Girl Mental Health and the Power of Representation
Her Story, Our Future
October is Women's History Month in Canada—a time to celebrate the outstanding achievements of women and girls throughout our history.
Designated by the Government of Canada in 1992, this month-long celebration recognizes the contributions women have made in shaping our country. It includes two important observances: International Day of the Girl on October 11 and Persons Day on October 18. But this month is about more than looking back. It is about looking forward—and asking what kind of future we are building for the girls and young women in our lives.
At Lynwood Charlton Centre, we know that girls face unique pressures that can affect their mental health. And we know that one of the most powerful things we can offer them is something simple but profound: representation.
The Legacy of Women’s History Month
Women's History Month is celebrated across Canada as a way of publicly acknowledging the contributions of women as a vital part of our Canadian heritage. It is also a means of raising awareness—especially among young people—of women's contributions to our society, which have frequently gone unrecognized.
This month includes two pivotal moments in Canadian history:
International Day of the Girl (October 11) is a global moment to celebrate girls everywhere, amplifying their voices, actions, and leadership. This year's theme calls for urgent action to end child marriage and invest in girls' rights.
Persons Day (October 18) marks the historic 1929 decision when women were declared "persons" under Canadian law—a landmark victory that allowed women to participate fully in politics and affairs of state. It was a turning point for equality rights in Canada, and it paved the way for generations of women and girls to come.
But as we celebrate progress, we must also acknowledge the work that remains. Equality is not a single moment. It is an ongoing journey.
The Current Reality for Girls and Young Women
While progress has been made, girls and young women today face real and persistent challenges to their mental health.
Girls are more likely to experience certain mental health conditions. Research shows that females are about three times as likely as males to struggle with mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
Girls face unique social pressures. The messages girls receive from media and society often focus on appearance, likability, and perfection. Children are exposed to media for more than 10 hours a day, and mainstream media representations of women have an "incredible and often very damaging impact" on young girls. The message girls receive is that "the most important thing about them is the way they look".
Girls are less likely to see themselves represented in positions of power. The catchphrase "you can't be what you can't see" captures a fundamental truth: limited and sexist representation of women is a real barrier to girls' aspirations and sense of possibility.
The Power of Representation
Here is the hopeful truth: representation matters—and it can change lives.
Research on women and girls in STEM offers powerful insights. The strongest predictor of whether a girl stays in STEM isn't her grades, her test scores, or even her interest level. It's whether she can look around the room and see someone who looks like her succeeding in it.
Researchers call this "social identity threat"—the concern that your group is devalued in a particular space. When girls are placed in a STEM environment with a skewed boys-to-girls ratio, they show a measurably higher cognitive and physiological stress and report a weaker sense of belonging. The boys in the same study were completely unaffected.
But the flip side is just as striking. Exposure to female experts in STEM strengthened a girl's sense of identity in these fields, raised their self-confidence, and increased their motivation. Researchers describe this effect as a stereotype "inoculation"—building genuine resistance to the subtle messages that say you don't belong here.
What this means for mental health: When girls see themselves reflected in the world around them—in books, in media, in leadership, in stories—they develop a stronger sense of identity, belonging, and possibility. They are less likely to internalize limiting beliefs about what they can be. And they are more likely to believe that their struggles are not a sign of failure, but a shared human experience.
How Media Shapes Girls’ Mental Health
Media plays a significant role in shaping girls mental health—more often for the worse.
Media representations of women and girls heavily shape youth mental health by reinforcing unrealistic beauty standards, narrow gender roles, and the sexualization of female characters. From television to film to social media, girls are absorbing messages about who they should be—and those messages have consequences.
The Impact on Mental Health
Body image struggles. Constant exposure to thin and altered body ideals leads to high rates of body dissatisfaction, body surveillance, and eating disorder symptoms among girls. Girls learn early to monitor their bodies—to compare, to critique, to strive for something that does not exist in real life.
Low self-esteem. When media portrays female value as tied to youth, physical attractiveness, and sexuality rather than leadership or intelligence, girls internalize a dangerous lesson: that their worth is something to be measured, not something that is inherent. This lowers self-confidence and narrows girls' sense of what they can be.
