Teen Girls (and Writers!) Take Manhattan

Last week, I was home in New York City attending the awesome annual conference of the American Society of Journalists and Authors. Not only was it great to meet other ultra-talented writers like  Crai Bower (a most awesome travel expert.  Check out his stuff.  Seriously), Molly Blake, and Jen Reeder....I also got to meet a handful of inspiring girls from Raleigh, North Carolina who had come to New York to participate in a Model UN.  Which I think is great, because I loved me some Model Congress back when I was in high school, and I adore hearing about girls who are following their passions instead of getting caught up in celebrity hype.

So here's a snap of them, me and my book All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty (playing the part of the little garden gnome in that French movie Amélie)

Kickin' in in Grand Central.

There's only one way to look like a real cover girl.

You must (must, I say!) watch this send-up that presents photoshop as a new beauty product.  (It's by Adobé ("a-do-bay," which makes it sound so euro and effective, no?).

Let's work hard to get this in front of young women who need to realize that the women we see in mainstream media images are not real, but rather digitized to perfection.

My favorite line: "Maybe she's born with it."  "Uh, no, I'm pretty sure it's Photoshop." 

If I could just get every single one of us to conjure up that thought when we have even a flicker of self-body snarking....

Enjoy!

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

You know what bums me out?

That Mrs. Paul McCartney, age 51 (or 52?) feels the need to look like this:

Sure, it could be that she was born that way. But more likey, she works damn hard for it.

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Is this really what a model--or any woman--should look like?

Hi, Elite Models? 

Great.

This is Audrey calling.  

In regards to what, you ask? 

Oh, just the fact that you’re all COMPLETELY INSANE and clearly out of touch with the groundswell of support demanding that the media feature models and celebrities who look more like real women than emaciated skeletons.

I'm sorry, but do you not recall how Spanish fashion week made news a few years back when it banned extremely skinny models from its catwalks? 

And how just a few weeks ago, even the Victoria’s Secret models had to back pedal after hyping their restrictive diets to the media?  In the past, everyone would have sat up and taken notes when a model shared her weightloss tips, but today (thankfully), people are concerned about the message such extreme regimens send to girls and all women who are trying desperately to not spend all their time and money copying the looks held up as ideals, and not to hate themselves when they inevitably fall short.  Hell, even Tyra Banks has morphed from one of the original Supermodels to a body peace warrior (and her tips for self acceptance aren't half bad.)

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Damaging girls' self-esteem? There's an app for that.

Nearly every girl I spoke to while researching my book expressed a wish to be a model/celebrity in some way. Even the girls who excel in school, sports and activities. *That's* how strong the cultural messages are about the importance and benefits of having the right look.Over the course of my career, I have interned/worked/edited/freelanced at and for teen magazines like Sassy, YM, Jump, Teen People, Seventeen, Elle Girl, Cosmo Girl, Girls Life and others...and I can't tell you how many emails and letters I've seen asking the same question:

"Do you think I could model?"

I've opened manila envelopes containing expensive professional photos girls have invested in.  I've received hand wrapped packages crammed with snapshots of bikini-clad girls in their backyards asking if I think they stand a chance at being in  ______ (enter name of teen magazine I happened to be working for at the time).

From these letters, I gleaned that girls all over north America were spending a disproportionate amount (and by that I mean A LOT), of their time, energy and money on trying to achieve the look and body that would open this door to them.  They talked about quitting their favorite sports and activities in order to increase their chances of getting discovered.  In their minds: no soccer = diminished risk of getting a ball to the face, thereby ruining their shot at getting discovered by a model agent at the mall or airport--as if all malls and airports are constantly being trawled by modeling agents.  (But then again, given how we've all heard ad nauseum that Kate Moss was discovered at while en route to a family vacation, is it any surprise that they want that fairy tale for themselves?)  Girls also wrote in about spending their allowances on products and services--waxing, highlights, gym memberships--that once upon a time were only for adults, And about how much time they spent "hanging out" with their friends primping instead of playing.

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