GIRLS’ & WOMEN’S ISSUES
Girls and women experience gender-specific norms and expectations that shape their lives.
Gender norms and expectations come from our families, cultural backgrounds (like our ethnicity or religion), and society at large. When girls and women do not conform to commonly held gender norms/expectations they may experience distress that contributes to mental health issues.
Some example norms and expectations for girls and women include:
- How they should act (such as being nurturing and kind rather than bold and assertive)
- What their role is in the home (such as being responsible for caregiving, cooking, and cleaning rather than taking care of finances, doing yard work, and fixing things)
- What occupations should be chosen (such as nursing and teaching rather than being an engineer or pilot)
- How they should look (such as feminine and thin rather than masculine and heavy)
Girls and women have unique struggles.
Girls and women have unique struggles related to their bodies, their relationships with self and others, their careers, and their identities.
Some areas that impact girls and women across the lifespan are the…
- Decline in self-esteem among adolescent girls
- Early sexualization of girls in society, and the push to conform to the beauty ideal
- Impact of relational aggression and bullying on teens
- Sexual objectification of women
- Experience of intimate partner violence and sexual assault in relationships, on college campuses, and in the community
- Role of motherhood, friendships, and love
- Impact of sexism in the workplace, at home, and in the community
- Navigation between work, family, and self-care
- Role of being a caregiver
- Changes related to menopause and aging
Girls and women experience mental distress differently.
Girls and women can experience mental health issues at different rates from men, and can experience symptoms differently, depending on the issue. More so, there are differences between girls and women because of the uniqueness of each person. For example, women experience higher rates of postpartum depression compared to men, and each woman experiences this issue differently depending on their situation, level of support, hormones, and coping skills.
Counseling and therapy at Wellness Grove…
Our in-person (outpatient) counseling services are offered in Canton OH (near Akron, North Canton, and Massillon). We also offer telemental health sessions to all Ohio residents.
Wellness Grove
