The first commercial that comes on shows a young girl representing a “legal 18-year-old” phone sex line. The second commercial is a generic phone sex line with a video displaying a few girls in candid conversations via telephone. The third commercial is a typical workout video. The fourth commercial features a girl wearing a “naughty schoolgirl get-up” playing host to yet another phone sex line.

What does this say about females? Are we merely sex symbols?

Undoubtedly, these commercials give girls a sense of uncertainty about the role they play in a man’s eye, especially during their younger years. Women already have nagging self-esteem issues, constantly trying to live up to the image of them portrayed by society.

But then you see a lot of women grabbing Cosmopolitan magazines — which contain the latest fashion trends, girl problems and sexy bedroom tips. Men probably see women reading Cosmopolitan as a common occurrence and this sends the wrong message about women wanting to focus on bedroom fun and the latest fashion trends — instead of their inner beauty.

Now observe the bookstores. You have your romantic novels written by Nicholas Sparks and you have your sex-oriented books such as the “Fifty Shades” trilogy, which is drawing more attention these days. This series focuses on a contractual agreement between a male and a female solely based on sex.

What attracts women to it?

And what is a man’s first thought when he sees a woman engulfed in the pages? “Wow, that girl is reading. She must be really intelligent. That’s cool.”

Probably not. The majority of guys know this is a sex-based novel.

Girls are hosts to an insane amount of societal pressure. They constantly are judged about whether they are dressed nicely, use proper feminine etiquette, attend the right events, wear the latest fashions, keep up with trends, have a “beach body” and look like a model.

Sorry boys, but that’s an impossible list of requirements for any female to attain, and an unfair one at that.

And even though females recognize this, they still try extremely hard to get attention from males because they have come to believe this purely is what a man desires — yet they remain upset when they are judged after not meeting a man’s expectations time and time again.

Not only are women criticized by men, but they are criticized even stronger by their own sex.

Think “Mean Girls.” This movie has provided great comic relief among all ages and genders, but there’s a deeper message in this movie — one that involves a girl’s outer appearance.

In one particular scene, the infamous character Gretchen Wieners says to the protagonist Cady Heron in reference to Regina George: “Maybe she feels weird around me because I’m the only one that knows about her nose job. Oh my God, pretend you didn’t hear that!”

To top it off, despite the hate talk shown in the movie between the girls in the group of “Plastics,” every girl tried her hardest to look better than the others. It’s a sad competition that actually goes on every day in girl world. Girls are their own worst enemy.

So, girls will watch this film, laugh and say they’d never be so naive as to follow in the footsteps of the “Plastics.”

Think again.

Every single Halloween it’s the same thing. This particular weekend, girls can dress even more provocatively without controversy because “everybody is doing it.”

We’ve made it socially acceptable, and many girls see this as a prime opportunity to flaunt what they’ve got.

This doesn’t seem right. Girls always seem upset and hurt about their representation in the media and day-to-day life. Yet they constantly try to conform to the image of societal beauty.

Girls don’t like to be seen as sex symbols, yet they still see no harm in dressing provocatively on Halloween or any other party night.

Women want to be viewed as intelligent creatures, yet most women currently are focused on the newest sex novels and sex-based articles.

Every woman differs in her reasoning for why she does what she does.

But no matter the reasoning, women need to respect themselves and one another, focusing on inner beauty before they can earn the same respect they so desire from the male population.

RuAnne Walworth is a staff writer at The State News and a journalism junior. Reach her at walwor12@msu.edu.