Personally, I'm a little unsure myself. With the constant bombardment of anorexic-looking models by television reality series, it is a bit alarming to see the type of woman that society portrays as beautiful. From tan-obsessed and big hair Snooki on Jersey Shore to sultry Megan Fox on the cover of Cosmo, many women are getting mixed signals. I'm all for working out and being healthy, but sometimes images in today's media portray an extreme picture of the ideal. Sometimes being fit and looking good can be a bit unhealthy.
I honestly don't know and am not planning on forecasting what body type will be "in style" for the next couple of years. However, I can say that the media has such a tremendous affect on teen pop culture, especially young women who are easily influenced by these images of beauty and style.
It was just last night after dinner that this idea began to repeat itself in my brain. Last night, my sorority sisters and I decided to go to the Old Spaghetti Factory for dinner, and as we were waiting for a table, a bunch of high school sophomore/junior girls were leaving for their Winter Dance (Formal/tolo?). Eyeing how adorable their dresses were, I began to notice how incredibly skinny these ladies were, and their makeup... They did not look like sophomores or juniors. No one at my high school looked like this. These girls could have passed for 21. I was shocked when one of my sisters pointed out that the gorgeous girl I was looking at went to Edmonds-Woodway with her and was only fifteen.
This encounter made me evaluate the effects of mass media images and how MTV, fashion magazines, etc. have such a great impact on this generation.
Girls at the mall, who are only eleven or twelve, carrying cell phones and wearing Juicy tracksuits? When did this happen? Designer brands were not the fad when I was this age. Actually, I had never even heard of Juicy until my sophomore year of high school.
What is causing such a drastic makeover on today's teens? Why now, and why the rush to be older? There's so much hype... but really, there isn't much of a difference.. just a heavier weight of responsibility is tossed on the shoulders.
Dove's Campaign for Real Beauty produced a video called Evolution that addressed these issues. At the end of the clip, Dove poses the statement "No wonder our perception beauty is distorted." Powerful and true, teens need to realize that the Hollywood image of beauty is usually unattainable.
Besides the "distorted image" topic, many teenagers, both male and female, face body image issues due to these social pressures of conformity and beauty. According to South Carolina's Department of Mental Health, 8 million Americans suffer from eating disorders (seven million women and one million men). As well, eating disorders have the highest mortality rate of any mental illness. Why are girls viewing this as pretty? Explain to me how this makes a person beautiful. Honestly, I don't understand it, and living in a sorority of 100+ girls, I witness these issues on the daily. Even in high school, my best friend had problems with this issue, and today, she is still struggling.
So rich so pretty, Mickey Avalon? Tell me...is it really worth it? Is it worth your own mental sanity or even your life? Does every girl really want to be:
"[that] girl who eats and brings it up
a sassy little frassy with bulimia
her best friend's a plastic surgeon..."
My answer:
Why fix what isn't broken? Just simply enjoy life. Live it up. Act your shoe size, and stop being a poser. By the time you hit 30, you'll wish your birthday's could count backwards.
Love you, Mickey, and all your songs, but right now I don't want to be "you're midnight snack... [I'll pass on being] so rich so pretty, the best piece of ass in this whole damn city."
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