self harm

Times are changing fast and kids are forced to grow up too soon, I remember when I was 12 I would go to the town centre with an adult and I wouldn't even be interested in make- up or boys. Now I see children as young as 10 on their own, doing as they please with no regards to what is around them... how times have changed. But the more freedom kids have at a young age could also lead to them having more and more pressure thrust upon them due to all the media and marketing etc they are being exposed to, but not only that but if they don't conform to current trends or have the latest gadgets they could be ridiculed and bullied.

Movies in particular have an increasing affect on what kids get up to. But the film that I found disturbing was Twilight. Not only does this film encourage young girls to go into abusive relationship but it inadvertently encourages self harm. This is incredibly irresponsible of the film industry, they have made it so that girls will find it attractive to go for the outcast or the troubled youth, thinking that they can "save" him. All throughout the first film the main character was shouting and generally being horrible to the "heroine" and she keeps coming back for more and it seems like she enjoys it. The second instalment to the series sees "Bella" repeatedly hurt herself inorder to see " Edward". This is a weak role model for young girls, because first it teaches them that you can't fulfil your potential without a man and secondly it shows her harm herself. The film industry is so huge and this film was hugely popular amongst young girl, it should have been more responsible in what message it was putting out there.

But the young girls should also realise that Bella is a fictitious character and that they can decide not to be like her.

Blending in..

People are most comfortable with the familiar even when change will be better they more often than none would go towards something they are familiar with instead of something that is alien to them. This is not unusual in people, it starts of at a young age, lets say school, usually only people who look and think the same way will form small groups- the smart people will hang around with other smart people and the good looking people will hang around with other good looking people. This is a common thing in people who are at that age but it doesn't stop at school. In the workplace and in society as a whole, many people still form these little group where difference is something to fear.

People may gravitate towards the familiar because they feel safe knowing that they are not alone, but being different doesn't have to mean being alone and it is up to society as a whole to try and make people feel as though they belong no matter what they believe in etc.

As we grow up one would hope that this irrational fear would dissipate, but more often than none it doesn't and it actually grows stronger and it is up to us as individuals to change and welcome people's differences and not make them feel ashamed of it.

Beauty is in the eye of the be-holder..

This is a well used phrase but not many people really believe it, which to me is a rather sad indictment of the way society has progressed or regressed. In many cultures beauty can mean very different things other than how you look like, but in many parts of the Western world it goes hand in hand with what celebrity is currently on top. It is no news to me about how celebrity obsessed we have become but to let them dictate to us what we should look like is not right.

Many celebrities today look malnourished and resemble stick insects rather than people, now why would anyone think that is beautiful. Trying to emulate one of these "stick insects" could lea to long term illnesses and organ failure- but they don't tell you that in the media!

If every young women aspired to look like theses so called celebrities, everyone will look the same, and they so often do. I can be walking down the street and see a line of girls that look the same with a teeny tiny waist, the same super slick hair, same handbags even the same style of clothes, it's as if they came from the same assembly line! What is great about looking the same as everyone else?

To me beauty is whatever you think it is, for example I think that Lake Como in Italy is stunning, while other people might just shrug it of as a pool of water, my point is everyone has or should have a different idea of beauty and these different ideas are part of what give us out identity. Identity is the unique characteristics that makes us who we are, now tell me...how can we be unique if we look like everyone else?

What makes you different is exactly what makes you beautiful, people need to learn to embrace their differences!