Teenagedom, as a whole, is generally portrayed as the free-wheeling, stressless period of life where people experiment with sex, drugs, rock and roll. It's when your parents snuck booze behind the shed, and it's when my parents snuck AC/DC records into the house. Someday, it's when your kids will be doing things that shock you.
At A Glance Author Maddie Contact [email protected] IAM ambulance When N/A Artist -- Studio -- Location -- Teenagedom is finding yourself, it's pink hair, it's Saturday night parties, it's marijuana, it's music that your parents hate, it's friends and fighting and egocentrism. It's intelligence and philosophy. It's searching. It's finding.
Think of any adult you know (and I use the term "adult" loosely). Think of their views on teenagers. "Crazy kids," a term tossed around by an adult who sees the actions of today's generation as improper, is really a simple colloquialism. That very adult MUST have gone through the teenage stage, too! So why, why do so many adults prejudice against us for our actions, for our choices, for our manners (or lack thereof) and our demeanor?
And why does it seem that so many "proper adults" look down on teenagers with body modifications?
Recently, interviewing a local journalist for our school newspaper, I could sense a great air of discomfort in the tiny cubicle-cum-office. Typing out what he was saying on a district-issue laptop, you could cut the tension with a knife, and my shaking fingers weren't doing much for the aura of stability and professionalism I was attempting to project.
He was staring at my ears.
I KNEW he was staring at my ears. I have short hair. I do not apologize for these facts. But he wanted me to. His eyes bored into the sides of my head and weaseled their way into my psyche. I started to make typographical errors as he spoke. I had to start my hand-held tape player to get what he was saying, because I couldn't type fast enough.
We talked about local politicians, New York's new school budget cuts, careers in journalism, almost everything to do with media in our small upstate NY city, when the questions turned to the concept of the professional image- mainly, visual media vs. print media, but I could TELL where he was going. (The purpose of this was a double interview. He was asking me questions as well.)
He said, "Miss Atkinson, do you want to be a journalist when you are of age?" We spoke about college choices, about how to further my education, and he said, "Well, if you ever need pens or notebooks, you could stash them in your earlobes."
I blanched, and promptly faked a laugh, leaving it there and turning to the next subject. He had won.
Leaving the office, I could sense my red cheeks being scrutinized by the other members of the Times staff and wondered what I had done wrong. That month, the Times ran an article about an area man with two and a half inch earlobes, accompanied by an article about ear, navel, and nose piercings (the most "uncommon" things that you really come across by way of mods in a rinky-dink township such as mine.) Although informational, speaking on the risks of piercing guns and the like, it seemed to blaspheme the locals with modifications, even so far as to suggest that we are, in fact, "screaming for attention and destroying our own skin."
Teenagers with mods are second to those without when you live in a small town. Even at "equal opportunity employers", a very qualified person with a simple nose stud is given a serious background check, and STILL comes second to a less qualified but unmarked potential employee.
Searching for a job is hell. Teachers blatantly question the modified for being young. "Will you still want those in you when you're older?" Some of us can't come up with a concrete answer, and for that, I blame the inquisitors of our surrounding area.
We WON'T want them when we're older, because although we are moving in to a much more accepting age, scrutiny is all we know! We will learn to hide our studs and CBRs from the general public. Retainers will be worn, tattoos will be covered, and we will start hiding what makes us who we are, or possibly, who we wanted to be. Why? Pavlov. Being consistently met with opposition, we begin to expect nothing less from everyone we see on the street.
Teenagers of today, make you body what YOU want it to be. Do not succumb to the pressures of anorexia, bulimia, compulsive eating or compulsive exercising. Do not slice up your arms. Do not take silly, pretentious idiots as anything more than a lark. If you want to do something, then do it. You have but one body. You live once.
They are scared of you. You may not want them to be, but they are. We are moving rapidly towards the era of opportunity that is ACTUALLY EQUAL. We will not be discriminated by age, by race, marital status, height, weight, hair length, sexuality, or by big holes in our flesh. Adults are scared of that.
In the same way they yelled if we crossed the street without them, they are scared of us crossing the threshold into acceptance and the future without their knowledge, without their approval. Approval is relative. If you don't feel you NEED approval, then you DON'T need approval.
Make them the beasts of burden. Walk towards the future unscathed (or just as scathed as you please.) This is our future. We will not be the scared ones. We will come out better for it.