Hit Me
Age and Dating
Have you ever seen a teenage girl with an older guy and thought “gross” or even “wish that was me?” Many people find this situation to be weird, gross, etc. When I say older I’m not talking about a year or two older, a scenario many of us see. I’m talking about four or more years apart in age. What about a sixteen year old dating a twenty year old? Is that safe? How about a 20 year old dating a 26 year old? As we get older the age differences matter less and less and it seems like it only becomes a problem when the girl or guy is in their early to mid teenage years. What if the situation was reversed? What if a 25 year old woman dated a 19 year old boy? As we get into the previous situation, the women are looked down upon for such acts. For males, this seems to be a normal thing. As the age gaps get bigger people get labeled as cougars, pumas, and other names. What do you think about these situations? What are your thoughts on the matter?
Networking Sites: Good or Bad?
How many of you use networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, or any other? There are so many out there, but the most popular at the moment, are Facebook and MySpace. Currently there are more than 400 million people using Facebook alone. They are a great way to keep in touch with friends or get to know new ones. While these sites might have their advantages, there is also a dark side to them. Stories in the news are popping up showing how these sites are being used to cyber bully, steal identities, and harass people. As well as that, there is a whole other issue regarding privacy. Facebook in recent months changed its privacy settings making it easier for users to control who sees what, but at the same time things such as applications, games, and fan pages can take your information and share it with third parties. So, are these sites doing more good than bad and are they invading our right to privacy? What are your concerns and thoughts on the matter?
Tags: privacy, networking sites
Dumbledore was gay, JK tells amazed fans
There could hardly have been a bigger sensation if Russell Crowe, Rod Stewart or Sven-Goran Eriksson had come out of the closet. Millions of fans around the world were yesterday digesting the news that one of the main characters in the Harry Potter novels, Albus Dumbledore, is gay.The revelation came from author JK Rowling during a question-and-answer session at New York's Carnegie Hall. It instantly hurtled around the internet and the world. News websites in China and Germany announced starkly: 'JK Rowling: "Dumbledore is gay".' One blogger wrote on a fansite: 'My head is spinning. Wow. One more reason to love gay men.'
After reading briefly from her mega-selling book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, on Friday night, Rowling took questions from an audience of 1,600 students. A 19-year-old from Colorado asked about the avuncular headmaster of Hogwarts School: 'Did Dumbledore, who believed in the prevailing power of love, ever fall in love himself?'
The author replied: 'My truthful answer to you...I always thought of Dumbledore as gay.' The audience reportedly fell silent - then erupted into prolonged applause.
Rowling, 42, continued: 'Dumbledore fell in love with Grindelwald (a bad wizard he defeated long ago), and that added to his horror when Grindelwald showed himself to be what he was. To an extent, do we say it excused Dumbledore a little more because falling in love can blind us to an extent, but he met someone as brilliant as he was and, rather like Bellatrix, he was very drawn to this brilliant person and horribly, terribly let down by him.'
She added: 'Yeah, that's how I always saw Dumbledore. In fact, recently I was in a script read-through for the sixth film, and they had Dumbledore saying a line to Harry early in the script saying, "I knew a girl once, whose hair..." I had to write a little note in the margin and slide it along to the scriptwriter, "Dumbledore's gay!"'
Amazed by the warm reaction of the audience, Rowling, on her first US tour in seven years, joked: 'Just imagine the fan fiction now.'
Source: the Guardian
So my question to YOU Hit Me readers.... are you still shocked about Dumbledore's outing?
Chocoholic | age 16 | Singapore | April 8, 2010
Tags:
It’s Snow Joke
As snow is blanketing the ground, what are your thoughts on the weather? Do you enjoy it or is a nuisance to you? Might it be a sign of global warming or climate change?
I know getting around when it's like this is very dangerous, and with the Christmas season underway, everybody's busy traveling to their family and friends homes. For mainly young teenagers, it is an enjoyable occasion: making snowmen, snowball fights, snow angels and etc. But for others, they begrudge the extra cold that the snow brings with it. I want to know all of your thoughts about this by posting your opinion using the submission box at the bottom of the page.
I look forward to hearing what everybody has to say!
New Columnist :)
Hey all, i'm going to be the new columnist for Hit Me! I hope I can make this column exciting and fun for you all, and I hope that you can share your ideas with me by submitting anything you like into the little box at the end of the page. If you have any queries or article suggestions, let me know using that and I will try and get back to you a.s.a.p.'Til then,
Jess.
