When I see Greta Thunberg, I see the fierce and determined young advocate I aspired to be a mere three years ago. While I’ve quietly sunk into my little corner at The Stute, contemplating ideologies and complaining about a lack of wastepaper baskets next to the toilets in my academic buildings, Thunberg has made strides in holding world leaders and shady industries accountable for their destruction of the environment. Thunberg stands by the factual evidence she presents to world leaders — humanity’s wasteful tendencies as well as the powerful fossil fuel industry are both destroying the planet at a rate that is going to usher in the next mass extinction, while young people our age are going to be left to deal with the catastrophic consequences. While I’m no famous feminist theorist, apart from the occasional Facebook like on an article here and there, I can’t help but quietly adore the youthful resilience and passionate anger I see in her. As Thunberg takes the news by storm while taking criticism in stride, I’ve come to reflect on the culmination of my views and actions this far in my life.
As a former “she’s so mature for her age” kid, I can reflect on that and say that, honestly, I really wasn’t. While I took it as the highest compliment, I realized that I was holding myself to a standard I didn’t fully understand yet. Sometimes as a young woman, being “mature” at a young age means to adults that you know when to say the right thing at the right time to get the right response. So when I see both Greta’s supporters and critics questioning her “maturity,” I’ve realized it’s all relative. Greta doesn’t have to be mature to objectively see and state facts about the decay of the environment, or even speak in front of world leaders so boldly and daringly. And on the opposite side, Greta isn’t an immature child with no sense of reality when she makes harsh criticisms of adults in power. Greta’s capacity to advocate for social change doesn’t have to come with “maturity” because it is a constantly changing state of being as one ages.
Greta has many traits that make her a talented public speaker and a dynamic public figure. She is a fearless, lively, and has just the right amount of teenage sarcasm. But she doesn’t necessarily have to be mature to be accepted as a public figure. Especially in a society that emphasizes how girls “mature faster” and upholds the standard that women must hold their feelings and boundaries back to make others feel comfortable before themselves, I admire how Greta stands her ground and speaks her truth regardless of the world’s opinions about her. Maturity will come with time, and as a 16-year-old girl, Greta should be able to retain her innocence at that age while still being able to stand up for what she feels is right.
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