Teens Talk Back

Before i even start my blog i have to say how perfect it is that i just happen to catch a scene from boy meets world and cory is concerned about his appearance as he is going through an awkward teenage stage i suppose. Topanga starts to comfort him and tell him that appearance does not matter and he is still the same awesome person and all that good stuff...then she happens to pass a mirror and notices that one side of her hair has been cut and is shorter than the other side. She screams in horror. After panicking briefly she says that all of this time she thought she was someone who did not care about her image at all but really she was just comfortable with her image this entire time so it just did not bother her. She finally goes on to realize that her hair does not make her and with or without her long hair she is the same person. This showed me just how much the media really does affect teens and how they feel about their image. It reminds me about being in middle school and high school and how i was obsessed with having the latest trends and all of the "must have" products out there for young girls to make them popular and enhance their image. Even now i am a little tempted when i see a commercial or ad for a product that seems "life changing". Some teens take living up to these expectations too seriously and devote so much time and energy into their image so others will like them or approve of them. For some these expectations may even lead to serious disorders, self mutilation, drugs, or even suicide.  i was never one of the "popular" girls, what ever that really means, and not that i really wanted to be but you could not help but look at them and wish you could know what its like to be them for a day. At a young age anyways, i feel most girls wish for things that they don't have or wish they looked a little more like someone else. it is part of being a girl and being so extremely influenced by magazines and commercials and all sorts of ads...some girls just never really get out of this phase or take it to an unhealthy extreme. I really liked the video that jenna posted on her blog, it showed young girls aware of the negative and unrealistic influence of the media and they were fighting back to not be apart of it and to just be themselves and to make others aware of this problem. After watching the video i noticed a website for an organization pop up called projectgirl.org and it aims at enabling girls to become better informed critical consumers of mass media, advertising and entertainment...it is teaching them to become media literate. There is a really awesome video on the website under the tab labeled "meet the girl" and other really cool stuff in there that i think some of you may really enjoy. It is not only girls that are influenced but boys too, through music and music videos and even from ads on tv or actors they see on tv. Here are a couple other cool video i found just talking about media and how is it shaping our society. I think that it is crucial to teach our children how to love themselves and take a stand, as a group effort, to fight against the media. change only happens when you get a group together. More organizations like project girl could benefit teens greatly and also have just as many that benefit boys too. what are every one else's thoughts and opinions?