The VMAs
So last night, I was watching a bit of the VMAs. I don’t think we’re going to get the full broadcast here in Singapore until maybe next week, but I’d read about all of the fiasco that had occurred, and wanted to see it myself. So I head on over to on my favorite websites, YouTube to see what it was all about. Apparently, what had happened was that Taylor Swift (blonde curly hair, slanty eyebrows, sings country?) won an award. She had been up against people like Beyonce and Lady Gaga, so it was quite a surprise for her that she’d won. She was giving her acceptance speech, looking quite striking in a sparkly silver Grecian dress and bold red lipstick, when suddenly, Kanye West (of all the people) climbed up on stage. He took the mike from her, and said, “I’ma let you finish, but I just wanted to say…” and then he proclaimed to the entire VMA audience that Beyonce had the best music video of all time. The camera panned to Beyonce’s shocked face and Kanye repeated what he had said… as if the first time, we didn’t hear him properly. I don’t really know how he got offstage, but I do remember Taylor Swift standing there looking quite sad and speechless. She clearly had no idea how to react to what had just happened… and how could she? There is no lesson you can take, on what to do if you’ve been treated like this in front of the entire world by a respected (not anymore) artist. She looked quite sad, and although I don’t really like Taylor Swift, it was really mean of Kanye West to do that. Can he not mind his own business? Even if he doesn’t agree with the award, it doesn’t mean that he has to tell everyone. He could keep it inside, right? I heard a ton of things about what happened after that. Apparently, Kanye was told to go home, as he was quite drunk (remember the cognac in his hands while taking pictures on the red carpet?). Someone also informed me that he went backstage and found Taylor Swift and her mom crying. Now, I really don’t know how true these allegations are, but I know he apologized to them, and he said that Taylor’s mother had told him exactly what his mother would’ve said. Ho-kay. Later, he wrote an apology to Taylor on his blog about what happened. I don’t think it was much of an apology… just something you’d quickly scribble on a sheet of toilet paper, you know? Poor Swift. Having to deal with all this at a young age of 18. I think she was quite classy about the whole thing… about as classy as you can get, I suppose. She didn’t rant about it on Twitter… she’s kept quite a low profile, I think. This incident had others fuming too. Spencer Pratt (one half of Speidi) was furious at Kanye and took to this Twitter to upload his thoughts every two seconds. Perez Hilton wrote on his blog about it, and others from Katy Perry to Kellie Pickler tweeted and offered their support to Taylor. Others think this was a clear act of racism. DIdn’t Kanye West himself state that George Bush didn’t like black people? Remember how Mike Meyers shot him that look right after he’d said that? Remember the huge controversy it caused? Remember how they spoofed it on Epic Movie? Well. What do you think, Hit Me readers?Chocoholic | age 16 | Singapore | September 15, 2009
Tags:
What do you think of OctoMom?
So everyone knows OctoMom right? She’s been on the news way too many times for me to count, and she’s said some really outrageous things, which have shocked many people and made them wonder if it is a good idea for her to take care of her fourteen children. That’s right. Fourteen. Six previously, and eight after she purposely had embryos implanted through an IVF procedure.
Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? Circa 2001, newly separated Nadya Suleman decided it would be fun begin IVF treatments from the doctor. In all of her six pregnancies she was implanted with six embryos. “The treatments resulted in four single births and one fraternal twin birth, with four boys and two girls born between 2001 and 2006.” Yeah. Try saying that five times fast. She had six children ON PURPOSE even though she’d filed a worker’s compensation’s claim in 2000. Did that mean she was essentially out of work? She received her money, and reportedly went to university to study child and adolescent behaviour in 2006. So by now, she has:
- Elijah Makai Suleman (boy, 7 years)
- Amerah Yasmeen Suleman (girl, 6 years)
- Joshua Jacob Suleman (boy, 5 years)
- Aiden Suleman (boy, 3 years)
- Calyssa Arielle Suleman (girl, twin, 2 years)
- Caleb Kai Suleman (boy, twin, 2 years)
Then, realizing that she had six more embryos left from the IVF treatments, she thought, “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to implant ALL those leftover embryos? Yeah!” And she told the doctor to go ahead. When asked why, she stated that she didn’t want the frozen embryos to be destroyed. They implanted all six embryos, and one of the embryos split into two, which resulted in eight whole babies being born. Of course, news of the pregnancy caused worldwide speculation. People were outraged that an unemployed mother had purposely implanted herself with six embryos and gotten eight more babies when she already had six previously. This even caused a mini protest outside her house. She started receiving death threats, as public reply was largely negative. Many people were angry over the fact that Suleman’s decision would burden taxpayers via public support. A baby seat has been thrown at the back window of her Toyota Minivan.
