This story was originally published on 11/26/11, WABE-FM, Atlanta.
By Naomi Stamps
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Some of my confidence has come from my parents who have always told me how beautiful I am. I’m so blessed that they have instilled so many positive and godly things inside of me so that I can brush off any bad things others may say about me.
I try to tell my friends to do what I do. They don’t.
Instead, they compare themselves to Ciara, Jennifer Lopez, Beyonce and other celebrities. They make impossible beauty goals for themselves and then feel bad. When I hear young girls talk about body issues, I always hear my father’s voice saying, “Don’t let someone’s negativity affect you. Let your positive mindset affect them.”
I have mentors who not only teach me skills like playing the piano and creative writing, but also give me positive feedback. Many are women I can look up to and who have real beauty – not the magazine kind.
I’m proud of the way I look. Let the celebrities be who they are, because I am perfectly fine just being me.
Prevoiusly on WABE:
* Family Ties and Mom's New Baby
* Learning American Culture In The Fast Food Lane
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The following originally aired on KCBS.
By: Bianca Brooks
Becoming a victim of online vanity was easy. I just Photoshopped my blemishes and told a few white lies. My problem became drawing the line between who I really was and who I pretended to be.
When I joined Tumblr, a photo blogging site, I admired all the “beautiful” people. I too wanted to be “internet famous” with cool clothes and a high-resolution camera. How could I resist a world where it’s easy to “add” who you love and “delete” who you don’t? I said I was born in Hollywood instead of Orange County to sound more “glamorous”. One of my friends only uses headshots in her pictures to disguise extra weight.
My sister finally explained that people who are “loved” on Tumblr rarely live up to their images in reality and told me “get a grip” because this was only virtual appreciation and beauty.
It was a while before I became honest with myself and realized the internet constantly contributes to people’s insecurities. Now, I only offer myself, flaws included, and surprisingly people don’t mind.
My followers haven’t unfollowed me because my teeth aren’t perfect or my hair isn’t done. Maybe these insecurities were just virtual, too.
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The following originally aired on KQED-FM.
By: Bianca Brooks
When I joined Tumblr, a photo blogging website; I was in awe of all the “beautiful” people. I too wanted to be “internet famous”, to be appreciated for my beauty. I honestly believed with nice clothes, a cool camera, and a little luck, that thousands of Internet users would love me too.
It was an escape that let me be the person I felt I could never be in real life. My own faults and insecurities were hidden behind a computer screen. The praise I never got from my family and peers created the need for compliments, “likes”, and “reblogs”.
The problem was not that I enjoyed the attention, but mistaking this praise for validation of my beauty and intelligence, instead of taking it at face value for what it really was: The Internet.
But how could I resist slipping into a world where it’s so easy to “add” who loves you and “delete” who doesn’t? Photoshop and Picnik gave me that whiter smile I could never get with my nonexistent dental coverage. I said I was born in Hollywood instead of Orange County to sound more glamorous.
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Part of being a child is playing, dancing, going to the park, and enjoying the beauty of being a child. But there are certain parents with different parenting plans for their kids. Good Morning America sat down with a San Francisco pageant mom who injects her 8-year-old daughter with Botox. According to the mom, injecting kids with Botox is nothing out of the ordinary in the pageant world and she's only one of the many parents injecting their kids.
The mom claims that pageant competions are extremely competitive and by injecting her 8-year-old daughter with Botox is part of the winning process.
The following was broadcast on 11/27/10 WABE-FM, Atlanta.
By Deranda Butler
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I remember yelling so loudly, it probably scared some neighbors. My scalp began to feel as if it was being attacked by millions of fire ants. I was six years old… and I was getting my first perm.
When my mother finished rinsing and washing the chemicals from my hair, I ran my fingers through my long, black hair and was amazed. It felt just like the silky hair on my toy Barbies. My rough, carpet-like texture had disappeared – like magic. Every little coil was now relaxed to lay down with the other strands.
The tradition of getting perms continued for more than ten years. It just became routine every few months, like getting your car’s oil changed.
But no one warned me I was literally perming away some of my identity. Of course the hair I was born with would never be that straight – I wasn’t fooling anyone. I recently looked at my curly hair and fell in love with it. So, I am vowing to never perm it again. I want to have 100% natural hair. I feel like the closer I become to being all natural, the closer I become to be being the true me.
Previously from WABE:
• Community Service or Disservice?
• Atlanta Students Concerned about Loss of Accredidation
• Diplomas in Jeopardy in Atlanta
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Youth Image: Happy With the Way You Look?
Self image is always a hot topic among young people, but according to a new survey, certain groups of youth are more confident about the way they look than others.
The survey, executed by the YouthBeat youth insights service of C&R Research in Chicago, reports that 51 percent of youth agreed that they were, “happy with the way [they] look.”
