Carol Gilligan declares that "The silencing of the
female voice in
adolescence is enforced by the wish not to hurt others but also by the fear that in speaking her voice will not be heard." There are
certain stereotypical portrayals of women in mass media that make the sexism of our society transparently clear. It also disallows women to have their own sense of self. This
process inflicts extreme damage to the female voice in adolescence. In "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of
Adolescent Girl"s, Pipher sees America's culture as "girl-poisoning". She shows how a certain brand of femininity is imposed on adolescent
girls. This process, in her perspective, obliterates the confidence and self-knowledge that these young girls have amassed since their own childhood. In a tragic sense, their own peers act as enforcers.