JRHS Writing BLOG

Friday, November 02, 2007

Today’s Young Girls of America

Have you ever watched shows meant for young girls or young children, aged anywhere from five to about thirteen? Shows on Nickelodeon or Disney Channel, perhaps? Well, what you don’t realize is, that, although these shows may seem fine for your children to watch, (and they undoubtedly are) it’s not only the show itself that matters, but also the behavior of the actors/actresses outside of the show.
Take most recently, for example. One of the main actresses from the hit movie “High School Musical” was caught posting highly inappropriate pictures of herself online. Just imagine what little girls all across America think upon hearing things like this. Either they are horrified that their heroine would do something like this, or they think that it’s okay to do things like this, because a famous person did it. And what became of these pictures? They’re still all over the internet for everyone to see.
Another good example also comes from “High School Musical”. The other lead female in the movie just landed a singing contract. She just launched a new music video, which features her wearing revealing clothes, and dancing in a potentially rather inappropriate manner. Lots of people wouldn’t call this inappropriate, and I would agree with them, but when it comes to all of her 6 and 7 year old fans that hero-worship her, just look at the example she’s setting.
That’s where this type of acting becomes inappropriate and influential. Little girls think that it’s okay for them at that age to dress and act like that, because that’s what they see their favorite TV show character doing on the news and online. It doesn’t help that Barbies and Bratz dolls are dressed in little clothing, and girls admire their style, too.
I was at a friend’s house the other night, and we were watching videos online. We came across this video of a show called “Britain’s Got Talent”, and on the clip, there was a six year old singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’. We watched as the audience went wild after the song was over. I got to thinking, and it wasn’t just because the six year old had a phenomenal singing voice, that people absolutely adored her. It was because she was dressed in a sundress, and had an adorable smile too. She wasn’t dressed in flashy clothes or expensive name brands or anything, it was just her and her voice that mattered the most. Essentially, she dressed and acted like she was 6, not 16, like the rest of modern girls do. If something as simple and innocent as this can capture the hearts of America, then why don’t all girls act like that?