Anxiety and depression. Sociocultural pressures and internalized perfectionism foster chronic stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. This shows up in trends like the "that girl" productivity aesthetic—highlighting girls who appear effortlessly organized and productive, getting up early and getting everything done. On the surface, it looks aspirational. Underneath, it sets another impossible standard and reinforces the belief that a girl must be put together all the time.
"Sad girl" culture. While modern media more openly discusses mental illness, it often commodifies vulnerability into a brand-friendly aesthetic rather than showing genuine paths to recovery. Girls are shown what pain looks like, but not what healing looks like. This can romanticize suffering rather than pointing toward help.
Trends in Television and Media Portrayals
What girls see on screen matters—and the patterns are troubling.
Objectification and sexualization. Female characters are disproportionately shown in revealing clothing or introduced with hyper-sexualized descriptions compared to their male counterparts. Girls learn that being seen means being looked at.
Stereotypical roles. Women on television are frequently framed around romance, domestic life, and submissive dependencies—while remaining underrepresented in authoritative roles or STEM career paths. The message girls receive is that their stories are about relationships, not achievements.
Tokenistic mental health. Shows depicting characters with conditions like bipolar disorder or depression rarely portray realistic recovery or healthy long-term management. Mental illness becomes a plot point or a personality trait, rather than a lived experience that can be managed with support.
Social Media and Body Image: The Pressure Girls Face Online
There is another force shaping girls' mental health today that previous generations did not have to navigate: social media.
While adolescents of all genders use online platforms daily—with over half saying they use them "constantly"—girls face unique social pressures and risks in their digital lives that can significantly affect their physical and mental health.
As Dr. Sophia Choukas-Bradley, Director of the Teen and Young Adult Lab at the University of Pittsburgh, explains, social media involves "the intersection of peer influences and mass media influences." Girls today face a mix of pressures—from society, from social media, and from the changes that come with growing up. Together, these pressures increase body image and mental health concerns for adolescent girls. Researchers call this "the perfect storm."
What Makes Social Media Different
These features of social media work together to increase their psychological impact on adolescents:
Visualness – Photographs and videos are emphasized
Availability – Content is easy to access and share, regardless of location
Permanence – Content shared online is permanently accessible
Publicness – Information is accessible by large audiences
Quantifiability – Social metrics like likes, friends, and followers are countable
Cue Absence – In-person physical cues are missing from communication
Asynchronicity – There is a time lapse between aspects of communication
Algorithmic – Algorithms intensify interest-based content presentation
The Impact on Girls' Mental Health
Adolescence is already a time of heightened body image concerns—and this is especially true for girls and gender minority youth. Social media amplifies these concerns.
When girls over-focus on sociocultural beauty standards, the impacts can be serious:
Disordered weight and shape-related behaviours
Disordered eating behaviours
Negative mood in general
Depressive symptoms or even clinical depressive disorder
Health risk behaviours such as indoor tanning and use of skin bleaching creams
Decreased academic motivation and engagement in STEM fields
There are also more subtle harms. Trends on social media—highlighting girls who appear extremely organized, productive, fit, healthy, talented, etc., — can make certain ‘behaviours and actions’ look healthy, wholesome and achievable. However, it's hard on girls. It sets a standard or expectation that is often unhealthy, toxic and unrealistic. The goal of social media should be to enrich the lives of young people—not make them feel "less than."
Media Myths About Girls
Dr. Meenakshi Gigi Durham, author of The Lolita Effect, has identified five prevalent "media myths of girls' sexualization" that describe sexual representation that is objectifying, degrading, sexist, or otherwise harmful:
"If you've got it, flaunt it" – Girls signaling sexuality by exposing their bodies
"Anatomy of a sex goddess" – Admiration of an impossible body type
"Pretty babies" – The message that the younger a girl is, the sexier she is
"Violence is sexy" – Dangerous given the high rates of sexual and intimate partner violence
"What boys like matters more than what girls want and need"
These myths "lead to increased sexual activity in many cases, lower self-esteem, negative body image, sometimes very serious consequences, eating disorders, major depression, suicidal ideation," says Durham. "They seem innocuous, but they're not, and children and teens are exposed to millions of such images and messages every day."
Girls With Marginalized Identities Face Heightened Risks
Not all girls experience social media the same way. Research indicates that girls with marginalized identities are disproportionately at risk for online victimization. Youth of colour—especially Black girls—are more likely to experience identity-based violence on social media than their race and gender counterparts.
