SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE SAY WHAT!

     So I just got the news and there are tears in my eyes: 17 Magazine has vowed not to alter images! Isn't this spectacular! They're taking a huge step towards being a decent magazine!
I remember when Aerie did this, and it was so amazing. There were just girls modeling the underwear with tattoos and muffin tops and acne and it was just like, "Whoa. It's, like, a real human." And 17 Magazine is major. I feel like this movement is going to start hitting the world big time. Who knows, maybe Victoria Secret will do something like this.
     Shh... do you hear that? It's the sound of the next generation who will see less photoshopped unhealthy models cheering. TOGETHER WE SHALL ALL CHEER! GO SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE!
Everyone is just going to feel so much better about their bodies and other people's bodies. Because that's a big thing, not only are you expecting yourself to look like those images, but you expect others to look like the images and then they're self conscious because they think you're thinking that about them and they're already thinking it about themselves and then you're self conscious because you're thinking the exact same thing and your whole idea of the human body is distorted and you don't know where to look without feeling sad or judgmental.
    Wow. That's a lot of thinking we do on a subject that shouldn't be so complicated. You either look one way or you don't. Like, you can't just be like, "Oh, you don't like my nose. Here, let me just adjust it." (And the worst part is the next line would be, "Do you like me now?" But that's not a sound way to start a friendship. Trust me.)
     We aren't made out of clay, we're made out of human material, which is set. And photoshop has created this world where that is possible, but only in the images they present and only to a select few people. And that world has spread into the minds of those who see it, so to us it's become normal. We think they're real bodies and faces, when they are normal, just fixed to be perfect. And therefore, taking away these images and presenting a fantastic REAL picture is great! It's going to change the world, I swear.
Now, to you, 17 Magazine, I say, let's get started on that content. PLEAAASSEE NO MORE STORIES/ARTICLES OF GIRLS ONLY FOCUSED ON BOYS AND CLOTHES!! Please. Let's expand our horizons and let girls now they are not trapped in the closet a man made them. Let's allow them to understand that they can do anything and everything. And they can build it themselves, because they're awesome and their lives shouldn't be controlled by a man. Okay? Okay.

"You do you, and I'll do me"

     This is kind of the quote of every Graphic Design project I did, because my friend sitting next to me would be doing something so much more different than me, so to keep our freaking out levels down, we kept to this motto. It's practically the new "hakuna matata." But it came to us through a mutally loved YouTuber Tyler Oakley, and he would say this in reference to life situations, which is how it should be applied.
     I've probably promised time and time again that I'm not blogging to judge, I'm here to help you do you. The articles we analysed all seemed to be telling girls one thing: That cute boy has control over you. You, as a girl have one job: get that boy to like you. DON'T do anything that might make you unattractive for you. It's not that the magazine says, "DON'T YOU BECOME A MATHELETE" it just never says, "If you wanna be a mathelete, go be a mathelete!" it says things like, "Do you have a cute make-up caboodle? No? Oh, well Marcy has one and SHE has a boyfriend. Coincidence, I THINK NOT." Not in those words, exactly.
      (It's a good thing we don't live in Harry Potter's world or else the magazine might roll itself up and swat your hand whenever you try to do something deemed "unattractive." Like, you open up a book titled "He's a stud she's a slut," *SWAT!* then it'd say, "No, you're going to look like an angry annoying feminist. And trust me Derek is not about that life. Here, paint your finger nails. He loves pink finger nails." Does he magazine? Does he really care? He probably can't get past her beautiful smile to notice what she's reading, so don't swat her hand away!)
      Anyways, girls can feel this pressure, like a magazine swatting their hands away from a good read, to do the things they think will impress a boy. And the things kids read teach them that if they either fall under one stereotype or the other, there is no in between, and only a few result in acceptance. So, if Marcy with her caboodle and skinny body gets the boy and all the friends, then if I get a caboodle and a skinny body I'll get the boy and all the friends that I've wanted!
LOL no. That's no fun! That's a really sucky life to live. Becoming something just to obtain something that might be cool.
     This is where my philosophy comes in: You do you, I'll do me.

