Lots of people think about the carefreeness of childhood. I remember puberty very well. I felt angry and betrayed by the obvious emergence of sexual differences. I don’t think I’m alone in that. However, wishing to go back to a pre-pubescent state is a maladjusted coping mechanism.
I feel sorry for Page in that Page didn’t get the necessary support or tools to cope with that. Add sexual abuse to that and it’s very sad. I think in some ways childhood stars can struggle with growing up because they’ve been separated from their peers and thrust into the limelight. Children and teens need a chance to deal with their emotions as they mature.
I also feel sorry for Page growing up with what appear to be such traditional ideas about sex and gender. She mentions feeling forced to wear feminine clothes, but surely half of this was/is in her head - the expectation, the self-torturing. Women have worn suits and tuxs to celeb events before. She could have stood up for herself and made her own style. I feel that the influence of messages she got growing up affected her almost as much as the abuse - the feelings of obligation, of failing (to be feminine, straight). When those are internalised, the person doesn’t stand up for themselves because they don’t think they’re worth it.
But, having said all that, I despise the message Page is sending to young girls that they can’t be tomboys, that if they suffer unwanted sexual attention from men the answer is to mutilate their bodies rather than put the onus on the men to change and society to improve. It communicates that women must give up, that the fault is inherent in them.
As said above, the fact that girls nowadays don’t know you can be female and wear and do what you want is utterly depressing and so regressive.