I had mixed feelings about Girl Land and it was certainly not what I expected. Being the youngest daughter of seven children, three others of which were girls, I could relate to her during some instances in Girl Land. For example the catcalls from the boys and at first feelings of confusion then missing that attention once I was older. However even after 40 I still catch men taking glances at me now and then, so this phase boys and men go through never does end it just gets more subtle as they get older. At other times I felt she was too generalized in her depictions of girls as both my daughters had Internet in their rooms and neither of my daughters got involved with dating until their late teens. In fact, my youngest daughter is in a permanent relationship with the only guy she has ever dated in her life at the age of 20. I never had a problem with my girls seeking out porn on the Internet, in fact they were more involved in playing their PlayStation or Nintendo games. We even allowed boys in their rooms and never had to ask them to keep the door open and it was always a video game hangout party. One thing my daughters rarely did was watch television, so maybe Flanagan has her electronics mixed-up. I feel if you want to place blame on society corrupting girls, television is the worst.
When Flanagan writes about the prom she speaks as if all girls go to prom with backpacks stuffed with provocative clothing they later change into for an after party. She is of course speaking of girls in a more affluent area where she lived in California, go figure. When it came to prom my daughters are as different as night and day, one wiggled her way into going to two proms with nothing in hand but her petite purse. Her dates brought her home soon after the prom still in her dress, with her hair still done. While my other daughter could have cared less, had no intention of going to any prom and didn't. So you just can't generalize girls even in the same family. However I see the need for Flanagan to keep her generalization to her part of the country, where unsupervised girls learn the only thing important are looks, parties, sex and drugs. Hollywood has that effect on young people and it all has to do with television. Sorry Flanagan our young girls just don't behave this way on the east coast.
Some information in the book, however I did find interesting, especially when she spoke about particular ads running in a teen magazine in the early 1900's, one I read myself as a teen. Another was her reaction to her first menstrual cycle and how she felt about it. I was totally with her on that issue, as I felt the same way. My daughters are only 18 months apart in age and had totally different reactions to their cycles. My youngest daughter kept it to herself when the "friend," as we call it came along and I had no idea. It had been a year. My husband knew before I did because he did the grocery runs at that time and noticed pads were being used more often. While my oldest daughter had a traumatic crying and screaming spell that sent me running to the bathroom, and the whole household knew what had happened. It left her traumatized.
One predicament I had was with Flanagan's writing style and the long sentences she uses throughout her book. This can be quite annoying when you need to go back and re-read the first part of the sentence, due to having forgotten what you have already read. Flanagan reminds me of someone who needs to come up for air before continuing but refuses to. Not a good writing style for adults like me who has ADHD to enjoy. I am not saying that somethings in her book were not worth stopping and contemplating about, as she has a lot of information packed into this little book. I found most of it, however, to be regarding the lives of upper-class girls and women and it certainly didn't pertain to my life.
Another area I didn't agree with her on was regarding her opinions on raising girls vs boys. I have raised both and I have found I am more afraid for my son, then I was for my daughters, when it comes down to society and their peers. My reason being, boys are so much more immature than girls at the same age and even more sensitive. Especially when it comes to their emotions, as boys tend to have trouble expressing emotions and hold it in, unlike girls who are much more open and talkative with their peers. I also don't agree with the father figure being in the home for girls to be or feel secure or protected. My father and brothers never got involved with my dating and they considered it my business. Now if there is physical or mental abuse going on, that is a different situation. But what happens when a "girl" marries? Is she gonna come running home to papa, brother or uncle every time she has a little spat or argument with her husband? That is how girls learn to become a woman by standing up for herself and dealing with her man on her own. This book was entertaining, whether you can relate to Flanagan or not. She has a unique style of writing, that although did not appeal to me, others may find quite enjoyable.
