Latest news with #pubertyEducation
Fast Company
15 hours ago
- Health
- Fast Company
Why we need to redefine puberty culture for Gen Z girls
The rise of misinformation aimed at young girls across digital underscores an urgent need for credible resources, empowering products, and emotionally safe communities. Today's teen girls are navigating puberty and emotional development in a world no previous generation has known, one where their bodies, confidence, and mental health are influenced as much by social media algorithms as by their own biology. And it's taking a devastating toll. Popular platforms like TikTok and Instagram are proving to be part of the problem, with one in three girls acknowledging negative feelings about their body, based on what they see in their feeds, on a weekly basis. And while this is beginning earlier and earlier each year, a U.S. study revealed that by age 13, 53% of girls report being unhappy with their bodies, a figure that by age 17, rises to an alarming 78%. All of this during the crucial period when girls' self-worth, mental health, and emotional resilience are also being developed. Lack of puberty education and practical support Major surveys show many U.S. girls feel under-prepared for puberty. In one 2021 study, 74% of menstruating students (ages 13–19) had questions about their periods, yet just 43% said schools openly discussed this puberty milestone. A 2023 poll of American women found only 15% felt prepared for their first period, 48% said they were not prepared, and 21% did not understand what was happening at their first menstruation. A 2021–22 national health survey found 31% of girls (ages 12–17) reported anxiety symptoms and 25% reported depression. Feelings of isolation and stigma are common. In a representative teen poll, 45% of girls said they'd been 'too ashamed or embarrassed' to seek help when they had questions about their bodies (e.g. puberty or menstruation). Likewise, 58% of teens agreed that society 'is not set up for them to manage puberty and menstruation with full confidence.' And here's the reality: Puberty isn't what it was 10 years ago. Menarche—a girl's first period—now arrives as young as age 9. Girls are navigating their most vulnerable stages of growth and development in a digital age with little support. Recently, Cloudstate CEO Meg Smith spent 16 months with global focus groups, conducting surveys and conversations with hundreds of Gen Z girls and their parents. By the end, one thing was clear: Girls today need a brand—and a safe space—that actually puts the needs and voices of their community first. The digital puberty space Gen Z actually wants Platforms like Cloudstate's Girl Talk Live (GTL), a first-of-its-kind digital destination designed for girls navigating puberty's emotional and social rollercoasters in today's hyper-connected world, is a necessary first step. Cloudstate understands young girls today aren't interested in a sterile medical site or a glorified product forum. Instead, they want a hype-worthy, judgment-free zone where they can ask the real stuff, connect with relatable 'big sister' mentors, and access expert-backed advice on everything from body confidence to friend drama to managing anxiety. They thrive in places that feel like their closest squad—but smarter, safer, and kinder. We are here to provide just that. But we also know that resources alone aren't enough. Some of the earliest experiences girls have with their changing bodies, like shopping for their first bra, are deeply emotional milestones too often treated as transactional. That's why we are reimagining what that moment looks and feels like. Our brand isn't just selling bras, we're creating confidence-first products designed to support a girl's emotional, physical, and mental growth. Because for girls, a bra isn't just a bra. It's an early, intimate encounter with their changing body—and it deserves care, kindness, and community to go with it. Because Gen Z girls deserve better Puberty is biologically wired to be an emotionally intense time. In the digital age, that natural vulnerability is amplified by forces girls were never meant to navigate alone. It's time brands and influencers stop offering products and advice that may be unqualified and harmful, without providing emotional support, real conversation, and a seat at the table. Gen Z girls aren't simply accepting how they should deal with puberty. They are challenging what is offered to them and demanding an experience that is better than the generations that came before. They are rewriting the rules of puberty culture…and it's time we all listen.
Arab News
2 days ago
- General
- Arab News
A room of one's own: Women claim men-only ‘Autaq' community spaces in Pakistan's Balochistan
LASBELA, Pakistan: On a summer afternoon in the village of Ahmadabad Wang village in southwestern Pakistan this month, the sun filtered through the wooden slats of a modest building tucked between fields and dusty open lands. Inside, the sharp scent of chalk and fabric mixed with the low hum of women's voices. Here, on a carpeted floor lined with checkered rugs and cylindrical pillows, women and girls had gathered not to cook or clean or care but to talk: about reproductive health, about puberty. About what they wanted from life and the future. And they are doing it in an Autaq, a space that for generations has been the exclusive domain of men in the southern Sindh province and in districts of Balochistan that border Sindh, Lasbela being one of them. 'The concept of Autaq is deeply rooted in our culture, both Sindhi and Baloch,' said Hafsa Qadir, 22, a sociology graduate who helped found this women-only version in December last year. 'Here, we talk about a range of challenges — SRHR [sexual and reproductive health and rights], menstruation, hygiene and skill-based education. All those issues that we can't talk about openly outside, we discuss them freely here.' Growing up, Qadir had watched her male cousins gather in their Autaq, with cushions piled high and the clink of tea cups punctuating heated discussions. Girls stood at the threshold, never allowed inside. 'Usually, it serves as a community center, but only for men,' she said. 'It just represents half of the community.' That memory stayed with her until she and six women from surrounding villages decided to build something of their own. The Addi Autaq, laid with humble furnishings and hand-stitched cushions, now welcomes over 50 women and girls each week. Every time the women gather, the room buzzes with energy and purpose, its walls bearing witness to conversations once whispered behind closed doors. Next to it Addi Autaq is a small stitching center where women thread needles and run fabric through clacking machines. The clothes they make are sold in local markets and for some, it's the first time they've earned their own income. 'There was no place here before where we could sit and speak openly,' said Saima Kareem, a student who pays her university tuition with her earnings. 'I feel very proud that I can bear my own expenses… cover my educational expenses and help out my family as well.' 'BIG ACHIEVEMENT' Their revolution has come with quiet persistence. Balochistan, after all, is no easy place to be a woman. It is Pakistan's largest province by area but also its most underserved. Female literacy stands at around 24 percent, far below the national average. Access to basic health care is limited. Many girls never complete school and few women join the workforce. Against that landscape, the idea of women not just gathering, but leading, shaping dialogue, earning money, is almost audacious. 'When we started the Autaq, we faced many challenges,' said Tehreem Amin, 23, an environmental sciences graduate. 'We approached the elders in our families, brothers, fathers, those who were educated, and talked to them, explained our purpose, and gradually helped shift their thinking.' Now, once skeptical male relatives are sending their daughters to the Autaq. 'When we started our own Autaq, it had some impact… Some women [on social media] have even said they want to visit, see how we created this Autaq, how we built a space that is truly safe for women,' said Asma Ali, 24, a teacher and co-founder, as evening fell and women left the carpeted room and moved to a nearby garden. There, in the open air, they held reading circles and dreamt aloud about education, leadership, financial independence. 'The Autaq we've established is a big achievement,' Amin, the environmental sciences graduate, said. 'But I believe when such Autaqs exist in every village, in every corner of Pakistan… only then will it be a real success.'
