The health risks of maturing early

[Diamond_Dog]

This article is several years old, but it’s very timely now. I was thinking of the 10-year-old rape victim in Ohio when I read this. Sick men harrass and rape young girls and now the state says they cannot have abortions. I don’t know what kind of sick misogynists think this is OK. It also brought back to my memory the ways men and older boys looked at me when I was a young girl.
The things they say when you walk past. The noises they make, the way they leer at you. Even in school. Especially in school. Where you’re supposed to feel safe. What a joke. I wish we could raise boys and men to respect women and not harass them. I think I did a pretty good job with my three sons in this area.

Here is the article.

*****

I remember the first time a stranger openly gawked at my bare legs. It was the summer before I turned 11; I was at a small convenience store near our home. The man stood behind my mother and me at the checkout line, staring me up and down. He looked the same age as my father. But it wasn’t friendliness I detected in his eyes.

As a young girl who developed early and looked older than my age, my mind struggled to catch up with the rapid changes taking place in my body. The stares from older men made me feel anxious and unsafe. Every time a stranger made kissing sounds as I walked by, my heart pounded and my mouth turned dry. If I close my eyes, I can still hear their voices yelling obscenities from passing vehicles; I am once again a 10-year-old child afraid of wearing shorts in public.

Enduring unwanted comments and stares may seem minor compared to other types of sexual violence. Still, studies have shown they can be particularly distressing for a child, putting them at risk of psychological problems that can reverberate throughout their life.

(snip)

Although puberty presents challenges for all adolescents, girls who mature ahead of their peers are particularly vulnerable. One recent study, which tracked more than 7,000 women over a period of 14 years, found that early menarche (the first menstrual bleeding) was associated with elevated rates of depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, and anti-social behaviours in adulthood. “The effects of early puberty on psychological health have been replicated in many different countries around the world,” says Jane Mendle, the study’s co-author and a psychology professor at Cornell University.

One reason may be that early-maturing girls experience a spike in unwanted attention and comments about their bodies from older boys and grown men. “The important thing about puberty is that it’s visible to others,” Mendle points out.

Much more

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180611-the-health-risks-of-girls-maturing-early

[pnwest]

1. Wow this resonates with me.

Thank you for posting this. Explains a lot.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Yes it does

[Solly Mack]

2. Girls in my family look like women at an early age, body-wise.

This has caused a lot of problems because of sick men.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. I totally understand

My older sister suffered a lot of hurtful comments from boys because she had the body of a woman at age 12.

[Solly Mack]

7. I still prefer baggy clothing because of it.

You get to the point you want to hide your body.

[Diamond_Dog]

8. I understand

[dixiechiken1]

3. I always felt like young girls today look older/more mature than I did at their age...

...puberty seems to be coming earlier for increasing numbers of girls across the globe. While the average age of puberty onset, defined by breast development, for US girls was almost 12 years old in the 1970s, it fell to nine years by 2011. One study found that 18% of white, 43% of black non-Hispanic and 31% of Hispanic girls hit puberty by their ninth birthday. Researchers are still analysing the reasons.

IMO, it's no wonder, with all the GMOs and hormones being pumped into so much of what we eat and drink.

Really interesting article. Thanks for posting.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. I sometimes wonder

If all the hormones and additives in our food supply causes early puberty as well as some cancers.

[gay texan]

9. I've often wondered this myself

In my small town I see the effects of the local diet.

The boys are overweight and are sickly looking, the girls are developing entirely too fast.

Hardly any kid looks healthy out here.

[woodsprite]

10. This is so true! I can remember stopping by the fire house

With my father when I was 10 or 11 yo. I had dressed up a bit because we were heading to the hospital to visit mom after her hysterectomy, but he had to drop off some budget reports. I went in with him because they had ping-pong and shuffleboard to keep me entertained while he filed the reports. I can remember him having words with one of the younger firefighters because he was saying “look at the headlights on her”. I cried. I thought he was talking about my knobby knees. I would have been more upset if I really knew what he meant. Dad never took me back to the firehouse after that.

I was the only girl in my 3rd grade class wearing a bra because it was needed. I got in trouble for whacking a kid who kept snapping my bra straps. The teacher, Mrs Barclays, took me out in the hall and told me to stop disturbing the class, that I should be happy because it meant he liked me, AND she said she give a months salary to have what I had. Even in 3rd grade I was mortified that she spoke to me that way. I told my mom, but she didn’t do anything about it.

[Diamond_Dog]

11. Oh woodsprite, I'm so sorry you had that experience.

I don’t understand the male obsession with sexualizing young girls. I’m sure there are many good men out there who keep their nasty comments to themselves, but there are many who don’t. Especially in days gone by. I would have cried too, at what you described.

And that teacher! I can’t even come up with a more cruel and inappropriate response! Blaming YOU. You should enjoy having your bra strap snapped by a boy in 3rd grade because that meant he liked you?! Sadly many many girls have similar experiences (and responses making THEM out to be the victims). You wore shorts in public. You smiled at him. You went into that store alone.it never ends. And Republicans want to rid our schools of sex Ed and social emotional learning.I hope and pray some day the thinking on this will change, but it seems so hopeless at times.

[Timeflyer]

12. So glad I'm an old lady now

The post and responses are bringing the bad old days back to mind. It wasn't enough to get acne and need a bra during adolescence. A transformed female body meant I was now prey to a form of danger I couldn't really understand but knew was always out there if males were around.

[Diamond_Dog]

13. Yep.

And dealing with your period back then. Remember those old pads and belts! Then you had to walk past a group of boys or men making catcalls about your anatomy.