Over winter break, I went with my family to Turks and Caicos. Returning back to my room after a long day of swimming and sun-bathing, I was stopped by an older man in his late 40s. He looked at me and said “Little girl, are you old enough to have a phone?” I stood there, half-furious and half-humiliated, looking up at the man who just made me feel so small. I confidently replied “Yes,” and he answered with “Well little girls like you shouldn’t have a cell phone yet.” Unfortunately, situations like this are not uncommon in my life. Being a 5 foot, younger looking girl, people feel the need to constantly comment on my pint-sized appearance and child-like features. I just don’t understand why it is unacceptable to talk about a person’s weight or other appearance-related characteristics but telling an eighteen year old she belongs in middle school is totally fine. While there are countless hardships, here are 4 major struggles that every younger-looking girl understands all too well.
1. We are treated as if we constantly need help
We get it, we are short and look like wide-eyed twelve year olds, but, shockingly, we are extremely competent. Don’t worry; if we need help, we will just ask for it. We have faced all the normal teenage girl experiences like getting into college, crushing on the cute guy in our discussion, and trying our hardest not to gain all the late-night Pizza House weight. We are not helpless babies, but we are actually strong, self-sufficient women very capable of handling ourselves.
2. People always feel the need to tell us that we look young.
If we had a dollar for every time people told us we looked twelve, we would be swimming in a hot tub of money somewhere in the Caribbean. Wow, we had no idea we looked younger! It’s not like every single person we’ve ever met has commented on our appearance. Would you like a medal for your novel revelation?
3. Boys think of us as their little sisters.
This one stings pretty bad. We all know the earth-shattering moment when a hot guy says we are like his “cute little sister.” No matter hard we try to wear the highest heels and most revealing tops, we are still just a little munchkin. “Sexy” is a word not likely attributed to us, as we usually get “cutie pie.” Unfortunately, we are not five-seven bombshells, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t hot in our own miniature way.
4. We are never taken seriously.
Yes, our small statures and puppy eyes are amusing, but sometimes we want to be treated like people and not last year’s American Girl doll. Everything we say is met with, “Aw you’re so cute when you talk all serious!” Contrary to popular belief, we actually have interesting thoughts and opinions but we can’t fully express them when we are constantly met with pretentious smiles and laughter. Please, do us a favor, and treat us like the women that we are.
So for those of you collegiate women who are trapped in twelve-year-old bodies, fear not. While there are countless struggles, in the end we are who we are. Unless you have buckets of money and a leg-stretching machine, you probably won’t be transforming into a long- legged, voluptuous model anytime soon. Yet, if you just learn to accept your natural body, life becomes a lot more enjoyable. So the next time an irritating man asks if you’re old enough to have a cell phone, you can confidently walk away knowing that you’re the hottest damn twelve year old the world has ever seen.
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