Reflections of A Communication Arts Major

I've never been a fan of teeny-bopper magazines with prepped up youngsters on the front covers wearing the latest threads in fashion. With oh-my-golly headlines like "The Latest Summer Must-Haves", "Confessions of A Fashionista", and articles like "How to get your guy to look at you", "How to catch the guy of your dreams" and all such junk.

How to catch the guy of your dreams? These are the kinds of stuff that gets girls all googly-eyed and breathless over the magazine pages. Everybody dreams of getting a chance with their ideal guy, of course - the standards tend to be similar in most cases. To high school girls, catching the guy of the dreams seems not only as a I-found-the-guy-of-my-life, but also defines a specific status for them.

First and foremost, why do girls have to change themselves in order to please a guy? Wouldn't that in any manner bias his views towards the girl? He could not really relate to her for who she really is because she reconfigured her personality and thoughts to fit into his (take into consideration Julia Roberts in Runaway Bride)? In fact, do these articles even work? Second, why are we hurrying people to get linked to persons of the opposite sex at so young an age? These relationships will come in due time.

By committing to a relationship at a tender age, it does tend to limit one's acquaintances and friends to that of the partner's since mingling with other people of the opposite sex would mean taking a risk of potential cheating. Considering that at such an age one is not yet mature enough to handle the situation, and would break up, doesn't that in any manner leave the person with less peers to run to?

With teenagers buying these magazines, their beliefs are somehow being boxed into thinking that life is all about make-up, fashion and boys. Although there are occasional educational tips, the whole make-up of the magazine is laden with creating girls that would fit into the typical mold of a doll. Is this what we want? Where is the freedom to be ourselves, to experiment and live life?

Magazines, television, these mediums are being used in order to define the particular lifestyle the capitalists wants the readers/viewers to take into consideration. Nobody really cares if you have dark or light skin, until some lotion company decides to publish advertisements saying that having whiter skin makes one more beautiful. Without these advertisements, there would be less discontent among people.