amanda todd

Everyone is well aware of the story of Amanda Todd, the 15 year old girl who committed suicide after being bullied for over 2 years for flashing someone over a webcam when she was in the 7th grade. The story, the video, all of it has been dissected to within an inch of its existence, and the publics out pouring of sympathy has been overwhelming. Personally I have a few issues with this entire story.


People, young adults in particular, have taken to "social activism" which I define as "liking" or "retweeting" something powerful and feigning intrest for the time period in which this issue is prevalent and then moving on without a thought to the issue. It's because society is lazy and value notoriety for doing something "good" rather than ACTUALLY benefiting the cause.
"The media" functions under a 3 week news cycle, where they will discuss something incessantly and tell you all the things you should be feeling as a result. As soon as that dries up, they move on immediately, focusing solely on the task at hand. Guaranteed this story will have dropped off the face of the mainstream media in that period of time. And while we can only hope that something good comes from this, such as an anti bullying cause etc, there really is no telling, because hardly anyone will care to look.
With the immense outpouring of greif for the loss of Amanda, especially under the umbrella of her final message, in which she simply states "I have nobody...I need someone." (still gives me goose bumps to read that) there has been a  HUGE backlash! For whatever reason, people feel the need to express their anger over the fact that Amandas story is gaining all this attention when people are committing suicide over being bullied everyday and no one knows.  (See Below) I mean, this is a VALID point, a lot of people aren't gaining nearly the same amount of attention, HOWEVER it's gotten to the point where they aren't focusing on the poor dead girl but once again notoriety. It's NOT Amanda's fault that her video had this type of reaction, and that the media put so much focus on her. Believe it or not she has no control of the situation and to use a page dedicated to her after death to spread your message is just disrespectful to her memory.
I guess what i'm trying to say is, people are greedy and needy. Even when they're trying to do good, they are only looking to please themselves. *sigh*

"RIP Amanda Todd" - Facebook 

"RIP Amanda Todd" - Facebook

"Jessie J- Who You Are" Video - Youtube

international day of the girl

   Yesterday was the first official "International Day of the Girl" focused on uniting and inspiring women and young girls to be active in their communities, schools and understand that their lives are valuable. That they hold the key to growth and empowerment for themselves, their communities and society in general.


     Introduced by the United Nations and supported by Plan Canada, this day is devoted to inspirational talks and strong "Girl power" motifs, ideally through classrooms around the world. While I support all causes aiming to change perspectives on the role of women and enlighten those who think to deny basic human rights, I can't help but be cynical and downright confused about the purpose. What IS the point in focusing an entire day to this matter when the "real" people in need of such inspiration and motivation have little to no access to the information. This entire campaign was promoted through social media, television, radio etc. and let's get real those messages are not being heard in 3rd world and  developing nations. It would have been moe effective to NOT waste money on letting us know that TODAY we could celebrate being a female and send aid, winter + school supplies to those very "change makers".

    In some aspects I see and encourage this campaign, for example, the hypersexualization of todays youth, both male and female, through "trusted" media and networking outlets. When I was 12 I could barely utter the word "sex" never mind actually HAVE it. Now, I'm not judging anyone, because we have our own paths in life and we are truly free to follow them, however I cannot get passed the realization that the media is doing nothing but edging on behaviour that's UNHEALTHY, never mind "frowned upon". We need to continue encouraging youth that they are people, not objects and it's okay to wait because believe it or not, your vagina doesn't self combust...seriously, true story. Truthfully, how can this campaign even make a dent in the minds of girls/women in North America when we have shows like "Here comes Honey BooBoo", "Toddlers in tiaras", "Jersey Shore" and musicians like Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha, telling us that inorder to be fulfilled you must focus on beauty, men and being sexed up...it's too much work! I for one, GIVE UP!
   

   Also, please let's all remember that we can't blame the media for all of this, it's parents, classmates, society...but aren't THEY all influenced by the media? Whatever, it's just an endless circle of self doubt...who know's if we'll ever get out. Probs not...



If you would like to learn more about the campaign, feel free to click the link below!!
International Day of the Girl