We always feel like we're walking on eggshells. We never know how we're supposed to act or how society expects us to act, which makes us even more anxious. Like any other young person, we want to please our peers and adults and find the gang we belong to. But that's almost impossible because different messages come in from all sides. They tell us to be this, or that, or the other thing. That makes us feel disappointed or ashamed all the time. No matter how we act, there's always someone who's going to be disappointed. This applies to girls more than boys, because we're always held to higher standards as girls.
So not only does that uncertainty make us more anxious, we also constantly feel inadequate, like we're not good enough or we're not doing enough, and that there's just no place for us in this society. That's one of the most damaging things, especially because when we try to talk about it, many times we're told it's not a matter of being a girl, and we're just more sensitive. When we bring up the situation, what we say often gets swept under the rug. It's really sad when young girls are undervalued like that.