     What I’m getting at is do what you love as long as you love it. I know it’s been said time and time again, and you think it’s stupid by now, but that’s because you obviously haven’t found what you love yet. Trust me, it takes time to find that one thing you LOVE and want to be devoted to for the rest of your life, or just for a really long time. That's not a sucky life to live, that's a rockin' life to live! 

     Don’t let the stereotypes hold you back. Disney Channel and 17 magazine might say only pretty, not-so-smart girls get friends popularity and out of trouble, but that’s not true. Now, the polar opposite doesn't have these qualities automatically either. Anyone can do anything.

     I’m not judging, that’s not my reason for doing this, it’s to let girls know being a girl doesn't mean existence only has to do with the things in this magazine. To put it in the words of a beloved writer, Allie Brosh, You can do ALL THE THINGS!

You like fashion—awesome. Read up, draw, go shopping.

You like science—awesome. Read up, study and don’t think your talents make you ugly.

You like ice skating—awesome. Practice, glide and fly.

You like rugby—awesome. Practice, stay strong and play your heart out. 

     Being yourself, and going beyond what you think is normal and acceptable is the way to find great things and great people! Have strength to do it, too. I know it's hard.

There's this girl in my class who I admire so much. She is super unique and doesn't give a poop about what anyone thinks of her, she likes it, so she does it. And every time I see her with a wig on, or outrageous make-up I always give her props because A) she probably had to wake up early to do that, and B) SHE HAS SO MUCH CONFIDENCE AND BRAVERY! I want to be just like her, I don't want to be her, I want to be able to do things like say the things I want to say and say them loud enough for people to hear. (Hey, I'm kind of doing that right now! woooooooowwwwww!) And, I want to be fearless when I go out in public in the clothes I like or doing what I like to do, like cheer loudly at a football game. 

     This girl inspires me to do these kinds of things, which is awesome! I highly suggest finding that person, they can be a close friend or a near stranger, like this girl I keep talking about. Now you're probably going to stop reading because I'm some creeper who watches people from a distance and then talks about them on the internet. Well you know what, maybe she's just like a celebrity! They can be great inspirations. Like Lady Gaga, because she is 100% okay with herself and being open about being herself. 

     So go out and find that inspiration and take baby steps towards being you! Don't listen to the voices that say your way is wrong. Your way could totally be right! Then life will be a PAR-TAY! 

                  

Why I'm Here

     So, I didn't start this blog the day after my class explored the feministic hell of "17 Magazine." I thought about it a lot, because I wanted it to be special and helpful. There were things to be considered, like where I wanted to blog, what i wanted each post to be like, what the content would be, and so forth. So, my friend and I were talking and getting angry over a analysis of the messages the mass media was sending to girls, and we were just fuming over it. But I realized that being angry wasn't getting us anywhere. We could talk each other's ears off in class and scream in rage at home, but the world will stay the same. I wanted to take action! I knew what I wanted my blog to be about: Telling girls that they can live a life that isn't the norm in these magazines, and also, reach out to boys to know that girl's standards aren't the models and their lives are going to be greater than becoming their wives.
     But I still didn't even create a blog.
     Then, one day, in study, i was reading over my notes for my women's issues test, and i came across those articles and analysis that got me so fired up, and i was still angry at them. Then a thought popped in my head: What if i started this blog and someone commented saying, "If you don't like the magazine then why talk about it? A lot of people like it, and you're just being an annoying little brat getting angry at it. So, just let it be. You can ignore it if you want." And to that I say: No! I CAN'T IGNORE IT! AND THAT'S NOT WHY I'M HERE.
     I'm not going to rant about how bad the mass media is, I'm not going to denounce people who want to pursue fashion or love to know everything about their favorite celebrity, I'm not here to shove facts down people's throats about how great women are, I'm not here to try and create a perfect reality, I'm here for many other things.

