Where have all the Snow Whites gone?

One of my most recent columns, for your entertainment. Enjoy!

Teens are growing up too fast, and I blame Britney Spears.

This past Halloween, my 15 year-old sister wanted me to help her put her costume together. She had found a pair of rabbit ears amongst our dumpster of Halloween memorabilia, and asked me if she could dress up as a bunny this year.

“Sure,” I told her, “just wear your pink pajamas, put on the ears and paint some whiskers, and you’ll be a bunny!”

She looked at me as if I had suggested that she smear chocolate all over her face. “Not THAT kind of bunny!”

Right. She meant the Playboy bunny. I should have known that- a while ago she wanted me to buy her a playboy bunny bellybutton ring, which I refused.

As I dropped my sister at her friend’s Halloween party, I couldn’t believe the costumes that the 13 to16-year-olds guests were wearing. When I was younger, I remember wanting to dress up as my favorite Disney characters. Later on, I preferred to stick to classic Halloween figures, such as a witch, a devil or a cat, as I like to now. Show a teen one these costumes today, and they’ll laugh in your face. But there were no Snow Whites or Batmans at this teen party. Instead, I saw play bunnies, naughty schoolgirls, seductive vampires, gothic angels, pimps, gangster rappers, Lara Croft and one girl who described herself as a forest whore. Thanks to teens, Halloween costumes just aren’t what they used to be.

Why are teens dressing like this? I’m not just talking about how they dress for Halloween; I’m also referring to their everyday dress.

A lot of people say that it’s because of the influx of advertising aimed at teens, and even tweens, meaning the 8-12 year age group. They are not teens, but yet, they act like teens.

These ads are producing mini-Britney Spears and little Backstreet Boys. All of the sudden, little girls are wearing midriff baring tops and young boys are spending hours in front of the mirror, using the whole jar of hair gel to make sure every hair on their heads sticks up straight, just like the guys in N’Sync. Back when I was a tween, or a kid as they called us in those days, I wore anything that my mom bought me. Parents just can’t buy clothes for their kids anymore.

I recently took my twelve-year old cousin shopping. She was looking for clothes to wear everyday at school. Store after store, I showed her some items, but she kept shaking her head. Finally, she pointed to a group of girls about her age, and said, “I like what they’re wearing.”

I cringed as I glanced at three girls. One had a t-shirt that read “my boyfriend is out of town.” Another wore pubic-bone baring hip-huggers. The last one was wearing a black off-the-shoulder shirt that was almost see-though.

I never thought my cousin would be interested in wearing these kinds of clothes. From the media, girls get the message that they must show off their ass cracks in order to impress. It’s hard for even the chastest girl to remain so in this society. Even teens who aren't interested in sex are still interested in being sexy. If this annoys me, I can’t imagine how their parents feel. I guess it’s just the J. Lo generation.