Reviving Ophelia

Sex bombards adolescent girls daily in their personal lives, school lives, and through the media they consume. The messages they receive through these platforms are often mixed or conflicting. Pipher explains that girls in the ’90s were dealing with three major issues related to sex: their own sexuality, sex in relationships, and a fear of sexual assault. The mixed values they receive lead to alarming statistics; for example, 80% of adolescent girls in the ’90s believed men were justified in forcing sex on a woman if they were married. Furthermore, a double standard exists wherein girls are expected to be sexual and offer themselves up but are then referred to as “sluts” (261). Girls in the ’90s were also concerned about contracting an STI or becoming pregnant. Christy was 12 when boys started pressuring her for sex, and she came to Pipher at 14 for help sorting through her bad experiences. Pipher asserts that “girls this age are too young to understand and handle all the implications” (261) of sex. Often, it is a decision made from a need for acceptance. In the 1990s, girls had less education on sexual assault and were rarely taught how or when to say no, which led many to avoid dating altogether.