why i hate seventeen magazine {a rant}

Friend: "Hey, did you see that article about Ed Sheeran in Seventeen? He's your favorite singer, right?"

Me: "Yes he is. But I haven't read the article... I've never actually even opened an issue of Seventeen before."

Friend: "WHAT?! You haven't?! Girl, you need to pick up a copy sometime -- you'd love it."

Me: "...All right?"

Before the above conversation took place, I had never even thought about reading a teen magazine. I had zero interest in them. But last week I went against my better judgement and picked up two back issues at the library -- I mean, I'm only going to be seventeen for a few more weeks, right? Reading this magazine is like a rite of passage or something, and it was one I was determined to experience.

I opened the magazine with low expectations,  but what I saw surpassed them -- and not in a good way.

There were makeup and hair tips, shallow dating articles, and ads for overpriced products. No surprise there. But what did surprise me was how close it teetered over the edge of vulgarity at times. One article gave advice on "hooking up" and another smaller one praised the book 50 Shades of Grey. And I calculated that the average price of the products they were advertising was $65. What the what?!

Granted, there was some good material; mostly about loving your body type, etc. But the trashiness of the remainder of the content completely obliterated anything positive. Seventeen, do you really think that some self-conscious 14 year old is going to listen to you tell her that she's beautiful just way she is when your cover model looks like this:

Holy crap, what teenager naturally looks like this? Oh wait, NONE OF THEM. 

Because I'm pretty sure that she won't. 

After I was done being thoroughly disgusted, I did a little research on the history of the magazine. What I found shocked me: the magazine was actually originally started to improve the minds of young women. {Fancy that!} Issues included knitting patterns, literature {fun fact: Sylvia Plath was first published in Seventeen in the 1950's,}and lessons on modern art. They even had whole issues dedicated to encouraging young women to support the war effort during WWII. Again, what the what?!

The cover of the June 1950 issue. {It's a letter encouraging American girls to buy war bonds to "hasten the victory".} 

I think I like the original version of Seventeen better. 

And I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one. 

~ Abby

Sources: 

Two back issues of Seventeen {February 2013 + March/April 2013}

http://www.seventeen.com/fun/articles/65th-anniversary-cover-archive#slide-3

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventeen_(magazine)

p.s. Seventeen, I understand that your target audience is empty headed high school girls. But maybe putting in some content that is actually thought stimulating and doesn't immediately reduce the reader's brain to a quivering puddle of mush wouldn't be a bad thing. Seriously though, a lot of us don't give a carrot stick about who Ashley Greene is dating, or whatever that one article was about. I really can't remember, because it wasn't an engaging topic. #sorrynotsorry #offensiverunonsentence 

  

of dating and stuff {a very jumbled sort of rant. kinda.}

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I've noticed a trend in the peoples of my generation, and it's rather disturbing. 

No, it's not my peers' propensity towards knee high converse, Justin Bieber, or the incorrect usage of you're/your. It's something much more sinister. 

I'm talking about lack of self-esteem. 

We as teenagers {especially girls} are constantly told by the media how we should act, look, and dress. We're always being pelted with information on how to be "accepted"; a.k.a how to mindlessly obsess over the same cookie cutter music genres, movies, etc. And somehow being this strange kind of 'normal' involves finding true, perfect love -- in high school no less. 

But that's such a lie. Perfect love doesn't exist. And I think we can all agree that the majority of teenage relationships amount to zilch. But if we all recognize that, then why do so many of my peers go looking for it anyway? 

They do it because they need someone to need them; someone to love them unconditionally. But that's not a quality found in a typical high school relationship, which is why most of them crash and burn. This is because most teenagers initiate relationships for all of the wrong reasons. A relationship built on pure feelings {lust, selfishness, and a desire for a particular social status} will not last long. 

And let's face it, many of us date just to date. Or because we have a huge, angsty black hole in us that {we think} can only be filled by the attention from a member of the opposite sex. But that kind of thinking is extremely damaging, and can lead to a series of broken, painful dead end relationships. 

So is there any hope for a teen to actually have a positive relationship? You bet! 

But first you have to fix your self-esteem. I know, easier said than done. But you are of infinite worth, shaped by an amazing Creator -- so really, there's no need to feel insecure! *insert cheesy Bruno Mars song lyric here* 

Lastly, you need to be a friend. Instant attraction is thrilling, but it usually fades as quickly as it comes. And when it does fade, how will you ever relate to that person again if your 'love' for them wasn't built on a solid friendship? 

And I know this all sounds very preachy and boring. But can you imagine all the awkward situations, confusion, and hurt feelings you'll be saving yourself if you don't date needlessly? Especially if your boyfriend/girlfriend/love interest gets together with someone else. o.O

via

What's that? Psssh, no, I totally cannot relate to the above image. Haha. lol. *whistles innocently* 

~ Abby 

p.s. the above opinions come from the mind of a cynical 17 year old who has had very bad experiences with boys and 'love'. therefore this post may be very biased. therefore you should probably just ignore it. yeah.

there is no such thing as boredom {a rant}

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I got on Facebook yesterday, and what I saw shocked me. 

Nothing new there, right? 

Well no. But this was a different kind of shocking. 

Three different people were complaining because they were suffering from lack of intellectual stimulation -- a condition more commonly known as boredom. 

Boredom. Really? 

Now maybe I'm the only one who is frustrated by this. But let's take a moment and really think about what we're dealing with here; an American who is living in the most technologically advanced era mankind has ever experienced, is complaining of not having anything entertaining to do. For real? You have more data available at your fingertips than your ancestors had access to in their entire lives, and you're bored? Ridiculous. 

