The Life and Times of an American Tween
May 8, 2026 at 12:11AMWhat’s it like to be a 12-year-old girl in America today? For The New Yorker, Anna Wiener profiles Mira, a young girl from San Francisco, California. Wiener’s portrait is a refreshing look at what it means to be a young woman on the cusp of adulthood. Having fashion sense, a quiet confidence, and a tight posse who’s ready to slay on your behalf certainly helps.
At four feet eight, she is small for her age, but manages to occupy space laterally. She moves with a noodle elasticity, and is prone to breaking into dance moves while going about her business: a full-body wave from wrist to wrist, an entire sequence from a Katseye music video. The first time we met, we were mid-conversation when she inexplicably dropped into a side split, grabbed her ankles, and rolled backward, placing her toes on the floor behind her head. “At the beginning of the year, I couldn’t do an aerial”—a hands-free cartwheel—“and I can kind of do one now,” she told me, harrowingly assuming the starting position.
from Longreads https://longreads.com/2026/05/07/tweendom-the-new-yorker/
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