From a letter written by a young girl in 3rd Period....
To the Media,
Why do you steal away my identity? Isn't it hard enough for me to figure out who I am without all of your messages? You say: You are fat, you need to be skinnier. You aren't pretty enough. You need to get a facial and wear make-up all the time to be pretty. You are ugly. You're not important because you aren't famous. You're only ONE person' you can't do or change anything. You need to be rich and buy a lot of new stuff to matter. You're only a girl, you can't do anything. You're too fragile and weak to do anything; you're just a dumb blonde. You're too smart. You're too dumb. You don't matter.
I want to know who I am, what my special talents are. I want to know what I can do to help others. I want to know more about myself, even random things. I want to know if I really like to be funny, or if I just do it to fit in. I want to know everything I can about myself. Why does everything, especially the media, make it so hard to do that.
Who am I?
So, what do YOU want to know about YOURSELF?
9 comments:
Did you just raid my middle school diary?
:P
In seriousness, that's a wonderful letter. I totally feel her, you know? Thanks for sharing it.
I think that every ten years I morph to someone new... And there is really something about turning 40... the "I don't really give a flying lizard" attitude.
Your students write beautifully... one talent, that without a doubt, I stood behind the door on when it was handed out!
Those are powerful words for a young mind. I enjoy reading stuff like this.
PS Why can't we ever get together?
Dear girl in 3rd period.
Those are phony measuring sticks.
Brand managers and MBAs making use of handy resources to sell merchandise. The work of human hands.
Society offers templates for easy living. Only, to squeeze our spirits into mortal contrivances wounds the soul.
I'm trying to be pithy in my response. What I really want to say is basically that almost all communication through TV and the internet is a sales pitch of some kind... far removed from reality. We ought to seek reality with all our hearts. However, doesn't the 1st amendment say something about separation of church and humanity?
I see she has identified the challenge of a lifetime: Who am I?
Has there always been media or societal pressures that try to push us into certain frames? Is this the oldest dilemma in the world? Once we are aware that how we see ourselves and how others see us is not different, the maturation begins. It's not the time period, it's your period (in a manner of speaking).
Now if we could ONLY get girls, starting in about 3rd or 4th grade, to have the confidence to realize that what the media is pushing on them is all an ILLUSION.....
And may I also add (since we're addressing the media 'at large', that I'm FED UP with their complete and utter lack of responsibility in reporting the news. Yellow journalism is BACK. "If it bleeds it leads" seems to be the motto for how news is done in our country, and I HATE it.
I'm boycotting Brian Williams, and his Chicken Little cronies. I'm done with their brand of 'journalism' (and I use that term VERY loosely.....)
Incredible. It's just as I suspected - the media is STILL feeding this BS to our young girls.
Too bad that most female characters portrayed in the media have to be so shallow and one-dimensional. No wonder girls have trouble deciphering who they are. I still feel the reverberations of this, even now, as an adult woman.
Who am I? What is my role, as a woman in modern society? How do I fit in in the world?
I'm not entirely sure what the answers are.
This letter brings up an interesting topic. Often I look at failures in marriage as well as why dating sucks so much. It is because people are always trying to be what they think other people want them to be. I have dated girls that it took months for me to find out who they really are because they were too busy acting out who they thought I wanted to be dating. I'm sure I am guilty of doing the same thing to them but it is very sad that people think they need to fit into a cookie cutter to be successful in work or love or whatever they do.
Experiment with life and find out what you love. Talk to all sorts of old people that have hit the I don't give a flying lizard attitude to see what they love. And read a lot of poetry. Carpe Diem!
I like rambling on these posts. It is fun.
I just put up a video about fitting in... it was from the movie, Fame. The song was a favorite because it gave me permission to question if I fit in, to be afraid of being alone, but to still know that I am strong. I'm so glad I heard that message over all the other messages. Who knows how much more screwed up I'd be had I not heard it. ;)
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