Teenager and Youtubers

As anyone who has experienced teenage hood knows being part of a crowd is hardwired in our DNA. We like to feel as if we belong to something and it gives us confidence. Navigating through the ups and downs of teenage life, is enough without adding lonely and bored to the list also. This is why we like to hang out, like to go to parties and like to stamp our imprint onto social media through the means of “selfies”. When we are not measuring our self-worth through the amount of likes we get or the cliques we are in, we are incredibly grouchy. Nobody wants to be alone in a room with a grouch teenager, believe me. So when another form of cool took the teenage social scene by storm it was no surprise we were all over it like a rash.

 YouTube. Now YouTube has been around since 2005, it even hit its 10 year anniversary just last week but I’m not talking about YouTube in general I’m talking about Youtubers. The people that make a living through posting videos of themselves talking about life, love, happiness, self-esteem and all round fun stuff. They have millions of subscribers, are our generation’s role models and may I add are blooming rich. Forget Justin Bieber and One Direction, Youtubers are the new IT people. I don’t have a single friend who doesn’t religiously wait for their uploads every week, boys and girls alike. We argue about which one is our favourite, (personally I am a little gripped on Tanya Burr’s daily vlogs) and it seems to bring us all together. I feel as though since we have found these brilliant people online, there is no longer space nor time for us to comment and backbite about social media profile pictures and who is going out with who because we are busy. It may not even be a good busy, people will say it is unproductive but it is without a doubt what is currently make our generation happy.

These Youtubers make us happy because we can relate to them but we can also look up to them. Most of them are aged between the 17- 25 age group with a few being a little younger or older. They talk about past experiences and like’s and dislike’s whilst showing us a glimpse into their lives through daily Vlogs. For those who do not know what daily Vlogs are, they are basically when a person walks around with a video recorder all day and video’s the highlights of their day every day for almost a month, it is as though they are conversing with the viewer. We know about their parents, their spouses and their friends and this makes us feel close to them. They freely give an insight into their lives which I amongst other teenager find remarkably impressive because they are talking so honestly to people they do not know.

Many teenagers feel it difficult to openly talk about the troubles they are having in fear of being judged by friends and sometimes family but seeing Youtubers who we feel very much connected to emotionally talking about the struggles they are having, we feel more comfortable in speaking out about our own issues. I know that adults don’t really understand the point of Youtubers but Youtubers aren’t what adults think they are, they aren’t making money out of vulnerable teens, they are helping us become more sensible, fair and wise members of society. Anyway who would you like us to look up to a happy, easy going Youtuber or a stick thin lingerie model?  Easy answer right. So go on today go and watch a YouTuber in action, my recommendations are Zoella and Tanya Burr and I am sure their positive attitude and sunny disposition will soon have you smiling from ear to ear.

 

Love Lule x

 

February Book Reviews

Recently I’ve been thinking about reading books that I wouldn’t generally go for, you know to broaden my literary horizons or something like that. It is half term and although I have mounds of homework and revision to do for school (Year 10 really is the death of your social life) I always like to make time to immerse myself in a good book at least once a week. After a quick stop at my local library I decided to pick up quite a few books. Now I wasn’t ready to invest in the books I was about to try because I wasn’t really sure I would like them so the library was a perfect choice because if I didn’t like them I would be able to return them. After a little snoop round I picked up two books. “Flip Flip” by Martyn Bedford and “Adorkable” by Sarra Manning. I am a little ashamed to say that the first thing that drew me to these two books was their covers. You know the saying – ‘Never judge a book by its cover’ I did.. Sorry!

“Flip Flip” looked so exiting. It had a photograph of an upside down boy’s head on both covers , front and back with mirrored writing on one cover and normal writing on the other. This was the only way to decipher which was the front cover and which was the back. My geeky side really took a shine to this quirky layout for this book and I spent at least 10 minutes flipping the book back and front. A little tip - one way to remember which side is the front cover is that the boy on the front cover has his eyes closed whereas on the back cover the boy has his eyes open. The whole book is kinda topsy turvey if I am honest with you guys.

Do you know that question that people often ask, ‘what would you do if you woke up in another person’s body for a day’ well this is exactly what happens to the main character in this novel. But its not only for a day, it may even be forever if he doesn’t find out the cause and how to go back to his own body. I personally really enjoyed reading this book and as a person who only reads science fiction books if they have a sonic lipstick involved (LOL) I feel converted.

