rough draft

Dear 13 year old girl,

Popular culture is out to get you. The messages from advertisements and pop music have a direct and indirect effect on the choices girls make. Girls are being bombarded with images of skinny, computer edited, so called sexy models that are impossible to look like. In order to survive the assault of the media, one must learn how to see through and interpret what the media is selling. If girls can distinguish between the positive and negative aspects of popular culture; the desire to be skinny, provocative, and seductive or the desire to be creative, powerful, and ambitious, girls can use their female traits to their advantage. 

From personal experience, the teenage years are all about fitting in. Any chance available to try something new (like wearing hip new clothes or listening to the new singer sensation) will automatically unite kids together by the common interests they share. Once teenagers find where they fit in, they often stay with the same group of kids through out high school. It is in these years where teen girls are most vulnerable to media and popular culture because the propensity to emulate trends is so strong.

In these teenage years, media can have a harmful effect on girls outlook of self image. Mainly because they see their movie idols, music ideals and almost all women in advertising having a specific body type. As stated in the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, “In the United States, as many as 10 in 100 young women suffer from an eating disorder.”http://aacap.org/page.ww?name=Teenagers+with+Eating+Disorders&section=Facts+for+Families

As a result, the pressures from media lead young girls to make body altering changes to look more like the what they see as acceptable. The ability to scrutinize and be skeptical of what popular culture is emitting in the form of selfhood is a hard idea to grasp. However, research shows that the brains of teens are continuing to mature and that decision making and reasoning are not fully developed. http://www.aacap.org/cs/root/facts_for_families/the_teen_brain_behavior_problem_solving_and_decision_making This demonstrates that some teenagers lack the ability to restrain their fantasies of looking like their heros. This leads to the question of whether their role models are to blame for their self consciousness.   

For example, Britney Spears was a popular singer when I was a young teenager who was infamous for wearing small shirts and short skirts. A question was asked to a group of young girls about if they thought Britney Spears was a good role model and Nicole, age 10, said “Yes and no. She's a good singer and a good dancer, and I'm pretty sure she's a good person, too. On the other hand, she should realize that there are a lot of young girls who want to copy her by wearing what she wears. I have even seen five- and six-year-olds wearing short skirts and clothes that are really tight with their bellies hanging out. I also think you shouldn't be judged on what you wear, but the reality is that people do judge you on that. So maybe Britney shouldn't dress in such sexy outfits.” http://discoverygirls.com/speak-out/discussions/do-you-think-britney-spears-good-role-model

Nicole understands that girls want to be like their idols even if that means crossing inappropriate  barriers. Nicole also said that Britney Spears shouldn’t dress in sexy outfits which hinders the whole act Britney plays for. It is the parents of teens who should guide their children and give them skills of good decision making. For many girls who fall victim of buying into the fads of popular culture, their outcome of self identity is often distorted.   The truth of the matter is that your sense of self  is your greatest asset. The constant barrage of images on tv and print can diminish self image unknowingly. 

In hindsight, there is a positive aspect of the way women use their sexual appeal. In a Pepsi commercial, Britney Spears, Beyonce, and Pink use their sexuality to show their powerfulness and strength. They are depicted as gladiators at the Roman Colosseum, wearing metal bras and short metal skirts. One of the gladiators see's the king drink the Pepsi through the cage she is being held in. A sudden realization of inequality overcomes her when the king starts to drink the Pepsi.  As the gladiators come out to the arena, they throw their weapons down and use their talents of singing to entertain the crowd. The king feels powerless because the women are not doing what he wants them to do which is fight. This demonstrates the switch of power from the man to the women which is not often the case in cultural context. It shows that women can be powerful by being sexy and still maintain a positive image. It is very liberating to use seductive power but young women are getting the wrong idea because they will try to emulate the looks and acts of their idols when the times are not appropriate.  It doesn't do any good to judge or censor sexual power but when is it appropriate to draw the line?

In addition to the powerful effect media has on young teens self image, advertising also plays a crucial role on women’s behaviors. 

Not only do women and girls have to guard against negative imagery, many of the advertisements give suddle and not so suddle messages of how girls or supposed to act. A photo in an essay by kilbourne called "Two ways a women can get hurt," a woman is getting caressed by a man with one big word on top of the photo, "No"(579). It is hard to tell if the woman is laughing or screaming which betrays the woman as powerless and passive(Kilbourne). Another advertisement in Kilbourne's essay is one of a young women advertising perfume. The bottom of the ad states, "Fetish number$ 16: Apply generously to your neck so he can smell the sent as you shake your head 'no'"(581). Both girls and women are receiving messages from advertisements that justify the act of submission against male dominance. The ad makes it okay for men to take advantage of women even if the women are saying "no". Women are being taught to act a certain way that inhibits their ability to stand up for themselves against unacceptable behavior. Specifically, young women who are still maturing and figuring their lives out are being taught through advertising that it is acceptable to be passive and seductive.