“Am I Ugly?” – As a Matter of Fact, You’re Not.
So, apparently, there’s been a new trend going around Youtube lately and finding out about it kind of put me in the dumps and made me put on that sad duck-face I make when I’m just absolutely downhearted about something.
Basically, its now the trend for teenage girls (and some guys too) to post videos of themselves onto Youtube asking for people to comment and inform them of whether or not they are “ugly.” Just search ‘Am I Ugly?’ on Youtube and there they’ll all be–a sea of insecurity and adolescence.
Now, while I was absolutely horrified to see SO MANY TEENAGERS (and I’m talking hundreds upon hundreds here) posting such obviously spiritless videos of themselves asking people to validate them and completely surrendering their right to define and own their bodies themselves, I cannot say I was shocked by it.
I mean, come on, its basically the same reason the Facebook ‘like’ button was created.
We as people naturally require validation. BIG DUH. This is just nothing new. And, really, nothing that anyone on the planet is immune from. Any person who tells you that they have absolutely no interest in anything anyone says about them is a FLAT-OUT LIAR. We all have self-image issues, and no amount of Dove Beauty Campaigns will completely remedy this (although, good on ya Dove! Keep plugging away at the self-boosting!).
BUT! This Youtube trend is taking this natural self-conscious need for validation we all have to a VERY dangerous place. It allows for a mega-form of cyber bullying which is very difficult (if not impossible) to stop because these kids are pretty much asking to be bullied. They are exposing themselves to an unstoppable surge of hate and false criticism from the only place in the world WHERE THE HATERS OF THE WORLD UNITE.
I swear, some of the comments that I found on those videos were so scathing and hurtful that I just cannot repeat them. And while there was a share of positive or guiding words for these vulnerable teenagers, the much more vast majority was a whole lot of negative and indescribably mean commentary. And the really annoying thing is that many of these cyber bullies don’t have a face or a name or any real path towards finding out their true identity in the same way that something like Facebook or Twitter might.
They basically have carte blanche to be horrible humans. And these girls (again, and some guys) are allowing them to be.
It makes me upset on so many levels to see kids who are already vulnerable enough opening themselves up to so much potential psychological scarring. If they require validation that much they should at least ask for it from people in their circle of family and friends–these are the people who will tell them the truth.
The truth being that someone, somewhere in this world, will find them absolutely beautiful and breathtaking for sure.
And that’s not just coddling talk. That’s statistical and anthropological data that tells you that the world is made up of so many people now that the standards of beauty are so various and diverse that pretty much every kind of woman and man is considered beautiful somewhere.
So for any teenagers reading this: please don’t grant the cyber bullies their freaking dream and allow them and their hurtful, anonymous words to try and define you. Just remember: to someone, somewhere, you are drop dead gorgeous and that is a matter of goddamn fact.
All my love!
