Barbie and Ken 101

I probably came around this video back in high school where Def Poetry Jam was a bit more prominent and I’ve probably posted this on facebook more times than I can remember. Growing up in a society (specifically LA), it’s extremely difficult to not get lost in the “Hollywood” lifestyle. Whether that be buying the most luxurious cars, wearing the high- end brand name items, plastic surgery, etc., we’re constantly exposed to a lifestyle that appears to be of the norm. I suppose that this isn’t specific to LA since the media magnifies this across almost every medium. Do you remember when MTV used to be focused around music? Now we have shows like “16 and pregnant”. Really? What about “21 and graduated from college?”

Any who, this poem written and presented by Rafael Casal speaks on how young women are consistently reminded how they’re physical attributes essentially define who they are.

“My teacher has no face, she is every Revlon model women have ever chased, her lectures can be seen in magazines, in beauty shops and ad campaigns.”

It’s not just Barbie that has young women feeling this way anymore but with shows such as “Real Housewives of (insert you city)”, “America’s Next Top Model”, etc., they’re brainwashed (and I used that term loosely) to believe that unless you have the “sexiest” body and wearing designer clothes, you’ll be ostracized by your peers. I’m not saying that it’s unacceptable to buy nice things or enhance your body, but there’s so much more to life than what people perceive you to be. I’m a firm believe that you need to “get your mind right before you get your body right.” As a pre- teen and as a teenager, our minds are the most delicate because we’re still attempting to find out who we are. The best way to do this is not to let people define who YOU are, but embrace the person within because once you do, you’ll never be insecure.