Against the Flow

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Against the Flow

The stereotypical American teenage girl follows the entertainment industry as if it were her livelihood. She listens to pop, rap, and R&B. She goes shopping almost every weekend for the next midriff-baring fashion. Television is scheduled into her day as if the VCR had never been invented. She is on top of the trends, ready with plastic in hand for anything the market will push her way.

I am not your typical teenage girl. I like to see movies, but often put everything else ahead of going to a movie theatre and must catch up by watching several movies from the video store. When pop describes a genre of music rather than a carbonated beverage, I often find that I will know the words to an entire song without ever learning its title or artist. And there are certainly no skimpy clothes in my closet or drawers.

I feel as though I am looking from the outside in on the teenage world. Despite my being in this age group, I have never really been caught up in the group that has the most disposable income in the United States. I constantly observe a cycle of desire and consumption with nothing standing between teenagers and the latest fad. But how did this cycle start? How will it ever end? More importantly, is it even healthy?

The trends within the teenage market do not begin with the teens themselves. Rather, we are targeted as the group with disposable income, and a LOT of it. Most teenagers with summer jobs use the money to buy more "stuff": a car, an iPod, or a new outfit for the coming school year. This attitude towards money breeds irresponsibility. We are taught to spend, not to save. If we want something, we should buy it on impulse. Where are the parents in this cycle? They hand over the cash in the form of allowances, credit cards, and "love me" gifts. Among my friends, many kids who grew up in broken homes or double-income households receive money as gifts when the parents can't spend time with their kids. In essence, they were saying, "I don't have time for you, so here is some money; go buy something you want." Or so I have been told by teenagers in this situation. All this money being shoved at teenagers with no bills to pay leaves them with a wad of cash just begging to be spent.

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