L. Greenfield--FAST FORWARD

Some things I understand...
I totally understand where Greenfield is coming from. "Girls look up to Britney and Christina and wear highly sexualized adult clothing in middle school and below. Taking advantage of this point, clothing companies market thong underwear and make-up to pre-teenagers." This is so true! When I substitute teach and see the middle schoolers I am shocked by how they act, what they are wearing, and the words that I can hear them say (the ones they think you don't hear but you really do... teachers hear everything!)
Greenfield brings up the point about name brands. She says that teen don't necessarily have to like in Beverly Hills to want or know what expensive name brands are. People in the media wear them and they can be found all over. I can relate to this...When I was in high school it was the cool thing to wear the expensive Abercrombie cloths, Coach bags, and Tiffany jewelry. These were the "in" things then and you had to have it or you just didn't fit in. These things were marketed in the media and spread to the teens.
No matter how much I read about teens I always learn new things. Some of it is fascinating, shocking, and unbelievable. I can also relate to some of it because I was a teen not too long ago. As much as I want to say that I didn't follow the media, I did. I don't think that I was as "bad" as the teen today, but I was influenced, everyone is! I see the teens of today wearing make-up much earlier than I was, wear very revealing clothing, and acting like pop stars.
Some things I don't understand...
I cannot get why these teens want to grow up so quickly and be someone who they truly are not. I feel like teenagers are losing the concept of being an individual because they only want to look the who they see in the media. If they teens go out looking and acting like this then where are the parents? Some things can be hidden and not so out in the open, but the parents have to understand and see some of the things that their teens are saying and doing.
Connections...
~Media Matters- Greenfield speaks about how teens take into consideration what they see in the media. They want to be and look just like "those" people.
~Some of the pictures that I was able to look at of hers looks similar to pictures that I have seen before (prom, children/teen looking older than they really are, "high class teens")
~Stereotypes can me made and seen about teens from these pictures. Things that we have discussed in class is talked about by Greenfield. Teens (and children) want to be like what they see. They want to be cool and look fashionable, rich, and older.
Questions/Comments/Points to Share...
~How similar would the pictures have looked if they were taken in other states and not the big state of Cali?
~Why is it that even if the young generation is not exposed to things like the radio and television, they still know songs and t.v shows?
~How do the parents take and interpret their teens when they look older than a teen and want the expensive stuff like Prada, Gucci, and Coach?
~I enjoyed viewing the pictures by Greenfield. Some of them were shocking and surprising to me...the teens look like adults!