What can I say? I get around.
The article is from the Daily Camera and is called "In the Mirror: Teens Struggle with Body Image." It appeared earlier this week--and included these smart bits from me:
Celebrating real beauty
As a teenager, Audrey Brashich got caught up in society's definition
of beauty. She was a teen model, landing gigs with magazines such as
YM, Seventeen, Elle Girl, Cosmo Girl, Lucky and Self.
Brashich also was elected to her New York high school's student
government, one of the first girls chosen since the school's founding
in 1709, she says.
No one seemed to care about that.
"I was in a bunch of magazines, and a lot of people were asking me
about that," she says. "Why is that so much more important than
something else that took a lot of intelligence to achieve?"
Brashich, who now lives in Canada, says society's messages to girls perplexed her. So she decided to do some research.
Brashich published a book in May, "A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through
Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty," a body image and media
literacy guide for teens. She says some girls don't realize there is
more to life than feeling "pretty."
"The girls I've spoken to are torn. They want to fit in to what is
beautiful, but be valued for other things they know are important and
are told are important," she says.
She urges parents and teachers to talk to their children about what
they see in the media — "raise questions and get kids thinking about
what they see," she says.
"If you ask kids what's important in a role model, they'll make a
mini list, or if you ask them what professions are the most important
in the world, they'll probably say doctors and teachers," Brashich
says. "Then ask them to name famous doctors and teachers, and they'll
have a harder time. It shows them that we know these things are
important, yet we don't see them in the media. Let's find them."
*****
Cool hunh? And the rest of the article is worth checking out too!
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