For as long as I could remember I waited to hit the ripe age of thirteen. I was nine playing with my Barbie photo fashion Doll. At ten, playing Wii Sports til 9 at night. Every year I jumped up the scale of my teenage years. From fourteen to fifteen, fifteen to sixteen. Now I play with overpriced makeup and inner battles of my self worth. Now, I wish I had spent less time waiting.

People now refer to the younger generations as “KGOY”,  kids getting older younger. I had proclaimed myself to be separate from that part of my generation. I’d care less about appearance and make no time for silly things like boys. I’m not sure when that all changed, but I know how. Social Media plays a huge role in the idea of “KGOY”. So as I mindlessly scrolled the pages of my TikTok and Instagram feeds, I fed into the impractical images I saw, altering my young, naive mind.  Every year we are told each generation has grown up faster, or classically “when i was…i was still…”. I used to browse the aisles of Toys-R-Us, now 10 year olds browse high end beauty store aisles like Ulta and Sephora.

It wasn’t until I gained a younger sister of my own, that I actually saw the effects. It is baffling, watching someone grow up, then one day they’re doing and thinking things the same as you. My sister and I have an 8 year age difference. She worries about things like what shoes her friends like and don’t, what colors make her pop and what “fragrance” matches her aesthetic more. She doesn’t know that I know she takes my crop tops, and has her own little makeup routine that she's able to do from my makeup drawer. Some days she asks me, “do you think i look like…”, while referring to someone she saw on TV or YouTube. 

Becoming a teenage girl means that the center of your confidence, your self esteem, relies on how you feel about yourself. And this reflects in your actions, and makes or breaks your confidence. Those societal standards that we place on women are real. It is the invisible hand in the back of our mind that conducts us. We need to look like them, dress like them and be them, because they’re pretty. And that’s what we want to be, right? 

Being a teenage girl is not something you want to rush into. Don't burden yourself to the stress of gaining wrinkles and covering inconsistencies in the texture of your skin. To my little sister, you are beautiful in every way, just the way you are. To my little sister, and all little sisters, enjoy your precious younger years, now is too soon to grow up, I promise all in due time.