after pill — a dramatic increase that likely reflects that it’s easier now for teens to buy the emergency contraceptive.

Read the article here.