But I think the real problem here is this: social media and technology has, in many ways, made us lazy and uncreative. Think about it. In the past, people used their free time to do things like painting, reading, and interacting with people face-to-face. Now what do a lot of us use it for? The monstrosities known as Facebook and Instagram. 

For the sake of anyone who might be actually reading this, let me cut to the chase. Go read a book, go for a run, or call up a friend. I can personally recommend a half a dozen books right off the top of my head. But my point is, no one should ever be bored. Put the iPhone down, and go do something fun and creative. Life is too short to waste a single moment.

What will I do if I ever run out of projects? Well, I plan to dress up as Luna Lovegood, and walk dazedly around Wal Mart. It should be fun. 

Anyone have a blonde wig?

~ Abby 

on originality

[ Forward: I am not in anyway talking about any writer other than myself. This is just something that I've noticed happening in the past with my own scribblings, and it needs to come to an end. Now. ]

I think that I really conformed with my blogging style in the past. I guess that I subconsciously thought I had to stay within a little 'box' for my blog to be successful; i.e. always have nostalgic pictures, perfect discussions about how lovely life is, and a perfect overload of adjectives. 

But that's not real. Or original. My life isn't always lovely, my writing style isn't actually like that, and to be quite frank, I am too lazy ADD to spend 50 hours a week editing photos. {The little sarcastic voice in my head is yelling enthusiastically "ain't nobody got time for that!"}

And looking back, the only posts that I still actually like are the ones that were a bit odd -- the ones that allowed my personality to come through. {Such as this, this, and this.} And to be honest, I think it's more enjoyable to read quirky blogs, like this, this, and this. {I am saying "this" a lot. I shall stop this madness.} 

So, I am going to start writing more quirkily; more like me. Which is also why I was feeling like it was time to change my webloggity around a bit -- thus the new name. 

Dictionary.com how I love thee.

That's what I want this to be: quirky, and maybe slightly peculiar. I want my writing to reflect who I am -- not what is popular and lovely. 

So hi. I'm Abby, and I'm going to write about whatever the heck I want. Google and honey badgers alike! 

They can be quite scary, can't they?

~ Abby

a girl called amy

{photo via weheartit}

I met someone the other day. Someone who caused me to really stop and think about a few things.

No, it wasn’t a boy. Nor was it some strange fortune teller that bestowed age old wisdom upon me.

It was a little girl. Her name was Amy.

She was bouncy and happy and innocent. {Think Ramona Quimby people.}  She plopped herself down next to me, a complete and total stranger, and told me that I had “pretty hair.” I asked her what her name was, and after she introduced herself, she asked me to push her on a swing. {Did I mention that we were at a park?} After she was done swinging, she thanked me, and then raced off.

When she left with her grandparents about two hours later, she skipped over to me, and said goodbye.

“What’s your name again?” She asked, a quizzical look spreading across her face.

“Abigail.” I replied.

“Oh, I like it. It’s pretty.”

“Thank you, your name is very pretty too.”

And with that, she took her grandpa’s hand, swinging it as she walked with him to the car.

As she left, I was almost in awe of how innocent she was. Here was a six-ish girl, who’s biggest concern in life was probably when she’d lose her first tooth. She was not self-conscious, and felt comfortable enough to sit by a strange teenager, and compliment said teen on her hair.

I shudder when I think of what she’ll be going through in ten years from now. She’ll no longer be the same naive, sweet little girl. She will either become a part of, or have to navigate through all the drama crap that comes with high school. She’ll be faced with the pressure to have a boyfriend, and submerged in a society that is constantly telling her that she is not good enough.

And it’s likely that most of her female peers will be “confirming” the lies that society will be telling her:

You’re not pretty enough. You’re fat. Who could ever like you?

Not that they will say such things directly to her, necessarily. After all, that’s not how the ‘mean girls’ work, now is it? No, of course not. After all, destroying a girl’s self-esteem is harder when looking her in the eye, and generally not considered socially acceptable. It’s  sneakily done behind the girl’s back -- through gossip, exclusion, and slander. A little dig here, a little dig there.

Now don’t get me wrong, I know many, many girls who are not in any way ‘catty.’ In fact, I have the privilege to know many ‘drama free,’ mature, and thoughtful girls.

But that doesn’t seem to erase the fact that we {girls} seem to have a problem. Why can we be so quick to tear each other down? Are we so insecure and consumed with jealousy that we must build ourselves up by destroying someone else? Is it the drive for male attention? Do we really envy what other girls have that much?

Honestly, I’m not sure. It’s probably a combined force of both reasons, plus many others. But does that justify our actions? No, of course not.

Now, I wish that this wasn’t the case. I wish that our gender didn’t feel the need for a proverbial ‘pecking order,’ and I wish that there would cease to be competition between everyone. Unfortunately though, that is not possible. As one of my favorite books so elegantly puts it; “the world is not a wish granting factory.” We don’t always get what we want. In fact, more often than not, we don’t. Life isn’t fair.

But what do you do if you find yourself the victim of cattiness? Ready for some amazing, life-changing advice? {I hope you sense the sarcasm. :P} Simply be yourself. Shrug it off, be confident, and go about your business. I know it might hurt now, but it’s probably not worth retaliating. And trust me, responding with kindness is much more effective. Just keep calm and carry on.

And if you are the ‘mean girl’ then please take this to heart: You. Are. Beautiful. You have no reason to be jealous of or feel threatened by any other girl. You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

Remember Amy? Let’s try to keep her sweet and innocent for as long as possible.

~ Abby