The image of girls and girlhood that is being packaged and sold to young girls isn't pretty in pink. It is stereotypical, demeaning, limiting, and alarming. Girl power has been co-opted by marketers of music, fashion, books and television to mean the power to shop and attract boys. Girls are besieged by images in the media that encourage them to pursue accessories over academics; sex appeal over sports; fashion over friendship. These stereotypes are everywhere, from Disney movies to hip-hop lyrics, Nickelodeon cartoons to Seventeen magazine.
Little girls are portrayed as "perfect little angels," sometimes with a sassy twist; elementary school-age girls are boy-crazy "tweens," ready to buy into a version of mini-teendom that eclipses the wonderful years of childhood that truly belong to them; middle-school girls are cast as full-fledged teenagers, or at least teenage wannabes, eager to conform to that CosmoGIRL! lifestyle. And high-school girls? They're sold an image of sexually free model-diva-rock-star that younger girls are supposed to look up to.
This book has really highlighted all the important issues girls face with the media and the high expectations young teenagers think they are supposed to live up to. Not everyone is capable of being the head cheerleader whose decked out in glitter eye make up and skin bearing tops. I was definitely never this type of girl. I do admit, when I was younger, I did feel insecure about not being thin, pretty, and popular. This need to grab the spotlight and transform into a diva whose obsessed with the superficial things in life, only makes young teens stereotypical girl consumers. Both authors give good advice to parents who want their daughters to be surrounded by strong female characters and role models, and a concise demonstration on how girls are effected by the media surrounding them. I didn't realize until now, how influenced my choices and consumptions were by magazines, movies, television, and books. I hope in the near future more female roles will be less diva and more determined to break free from those stereotypes presented within the marketers' schemes.
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