Why Must We Hate the Things Teen Girls Love?
My teenager years are far beyond me now but I found this 2018 article by Laura Moss very interesting. It tackles the way things that female teenagers love (Taylor Swift, Twilight, One Direction, etc) are not only brushed off as non-important but are actually mocked by society, especially in the media.
Here are some quotes that stood out.
(...) "There's an underlying assumption that teen girls are not in control of their emotions or interests and become overly excited or upset for no reason," [feminist writer and activist Bailey Poland] said. "When the reality is that teen girls are often very intentional about what they're interested in and aware of the social influences behind those media products, and they deliberately use excitement and passion as the foundation for community-building and empathetic development."
(...) "I remember, very clearly, what it was like to be a teenage girl. To always feel like my opinion didn't matter, to always feel like my very approval of something instantly lessened its cool quotient," she writes. "We make sure [teen girls] know that their interests are vapid and trite. We hate everything they love, on principle. How are they supposed to grow up to be writers, thinkers, artists, lawyers, doctors or anything when they feel subhuman?" [Poland]
(...) "The next time you have the impulse to dismiss something out of hand because it's popular with teen girls, stop and ask yourself if that dislike is based on who seems to enjoy it the most. Unpacking that attitude internally and changing the ways we interact with teen girls to be more respectful, understanding and empathetic is crucial." [Poland]
