Wow depressing and yet very informative. I so skipped chapter 8 and started in on chapter 9. So I was scratching my head a bit about teenager development. I swore there should have been more in this book! But low and behold (after checking the syllabus like 3 times) there was mystery chapter 8! I found this one a bit depressing but a lot of it rings so true to any teenager or earlier in one's life.
Everyone went though the sex education class around the 5th grade (well I did) so some of this was a review on what changes happen. I found the part about a teenager starting her first period and how they throw a party down in the southwest very different. I am curious if that is because more Latinos reside in that area thus bring their customs and norms with them to celebrate this or if it's tied to a different culture. As for the rest it's the basic stuff we have heard over and over again. Yes we know that the United States is a FAT nation! We have some of the worst obesity rates in the world. But at the same time we have teenagers, I have to say mostly girls but there are more and more boys subjecting themselves to it as well, with eating disorders. It saddens me how our culture in America is so obsessed with how thin a person must be in order to be accepted! Teenagers are constantly bombarded with ads, subliminal messages, and more about how in order to be accepted first you must weight under 100 lbs. Look at the Vitoria Secret models, they are mostly skin and bones! The ads in the magazines that teenage girls read, Cosmo as an example, has models in there that are pencil thin (many of us know that these models are airbrushed to make them look perfect in every way but most teenagers don't think about that). Girls want that unattainable body and some go to extreme lengths to get it with eating disorders. This hit the biggest nerve with me because as a teenager I was never accepted by my mother because I was always over weight. I was never skinny enough for her and she constantly reminded me of it. I wish the media would change and America as well with their dangerous obsession with thinness and start accepting girls for being a bit overweight and let many more know that that model body is just fake and most of the time unobtainable.
I know it would be impossible, but it would be interesting if there was a study on a group of people in our culture that were not subjected to the media and advertising. I know that in some other cultures heavier, voluptuous women are more revered than skinny ones. I wonder if these are the same cultures that do not have TVs and advertisements in their face all the time. I liked reading about the culture that does the celebration when a teenager has her first period. I like that they look at it as a rite of passage to be honored and celebrated, rather than something to feel uncomfortable or embarrassed about
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good response this week, and really lets in on what you felt about this chapter good job! It can totally be crazy what we see as far as the media now espically aimed toward the youth and teenagers. It is a pretty sad the materail we went over this week, but i did find it intresting and informational. I agree and hope for everyones sake that the media does change soon and I think it would be great for America.
ReplyDeleteBrandi
ReplyDeleteIts funny how every one has the same opinion on teenagers, but when we are that age we are so ignarent to believe that its true. Now looking back at my teenage years i only hope and pray that my daughter will not do things that i did as a teenager. What i find pretty sad is that some teens find out more about sex from their friends and tv shows than from their parents. I think this is crazy, I know when my daughter gets to that age Im going to let her know about the " birds and the bees". I wish my mother would have talked to me about this but i learned from my friends mostly. I feel like there should be more programs out there on teen education on sex.
thanks