Introduction:

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a paleontologist. There was absolutely no reason why I couldn’t be one. I had this unwavering belief in myself and the future- and why shouldn’t I have had that? I had the whole world- hopefully a jurassic one- before me.

As I grew up, everything changed. My self-confidence crumbled, my belief in myself had never been shakier, and I constantly found myself and my intelligence being sidelined for my male classmates. It got so bad, that I started to accept it without question. Society had conditioned all of that childish belief out of me.

As a young girl, I was made to believe that the odds of me ever becoming a paleontologist were slim- and I thought to lowly of myself that I actually believed it.

This is a problem for girls all across the world.

Body:

 

• One- Talk about the mindset of a young girl
  • Hopeful, excited for the future, believes anything is possible
• Two- Mid phase
  • Girls systematically conditioned to see themselves as inferior to boys (especially in STEM related areas)
  • Girls conditioned by society to define themselves by exterior beauty- struggle to seek validation through it
  • peer pressure, media focus on beauty, already fragile self esteem
• Three- Breaking the cycle
  • Encouraging girls in more STEM related areas
  • Bigger issue of media portrayals of what girls are “supposed” to look like
  • Yes- you are beautiful- but you are so much more than that

Conclusion:
Somewhere between growing up and getting older, girls often lose that sense of wild freedom and self-confidence. So find your inner heart surgeon, astronaut, writer- she’s still there, I promise you.