Sexualization is imposed from the outside as opposed to sexuality, an understanding of the body's responses and desires and ability to communicate that, cultivated from within.
Peggy OrensteinBut it is Bella, not the supernaturals she falls in with, who is the true horror show here, at least as a female role model.
Peggy OrensteinIt's not that pink is intrinsically bad, but it is such a tiny slice of the rainbow, and, though it may celebrate girlhood in one way, it also repeatedly and firmly fuses girl's identity to appearance.
Peggy OrensteinGirls are removing pubic hair before fully having it. They would say I feel cleaner, it's for me, but then they'd say if a boy saw pubic hair down there they'd head for the hills.
Peggy OrensteinAll girls over age 14 remove pubic hair. The only touching is to remove hair. That's grim.
Peggy OrensteinMy kind of nightmare quote is from Deborah Tolman, who does research on girls and desire and is, I think, brilliant. She told me that by the time girls are teenagers, when she asks them how sexual experience made them feel, they respond by how they think they looked; they think that how they look is how they feel.
Peggy Orenstein