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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

mean

Is TV making girls mean?

I watched a news story about this and thought I would say my own two cents about the issue.

TV is so readily available, which is great, but can cause problems if they get into the wrong hands. Girls, especially teenage girls, are in the years where they are forming into themselves and really using what they see as a learning tool, and in this case a learning weapon. Some girls do realize that the friendships they see on TV aren't really friendships, but others aren't so lucky. Parents have a big role in showing their daughters what a good basis for a friendship is versus what isn't. Shows like Mean Girls, Gossip Girl, Bad Girls Club, and Jersey Shore are just a few of the shows that have scenes of girls fighting verbally and even physically. 

With fighting, there are two differences: physical violence and relational aggression. We all know what the first one means and the second one suggests overall meanness and aggression towards people you have a relationship with. Usually we tend to see more of the relational aggression in shows. In my own personal experience, I think the fact that I had a close relationship with my parents and they taught me really early on how to treat others, these shows were a shock when I first saw them. Yes, I'll admit I've seen one of the shows I listed earlier, but only a few episodes. The difference with me and maybe another girl, however, is that when I watched the show, my personality and way I treat others did not change. I already knew before watching the show that the behaviors exemplified in it were not correct. Other girls are not so lucky. 

Nowadays bullying is so prevalent and these shows are one of the many reasons this trend has come about. I'll tell you this much: being mean to others isn't right and no ones wins {even when you think you do because you're being cool putting someone down}. Can you imagine how things would be if bullying weren't so prevalent: people would invite the whole class to their birthday party, you wouldn't be scared in choosing your lunch table, you would have friends with different interests and backgrounds and mesh well, and most of all you wouldn't ever be scared to be yourself. 

I know that we can't cut bullying completely out of our lives because some people are too far into the trend. But, we can definitely lower it. Girls, stop fighting and saying mean things about each other. Just because someone's opinions and ways of being are different than yours, then take them as "different" and not "wrong." If someone is rude to you, brush it off. {Hint: that annoys the bully even more than fighting back}. 

Seriously?
"1 out of 4 kids is Bullied. An American Justice Department school bullying statistics and cyber bullying statistics studies shows that this month 1 out of every 4 kids will be abused by another youth."


As you can see my post started off as a rant about TV shows and ended up talking about bullying. But that's just how popular this topic is and how everyday things make you think about the problem overall. Something as small as a 30 minute show can cause statistics like the one above. Let's stop bullying! And I'm not saying don't watch those shows. If you like it, watch it. Just have a mindset before watching it, knowing that the attitudes and actions of mean women on TV are wrong. 

Here are some TV shows I watch where I haven't seen a lot of fighting: 
Rachel Zoe Project
Extreme Home Makeover
anything on the Food Network
Cupcake Wars

Wow, there aren't a lot :( 

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