This can impact well-being in several ways:
Greater endorsement of unattainable feminine beauty and body ideals
Diminished self-esteem and increased body shame
Greater levels of depression, anxiety, and hostility
Diminished self-care behaviours and greater drug and alcohol use for coping
Internalization of disempowering and inauthentic romantic relationship beliefs
What Parents and Caregivers Can Do
The good news is that parents and caregivers can make a real difference. Here are evidence-informed strategies from researchers and clinicians:
Demonstrate manipulation. Talk to teenagers about how algorithms work. Tell them they are being played by social media outlets, that their attention is being manipulated for money. Teenagers do not like to be manipulated and they will change their behaviour when they understand they're being manipulated.
Start early with critical thinking. Introduce a critical approach when children are young. If you see an ad for sugary cereal, for example say, 'Hey, they're telling us this sugary cereal is part of a healthy breakfast. What do you think about that?'
Model a healthy relationship with technology and your own self-esteem. Don't talk about it. Be about it. Keep your technology out of your own bedroom. Refrain from talking about your own appearance and weight. Your child is watching and learning from what you do more than what you say.
Build self-esteem by valuing non-visual characteristics. We have to be very mindful as the adults in kids' environments, how we talk about a girl’s physical appearance. Every moment that we are talking about what a young girl looks like, we are not talking about who she is inside.
Keep screens out of bedrooms. Technology should not be in any bedrooms for anyone, if possible—if for no other reason than to protect sleep. When technology harms mental health, it often happens because it disrupts sleep.
Prioritize offscreen alternatives. It is not so much being 'against' technology—that just doesn't work—but being 'for' physical activity, face-to-face social interactions, and time helping in the family home and community.
Understand the power of girl friendships. Girls tend to have strong, supportive relationships with other girls, and are more invested in these relationships. This type of peer support is the strongest protection against cyberbullying—and the most effective way for girls to develop resilience.
Prioritize curious conversation over judgmental comments. Listen to your children, express your own feelings, but don't be judgmental by advocating for a curiosity-first approach: "What does it feel like for you when you're on this app and that app? What do you love? What do you hate?"
Why Representation Matters
These representations are not harmless entertainment. They shape how girls see themselves, what they believe is possible, and whether they feel worthy of care and support. When girls see themselves reflected only through narrow, sexualized, or stereotypical lenses, they internalize limiting beliefs about their value. When they see mental illness portrayed without hope or recovery, they may believe that struggle is permanent—or that asking for help is pointless.
But representation can also be a powerful tool for healing. When media shows diverse, complex, fully human girls and women—including those navigating mental health challenges with support—it sends a different message: you are not alone. Your struggles are real. And help is available.
That is why the work of representation matters. Not just for what girls see on screen, but for who they become in the world.
A Final Thought
Women's History Month is a time to celebrate how far we have come. But it is also a time to recommit to the work ahead.
Every girl deserves to see herself reflected in the world around her. Every girl deserves to know that her struggles are not shameful—and that help is available. Every girl deserves to believe that her voice matters, her dreams are possible, and her mental health is worth protecting.
At Lynwood Charlton Centre, we are committed to centring the voices of girls and young women in our work. We are committed to creating spaces where they feel seen, heard, and valued—exactly as they are.
Because when girls thrive, we all rise.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available 24/7:
Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 9-8-8
One Stop Talk: Connect directly with a mental health professional ( Monday to Friday from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.) through online video, and voice. Go to onestoptalk.ca or call 1-855-416-8255.
Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868 or text CONNECT to 686868
Lynwood Charlton Centre: Contact our Access and System Navigation team at 905-389-1361 for free, confidential mental health support for children, youth, and families in Hamilton
You are not alone.
RESOURCES
Institute of Digital Media and Child Development Girls, Health, and Digital Media
Geena Davis Institute Are the Kids All Right? Portrayals of Mental Health in TV Watched by Children and Teens
Canadian Mental Health Association Mental health in media and the power of positive portrayals
Converse.edu Miss Representation: The Media-Defined Values of Women and Girls
Psychology Today Why Representation Matters and Why It’s Still Not Enough
Onor Foundation Mental Health in Kid’s and Teen’s TV: Representation That Matters