     I’m here to say that a girl’s life is not the twisted fairytale reality of 17 Magazine where all that goes on in a girl’s mind is boys, make-up, clothes and being skinny. It’s about so much more! Girls are so smart—it’s true, we’re geniuses!—and so complex. And I’m here for the boys too. You gotta learn too. Girls are your equal, mostly because they’re human, just like you. So don’t get stuck in the “housewife” mindset. And I understand that you may feel like you have to be the hulk star quarter back with rock hard abs and rocking hair, and I’ll address that issue too.

      I’m not judging, anyone here. I’m not judging people who like the magazine for the fashion tips and to keep up with celebrities and find exercises to do, as long as it’s in a healthy sense and they don’t see this as the only life they can live as females.

     I’m here for to teach people about the potential life holds for them beyond the distorted picture the mass media is trying to promote. Because I want the world to be great, and it can be if we allow every person’s potential to be fulfilled!

     A great quote is “Don’t tell your daughter she can be anything. Because she should already know it.” So, my goal is to make this a reality for girls. I know I won’t write a post and then BAM every girl goes out and does what she loves and becomes the person she’d love to be and every boy acknowledges their greatness without looking like a photo shopped model, and suddenly the government is half men and half women (or maybe like 51% women so that truly match up with the percentage in the world). So I’m going to state my mission in the Emily Dickinson poem “If I can stop”

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease on life the aching, or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

      And I didn't just copy and past that here, it’s tapped around the edges of my laptop screen to remind me what I’m going to do. And now I’m going to promise to read anything that is e-mailed to me, and respond/address any pressing topics. And notice I keep saying “people” and “persons” rather than just one or the other sexes. Because I’m here for both, I have this philosophy that if you feel something than it’s real, simply because you are feeling it. I don’t care if you feel this deepset depression because your favorite character on TV was killed off, I won’t stop listening to you or comforting you until you feel better. So I’m here for all the humans, because I’m what I like to call an “equalist” due to my belief that humans are humans no matter the emotions or actions.

     So, there. That’s why I’m here and hopefully I can help at least one person!

      Now for something that will help anyone when needed:

 

(And if this doesn't work, I suggest trying to BE the t-rex making the bed.)

How I got here

     I've considered myself a feminist for the past couple of years. It probably started when I began school at an all girls high school, this was a great place for feminism to be loud and proud. Then, over the years discussion between friends and sometimes as topics in class about equality came up. Some girls would sit back calmly, or ignore what was being said, but it always had me on the edge of my seat and my mind thinking of solutions to these problems (which shouldn't be problems), and eventually I began igniting these types of conversations. So, my senior year I decided to take a class called "Women's Issues."
     Now, the first unit was about women in the media, and let me tell you, this was not a new topic to me. I'd watched the video in my Catholic Morals class "Killing Us Softly," and when I had no homework in study my friend and I would flip through a magazine and see which ad could make us angriest due to it's sexualization of women. However, in this class we didn't just discuss ads (though they were mentioned a lot) we also talked about the content in a magazine called "17 Magazine." Oh, honey, that's when things got real for me.
I reacted to it the way I react to a lot of things: through sarcasm.
     It was a small class and towards the end I realized i was the only one talking, and I was saying things like, "POOR GIRL! Listen to her sad, sad life: Her friends are out doing stuff without her, that cute boy from world history won't text her back, and-- oh this is the worst-- SHE DOESN'T LIKE ANY OF HER WINTER CLOTHES! What is she going to do!?" My teacher commented on a couple of things I said and friends laughed or commented sarcastically along with me. So on the way out I just made this casual comment: "What if I started a blog where I made sarcastic comments about 17 magazine?"
     Well, I did this thing where I started a blog.
     This isn't going to be only sarcastic comments on 17 magazine (though that black hole that's trying to suck our young women down into will be a focus here). I have, like, real goals for this blog.
     So let's get started!