Seventeen, Self-Image, and Stereotypes

I read the Seventeen, Self-image, and Stereotypes chapter from this book. I absolutely loved this. This chapter goes over topics that I had problems with growing up. I knew I was influenced by a lot of the media stuff. But I didn’t really pay attention to how much of an influence the media really had on me. Bakari Chavanu how students are walking advertisements and consumers of media. I remember growing up in middle school, and how big of an impact popular brands had on us. Brands like AéRopostale, Hollister, and Abercrombie ruled the middle school. These brands demonstrated your popularity and if you were wealthy or not. If you had to close you were bound to be popular if you didn’t push aside. I remember I would beg my parents to buy me these types of clothes, but I was only able to buy a couple of pairs of outfits. When I was in high school, your popularity depended on the latest iPhone and how fast you were able to get them. I had an iPhone 5SE throughout high school and stuck with it. I noticed that I didn’t care to be popular, I was more concerned about my body. The Kardashians were a huge part of my teenage years. The amount of surgeries that have gotten, the media never discloses as their headlines. They are well known for their beauty. Kim Kardashian alone has inspired so many plastic surgeries. I remember I would waist train to obtain the tiny waist they had. I was ONLY 16. My body was still developing!! After reading this chapter, I came to the realization that I hate the media and what it did to me growing up. I believe if I was not as influenced by the media, I would have been able to enjoy my adolescence a bit more. No media, no stress, just living a good life.