“The first challenge is what Rice and Dolgin (2005) refer to as “locker-room syndrome”: males begin to notice in the shower after physical education class that they have less hair in places, have an underdeveloped penis, are considerably shorter, and have less-developed muscles (91). Males who reach puberty much later than their counterparts may experience feelings of inferiority due to poorer athletic skills and a less mature appearance (Graber et al. 2002).” Brown, D., & Knowles, T. (2007). Understanding the young adolescent’s physical and cognitive growth. In What every middle school teacher should know. (2nd Ed., pp. 10-36). New Hampshire: Heinemann Press.

Admittedly, I learned a lot about growing up and what was in store for me during my adolescence via the Canadian TV show Degrassi, which was one big PSA for woes of puberty. Degrassi did equip me for the reality of adolescence, though I always doubted the reality of some instances that occurred on the show (it seemed a little too dramatic). Upon reading this portion of text, however, I realized that not only was the show an accurate depiction of adolescence, but there was also a huge problem with my teen years, and society in general.

Background story is necessary here: on the show, the underdeveloped character J.T. is dating the attractive and overdeveloped/broken-hearten Manny (both are underclassmen). J.T. feels that he has to compare himself to all of the other guys in his gym class, especially during shower time in the locker-room, and gets caught staring at upperclassmen stud, Craig’s man parts (he views Craig as competition because Manny had an affair with Craig that resulted in her having to abort his baby…an example of how early developers are not emotionally prepared for their physical bodies yet). This prompts J.T. to decide that he needs to purchase a penis pump, merely to keep up with the Joneses. Now, I was skeptical of how realistic a locker-room situation like this actually was, so I’m happy that my Canadians didn’t let me down, but I’m also really disappointed at society’s double standard here. Why is it all right to view early-developed men as gods, and have women conversely suffer for their early development? It killed me to read that women who develop earlier than their peers suffer from low self-esteem and are not cognitively or emotionally ready for their physically/sexually-developed bodies (Manny is example A). Why does our society accept and perpetuate such detrimental gender stereotypes that cause such lasting damage (as we learned last week, the adolescent stage plays a huge role in influencing the life course)? Clearly, this time period is one of “self-examination” (every article repeats this), and no teen is going to feel “normal” when society objectifies their bodies in such a way. I am really happy that I had the experience of viewing such an honest show as Degrassi, which pointed out the inequity of such double standards expected of males and females in adolescence, and I think that we must expose such double standards in order to debunk the cruel body stereotypes that eat away at adolescents in the hardest of times.