Herrington: Girls Get It

Our society has been so hell bent on selling us what we need in order to be complete, that we hardly have any real understanding of what it means to be human apart from our consumer culture. It seems that more and more and seamlessly so we are bombarded with images and made to feel that the world is being tailored to meet our every whim, even if the vast majority of them are the consequence of subliminal messages that are beamed solid at us from resources that have the agenda of creating within us the desire and need to be fulfilled by what they sell.

It is no real secret that advertising and the lurking culture of live data is so fully embedded into our lives that we are quickly becoming a facsimile of “The Truman Show”
in real life, all of us. And nowhere is this more persistent than in the field of gender identity and demographic analysis by the grooming media specialists. Every chain has a marketing savvy wisdom junkie insider who has as his or her sole mining job the lobbying of the human mind that is the target of whatever campaign is being run to sell whatever widget.

We can know that regardless of our demeanor, mindset, desires, capacity, or needs, someone somewhere wants everything we have, all of our resources, and all of our labor capacity and if they can get it for free without getting caught or indicted, they will try to do it. One of the most diabolical scenes that has been set into motion is the fashion industry’s need for turnover and the lust for the body du jour of the moment. We have seen some really odd things come down the pike for sure, but nothing beats the raw power of the image of perfection that has been foisted onto the feminine psyche.

I seriously do not think I could manage to survive the crushing weight of junior high as a female. If the tweens do not set their foot on the path of acceptability by the end of 8th grade, their lives are for the most part a pre-written script and the only thing that might save them is the beauty industry, inclusive of the diet and health industries. Skinny is in and it is not healthy. Fat is way out and it is not healthy either. Diabetes is rampant. And bulimia and anorexia are common. Starvation is an up and coming trend now for the in crowd to fit into their skinny jeans and boyfriend jeans and stove pipe stretch pants, and the look of death and devoid of life and the unliving and unlovable face are admired like burnt toast and needed at every moment to show an utter anti-hero distain for all things modern, family, corporate, and sensitive. If IDK was an excuse for the last generation then it is destination central for many young people today who have only eyes and ears for the latest gadgets and consumer technology. They, the devoid of historic context, could not be emo bothered with it all.

Now, this is not true of all youth. Some girls are working beyond the fashion sense. A new group of girls, many lesbian, have skipped right through the entire trap of needing continue to look 12 for the rest of their lives. The curvy girl is also making a comeback with a more realistic looking full figured gal on the horizon. Not fat, but fit enough to enjoy her days and nights. And sexual freedom has been a boon for women who are less likely to get tied down to a marriageless parenting if they can manage to convince men to use condoms. The relentless offering and many fast track ways men have discovered to encourage women to have sex with them has risen to the level where the vast majority of women I talk to reveal to me the demanding one-liner sexual onslaught is nearly inescapable.

Where women are now truly excelling is in the marketing of healthy eating and fitness training. They have finally figured out that health is not a reward for later but a necessity for right now. What men had done was to create war hero status for high school athletes with Bob and his winning catch on game day 35 years ago. What women have done is to raise the bar and created an industry built around lifelong health and fitness to be on the job, in the home, in the bed, and on the town. Women are not the new men, they are Woman 2.0 and they are going to teach the other younger girls that when someone says, “You hit like a girl,” it means you kick cancer’s ass, you raise a family, you go to work, and you have the self-worth to pick a life partner who can keep up with a woman who can run 5 miles, do cardio, and still look good at the end of the day. It is no wonder that men feel threatened. Look at what a woman who is finally taking care of herself for a change looks like! Devastating and capable, tough, strong and unwilling to compromise. Oops. And there you have it. Watch out for the PowerPrincesses of the world. They do not want to buy your crap or take your crap. And now you know why they kissed a girl and they liked it.

Check out my Tumblr page and see what positive fitness looks like, everybody. http://runningturtle87.tumblr.com/

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