Publicity still circulates around Suleman. In February 2009, Vivid Entertainment asked Nadya to do a pornographic flick. Although she declined, she has had a history of being a topless exotic dancer previously. She has also had a ton of money problems. In 2008, her parents filed for bankruptcy, “citing nearly $1 million in liabilities.” There are also rumours of the Octomom undergoing plastic surgery to look more like her idol, Angelina Jolie, while Jolie herself claims that OctoMom’s “totally creepy”. Below are some before and after pictures: 
Even an untrained eye can tell of the work she's had done. So my question to you, Hit Me readers is, what do YOU think of Nadya Suleman? Do you think it was the right decision to not destroy the frozen embryos? Do you think it was okay for her to give birth to 8 children, even though she's financially not stable? Tell me what you think!
Chocoholic | September 1, 2009
Tags: assisted reproductive technology, ivf, octomom, high order multiple births
Curvy vs. Skinny
I believe that the most noticeable media pressure is always going to be in the opposite direction of where you lie. That sentence made no sense. Basically, I think that it doesn't really matter which direction the media is mostly leaning towards, because there's always pressure to be the idealized version of something, and nobody is the idealized version of anything. If you identify as being thin, you notice television, movies, magazines, etc. promoting being larger, and if you feel like you actually have a figure, you notice the same sources saying that you need to lose weight or you're undesirable. Until the media, as a unified front, comes out and says that every body type is beautiful and nobody needs to change, there will always be pressure in every direction. -Jamie, 19 from Arizona
As a 'curvy' girl myself, I haven't really noticed any extra pressure to be super skinny - but I have noticed girls whose bodies I envied telling me that they were envious of my butt, or my chest. So in my opinion, the pendulum might have begun to swing the other way. Shopping for good clothes that fit, though, is still quite a challenge! Manufacturers haven't realized that if a girl has a large chest or butt she might still have a small waist. It's a frustration every time I go shopping.
I did notice that sometimes people confuse 'curvy' with 'overweight', though, which isn't the case at all, at least for me. It's possible to be curvy and healthy at the same time. -Crystal, 18 from United States
I think it depends on your culture and where you live. I live in New York City and I find it okay to be any size as long as you're not fat. Now the way that I define fat, is a girl that is in bad body portion such as if your stomach comes out further than your chest etc. As a minority there is a lot of pressure to have a curvy butt. In my experience if you live in a neighborhood that has a health food store and such, then guys would rather that you're thin without many curves rather than out of shape. However if you live in a neighborhood that doesn't offer healthy food choices, guys seem to accept girls with jiggling thighs, and stomachs hanging over their pants as long as they have big breast and a big butt. I think girls pressure themselves to be whatever guys in their area likes. -Chrissy, 18 from New York
I for one think stick skinny girls are gross. But define curvy. Curvy as in boobs and butt or like heavy. I don't mean to sound shallow, but no matter how pretty your face is or how nice you are, if you're a 15 year old girl and you weigh 300 pounds that's just not attractive. Now I'm not saying that I'd look the other way just because someone was on heavy side , but there's a limit. But a girl does have to have curves. I think those really skinny girls just look all awkward. Work out or eat a little more or something! -Ashlee, 14 from California
I think media pressures thin girls to be thick and curvy girls to be thin. Every single thing under the sun will be criticized by the media. If your hair is too short, if you have a certain look, how much you weight, your race, whatever and etc! So I think pressure goes both ways. Though, I want to point out that there has been a little bit of an incline trend through out the years and decades. In the early 20th century it was all about the boy thin figure for the flappers during the 1920s, then as we approximated an era of the Great Depression in the United States and post-WWII era, it was all about curvy woman and Marlyn Monroe. Then in the 1960s it was all the rage for the Twiggy image. And in the 1990s we got more curvier athletic models. And slowly into the 21st century we have had a mixed of these. The question here is why the slight movements on these body ideals? After a few history and psychology courses I've taken I see that there has been a correlation between cultural historic movements and society media. In the 1920s, America was prosperous and was able to focus on other aspects of life since industrialization, mass produced consumerism and urbanization helped deplete the normal agricultural and traditional roles of Americans. Women in particularly, were able to focus on fashion, consumerism and more than just being at home. This was the rebellious period for American girls where they can cut their hair short, wear short skirts, smoke, curse, breaking from the traditional stay-at-home image. The traditional image that included the curvy woman. So this why a very boy waif figure was adopted and embraced.