 

 

 

Another book I didn’t think I would like after my library endeavours is “Adorkable”, now this book it is safe to say has no sci fi elements to it. It is completely 100% super natural free. It is the regular boy meets girl books that most girls swoon over but from my previous experiances with these type of books I was wary. I thought it may be full of the sissy, predictable boring malarkey but it wasn't  and I was pleasantly surprised. The boy and the girl in this book hate each other. They hate each other like I hate maths, maybe even more! He is the hot, sporty, brainy popular boy and she is the freaky peachy hair coloured, granny knits wearing girl with a penchant for making teachers squirm but after something happens involving the two of them they start seeing eachother in a different light and may even have a positive influence on eachother. This book is worth 5 stars and a big fat recommendation.

 

Lot of Love Lule x

 

 

 

Identity and Society's Restrictions.

 

Yesterday I was in bed when I remembered something I had been asked a few weeks back. In my English class we had been given a sheet with the question ‘who are you?’ in the middle of of it. To my surprise it was pretty difficult, some of the things that I thought made up me I didn’t want on the sheet. Why? Not because I was ashamed but because I was embarrassed. Identity is important, like gender it is the first thing people notice when they look at you. Whether you are part of a club, like a certain band or are from a specific culture, all these things add up to what forms your identity. People are often judged by other based on their identity. A boy may feel pressured to play football well because society tells him that’s what people in his gender are good at, on the other hand a girl with a natural footballing ability may feel the need to hide her passion because society is telling her to be more interested in makeup and fashion.

However I believe that no matter your gender, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, you should have the right to dress and do what you feel comfortable with. It is your life and you should be the only one deciding how you live it and it shouldn’t involve anybody else’s opinion. People shouldn’t hide the real them in fear of what others may say about them and neither should they conform to what society and others expect of them. Why does it matter if a girl wants to play football? Or if a boy wants to be interested in fashion. Our identity makes up just a little part of who we really are. It doesn’t define us and it definitely shouldn’t confine us. We as humans each have something unique that makes us different from any other person in the world so we should embrace this and use these little quirks to really let go and enjoy life more.

Being a teenage girl is not easy, it never has been and never will be and each generation of teenage girls have their own obsessions and passions to help them navigate the journey through this precarious fragment of their lives. Now our generation have decided to make our passions the internet, fashion and amongst other things reality TV and that’s all good, but when this starts to affect how we behave and view ourselves is when it starts to become an issue. I firmly believe the media is an all-round amazing place for us, where we interact with people, keep up to date with what’s going on in the world and what’s around us but media can sometimes turn sour. We as human beings have a control of our lives and how we choose to live it but when seeing gorgeous models with beautiful hair, perfect teeth and willowy features pushed at us regularly (even if it may just be behind a television or a computer screen) it is inevitable we feel pressured to dress and look a certain way to fit the description of how we believe we are expected to look. We conform to society’s rules for us because we see there to be no other way.

On non-uniform days at school you see girls flooding out and you may just wonder  “who told them all to dress up like that” nearly every single one of us are dressed almost identically. Skinny jeans, crop top, leather jacket and poker straight hair all because we are scared to be different. A girl who is slightly different will walk past and we will all turn round to look, as if an alien or something unseen of has been spotted. Why! Everybody should be able to dress the way they feel they are comfortable in and if that means they are not in the holy skinny jeans and crop top crew then so be it, we are all individuals and if our own clothes are not able to represent that and we are consequently hiding our true personalities then how are we as teenagers expected to grow up to be citizens that will be wise and fair in society.

What the media does not realise is that it has a massive effect on us, through the way they sell products and promote celebrities we are influenced greatly by it, even if we may not realise it. How many of us have felt a little fat after one too many custard creams and thought well Nicole Sherzinger wouldn’t have done that or prayed that by the power of Beyoncé we would put down that chocolate éclair. See it’s not only me! Without all these restrictions imagine what we could do, I would for one would shove down that éclair and then I would go to a school non-uniform day wearing my comfy Harry Potter Jumper and Gryffindor scarf, (I am a fanatical Potterhead), because who cares if I am labelled a geek as long as I am enjoying myself. Why have labels for people anyway, we should all live like we want to live because guess what you do not need to change for anybody and definitely not for media. To quote Oscar Wilde – “Be yourself everybody else is already taken.” Whoever you are, wherever you come from. I hope you will enjoy my blog because it is a place that we are all accepted. I’m new here and all your comment and views are much appreciated. Now you know a little about me stay tuned for the next post.

 

Lots of love Lule x