Made in China | Teen Ink

Made in China

February 24, 2012
By hannaenchiladas PLATINUM, Hudsonville, Michigan
hannaenchiladas PLATINUM, Hudsonville, Michigan
37 articles 8 photos 2 comments

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder; it can be perceived differently among people.  Men can define beauty as the attractive features a women is blessed with.  Women may say beauty is a good personality.  The real definition is unknown, no one can determine what makes some one or something beautiful.  People wanted an answer though, not every one can be called beautiful.  One must achieve beauty, one can’t be entitled to it.  Emerging from the shadows, society came and gave the people an answer; whatever society thinks is beautiful, everyone else must think the same.  Individuals conformed to society and became a beautiful puppet.  Society must change it’s perception of beauty to keep our nation from going downhill.
Through the media, society gives examples on what beauty should look like. Girls thrive to achieve a thin frame and be as tan as the girls from Jersey Shore.  Artists teach their fans to be unique and confident.  Lady Gaga, for example, is a very eccentric singer and role model. Her mesmerizing wardrobe told girls to welcome individuality. The new face of society became as extreme as Lady Gaga. Just as rebellious and reckless, as independent and opinionated as the newly rising pop star. Now, it wasn’t just Lady Gaga that influenced the avatar of society, it was the growth of celebrities popularity. Katy Perry and Rihanna soon conformed to Lady Gaga’s style, which made girls even more interested. The emphasis was being placed on what young teenage girls should look like and not who they should become as a person. This new step into pop culture twisted society. Beauty was no longer advertised as a personality or good heart. One time in society's past, the drive to be stick-thin was doormat. Curves and accepting your body type was being shined upon. You weren’t called fat or ugly; there was no such thing. Marilyn Monroe was the definition of gorgeous.  She had meat on her bones and curves beyond compare. In today’s pressuring society, Monroe would be considered overweight; since she was bigger in size, my generation is classifying her as ugly. When did the image change? Is this what our generation should be exposed to? Beauty is found inside and presents itself by radiating through the skin, the clothes above it, doesn’t do anything.
One of society’s greatest image of beauty is the Barbie Doll.  Barbie has the perfect body and flowing blond hair, what girl wouldn’t want to look like her?  When the first Barbie was put on shelves, millions of dolls were sold in the first year.  Girls throughout the nation, play with the famous doll and pretend they’re in her heels.  She always has Ken, her long lasting boyfriend, by her side.  Over the years, different types of dolls were sold; from Beach Barbie to Teacher Barbie, the doll was still a big success.  Young girls wanted to have a closet full of Barbie’s fabulous outfits.  If you didn’t look like Barbie, you could possibly become victim to the vicious words from peers.  The need to be picture perfect got rid of the kindness and compassion girls once had.  A new type of doll was created to take the spotlight away from Barbie, they were the Bratz dolls.  They had large heads, lips, eyes, and loads of hair.  Older girls became appealed to the new sense of fashion, the edgy rock style.  The perfect Barbie slowly disappeared as the new doll stole consumers.  Society molded itself around the vibe of the Bratz doll.  Fashion went into foreign territory, and girls’ attitudes have changed to reflect the rocker look.  One little thing can have a huge influence on society’s definition of beautiful; a term that has slowly lost its meaning.
Some believe that the media is trying to provide role models for children to look up to for guidance.  While dolls portray the different clothes girls can wear, celebrities attempt to teach their fans various morals.  A young star emerged from Disney’s movie, Camp Rock.  Demi Lovato is a great example of how celebrities are trying to be role models.  She tells her story about suffering with anorexia since she was twelve.  During her tour for her debut album, Don’t Forget, none of her coworkers tried to help her escape or get control of her eating disorder.  Demi decided to gain control of her life by firing her staff and going into rehab to finally put an end to her disorder.  She recovered and became the idol of teenage girls; Demi fought her demon, so can I.  Demi is a positive influence for young women, in our era though, there are more negative influences.  Lindsey Lohan was once known for her appearances in Herbie Fully Loaded and Freaky Friday.  When she gave into drugs, she lost her career and self respect.  Media showed us that Lindsey was sent to jail multiple times and didn’t improve with rehab.  Her addiction stole her title as a role model away in the blink of an eye.  Do you want society to suggest drugs?  Alcohol?  Smoking?  Do you want to be part of a generation that is destroying morals and values?  With negative influences like Charlie Sheen, Whitney Houston, and Kim Kardashian, I wish I was in a different time period.  Society is manipulating how the perfect person should act.  My generation is being exposed to inappropriate behavior and insignificant “role models”.
My generation lives with the acceptance that beauty is what is on the outside.  The constant enforcement of being nothing but beautiful and the unwanted desire to be plastic, is the pressure society is putting on their citizens.  For society is our leader, by leader, I mean dictator.  If you don’t conform to his rules, humility will follow you around like a shadow.  Our dictator is making us into dolls, creating us from Barbie molds.  If we don’t shutdown his factory, the world will be inhabited with plastic minions.  We need to successfully end the production of his dolls, my generation is required to change the meaning of beauty and encourage individuality.  One day, society won’t be able to destroy our definition of beautiful, our sense of originality, and our secure civilization.  One day, society will become a distant memory, a bump in the road, on our journey into the future.


The author's comments:
Society has altered the meaning of beauty and is advertised through models and other sorts of media. Society has created the perfect female image, skinny, tan, fake nails, loads of makeup, and revealing clothes. Why did this happen? Why aren't we stopping it? Why are we just along for the ride?

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