Here are the percentages when broken down by age group, gender, and race:
Age
- 30 percent of fifth through eighth graders are happy with their appearance.
- 18 percent of ninth through twelfth graders are happy with their appearance.
Gender
(Numbers for girls not reported)
- 35 percent of the boys surveyed (grades 1 - 12) were happy with the way they look.
Race
- 48 percent of the African American youth surveyed strongly agree that they were happy with the way they look.
- 33 percent of Hispanic youth strongly agree that they are happy with the way they look.
- 30 percent of Caucasian youth strongly agree that they are happy with the way they look.
Youth Health: Where Does Teen Obesity Lead?
A recent study done at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill reported that overweight teenagers are highly susceptible to massive weight gain in their 20’s.
The study followed 9,000 participants ages 12 - 21 over 13 years. USA Today reported the following findings:
•About three-quarters of severely obese teens remained that heavy at age 30.
•Only 1%-2% of normal-weight teens became severely obese by the time they were 30.
•Normal-weight adolescents gained an average of 37 pounds from their teen years to age 30. Their average height was 5-foot-7.
The study lists several behavioral factors that impact weight gain as teens reach their twenties, such as finding new jobs, exercising less, and eating out at restaurants that serve big portions. In addition, once teenagers reach 21, they can more easily incorporate beer and other alcohol into their diet. Excessive drinking, which is often promoted in the college culture, can cause weight gain as well.
The USA Today article points out that this study takes into account the years before adulthood as, “One of the first studies to show what happens to teens who are obese — that is roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight — as they reach adulthood. Currently, about a third of children and adolescents in this country weigh too much, and two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese.”
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Everybody knows that pageants are based on looks and looks only. But does you hair color matter? Apparently it does. Fifteen-year-old Olivia O’Neil was stripped of her crown after dying her blond hair brown. Pageant spokesman Jevan Goulter confirmed the story to The New Zealand Herald saying, "The expectation in holding the crown [was] that she maintain the image she had when she won it."
The New Zealand Herald reports:
Olivia only had the crown for three months when she posted a new profile photograph on her Facebook page showing newly-dyed dark brown hair. Pageant organiser Barbara Osborne saw the picture online and asked: "Is that a wig?"Osborne continued: "I hope it is, don't give me heart failure","Oh my God, I hope it's a demi". "Please tell me that's a wig". Olivia replied saying it was not a wig and if Osborne didn't think it was "pageant worthy" then beauty pageants might not be for her. The comments led to Osborne saying: "Well you better decide, miss. Hand over your crown with an attitude like that. I'm sure someone will step into your place with manners."
But is it really about maintaining your original image? Or is that pageant officials couldn't see pass the brown hair? Whatever the case may be, it's situations like this that make girls insecure about themselves.
According to statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), nearly 210,000 cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed on people between the ages of 13-19 in 2009. The reason behind those surgeries was to improve their "awkward" or "flawed" physical characteristics.
One person that has mastered this art is Heidi Pratt. She’s has gotten a breast augmentation, Botox in her forehead and frown area, nose job and that’s just to name a few. Add seven more operations to that list and it will be complete, at least for now. As a fan I can agree with her mother Darlene Egelhoff who doesn’t support her “artistic expression.”
During an episode on “The Hills” Heidi went home to visit her mother for comfort and love but instead it turned into an argument. Egelhoff was upset that she wasn’t involved in her daughter’s decision making of what her husband Spencer Pratt calls “her creation”. Blowing things out of proportion lets just say Heidi now wants nothing to do with her mother and is filling for a restraining order.
Check out Spencer going head to head with Heidi’s sister over this issue.
Previously:
- Are Breast Implants al-Qaida's New WMD?
- Spencer from The Hills is the White Jay-Z?
- Beauty Amidst Chaos
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Girls, if you are considering moving to El Paso, Texas, I suggest reconsidering. According to Total Beauty, El Paso is ranked No. 1 of “eight cities with the ugliest guys”-sucks for El Paso men. Houston, Texas was also on the list -- what does this say about Texas men? At least I know I won't be moving out there. The study was based on the following:
“We studied everything from education stats and contraceptive and erotica sales (no sex generally equals less hot guys), to the number of gyms and the population's health, exercise habits, obesity and smoking rates in every city in the U.S. to find out where the fugly dudes are.” via Total Beauty
I was not expecting that fewer sales of contraceptives and erotica would be a measure for how many good-looking men are in the area. What do you think? Did your city make it on the list of the ugliest men?
8- Houston Texas
7-Philadelphia, Pa
6- Detroit, Michigan
5- Mobile, Alabama and Huntington, W. Va
4- Greensboro, NC
3- Miami, Fla
2- Hagerstown, Md
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