Media Friday: How to Rock Braces and Glasses

If you aren’t familiar with the title, it’s a book-turned-new show on Nickelodeon that seems very promising in terms of helping to build young teens’ self esteem and reminding them that looks are only part of the equation.

Even though I have never read the book or seen the show, I think that the concept is very promising. What makes me root for both the book (there’s a sequel coming out this fall) and the show even more is the fact that the author of the book is a teenager herself!

In the book, a popular teen that everyone deems as beautiful and seemingly perfect while she is wearing the latest labels and up on the most current trends, is in for a rude awakening when her outward appearance changes and she now has to wear braces and glasses. Those same people who were there for her when she was popular, are repulsed by the thought of her now that her appearance has been altered.

While this is geared towards tweens and teens, this is a situation that I have witnessed occur to others far too often in everyday life; perceptions become realities. I have even seen some women refuse to leave the house unless they had on a full face of makeup, an outfit picked out by a stylist, and a manicure that has just been freshly done. It’s as though their appearance has become their security blanket, and without that comfort insecurities abound.

This brings me to the question that I think is important to consider and meditate on:

Who are you? If you take away the MAC makeup, the trendy clothes, the sky-high platforms, the eye-catching accessories…if all of the exterior parts were stripped away, what would be revealed and do you like what you see?

***To learn more about the show’s concept, or to read the interview with the book’s author (Meg Haston) as she sits down to talk with Debra Gano, CEO of teen magazine BYOU (Be Your Own You) , check it out here.***