During the 1930s, where the Great Depression began to the end of WWII, curvier and "stronger" women were being embraced like Rosie the Riveter and Marilyn Monroe. There is an explanation for this sudden change of image and that is a sociological factor. The Great Depression and WWII was a very difficult time in the United States where there was an economic crisis and a lot of men have been killed during the war. Usually in cultures where there is famine (something that can happen during a economic crisis) curvier girls are praised. This is because the curvier and plumper girls are, the more healthy and fertile. This something that was necessary during this time in the United States. By this I mean that since we were in an economic crisis great issues of inflation on produce (especially food) and the death of thousands of men being killed by the war, this was the time for the image of curvy woman to step in. Where the curvy women represent healthy and fertility something that was necessary in this situation. Now the 1960s was when skinny was in, baby doll dresses, small breasts, and that pre-pubescent teenager look was in. This was after the baby boom happened in the United States, and the need for the curvier women didn't need to be as present. And ever since then, the image has been on and off for about 30 years.
Now, I think maybe there is a slight movement into the curves because of the same thing that happened in the Great Depression. Economic times are hard, which means there maybe difficulty in being still healthy, and getting enough nutrition. Curvier girls obviously will be interpreted as healthy from an evolutionary perspective because they're more likely to carry children and genes on. So I think that even though media dictates a lot of what is in and what is out, people forget those socio-cultural and evolutionary factors. -Beee, 19 from Texas
While I don't know if there's more pressure either way, as a skinny girl, I definitely feel pressure to be "curvier". I've been accused of not eating enough. On the contrary, I eat a ton. Ice cream is my best friend. I've been told that I must have to work out a ton to have my figure. I don't. I'm thin by nature. There is nothing I do to stay skinny, it's just how I'm supposed to be. Personally, I hate hearing people talking about how the images we see of women who look a lot like me are unhealthy and shouldn't be looked up to. I'm perfectly healthy. Hearing that makes me feel guilty, like I'm responsible for heavier girls feeling bad about themselves because of my body shape. But while I realize there is a ton of stuff in the media telling girls they need to be skinny, there's also a lot that tells girls that being curvy is sexy. The phrase "real women have curves", for instance, implies that skinny girls are some not real.
I also don't like the way that the term "curvy" has come to describe anyone other than skinny girls. We're not all stick straight. For me, my hips measure 34", my waist measures 25", and my chest measures 35". If that's not curvy, I don't know what is. However, it seems that since at 5'7" and 115 lbs, it seems that the word "curvy" can't apply to me. -Anjali, 16
Next Time On Hit Me
I was doing a bit of research and this surprised me. Right now, the kids and teenagers are known as 'Generation Z' . Generation Z is anyone born after 1994, around the time when the internet became a common thing. We are the generation that's grown up with internet as a commonplace and with modern technology in general. We're considered to be impatient, being used to having everything we want in an instant. We also 'lack' interpersonal skills, seeing how easy it is nowadays to have any kind of relationship without personally knowing the person (via Facebook or what have you) . However, we are expected to have great work ethic and either be the generation of/before the next big revolution. To all you Generation Z kids, do you think this description fits us? And to all you non-Generation Z-ers, how do you think the current generation is growing up compared to yours and will they have what it takes to shape the future? -Aku, 13 from United States
Tanya says...
Thanks for your input Crystal! I'm pear-shaped so I generally just look good in dresses.... pants don't suit my lower half of the body much.
That's quite an insight, Beee! I hadn't thought of it that way Beee. But you're right! Plumper women do appear more fertile and healthier.
Aku, what a great theme idea! We haven't had this one before. That's actually quite an interesting topic, and I'm sure Hit Me will get tons of responses. Right, guys?
Tags: body image, curvy and skinny, hit me