Freckles
On the former blog, one of my earliest and most popular posts for some reason was something I wrote about Natasha Bedingfield and specifically, a song that she had talking about how she’s single and she doesn’t have a problem with it in this cosmo/teen-vogue boyfriend=self-worth society. I know to some folks it’s cheesy/doesn’t matter as she’s a pop singer and she’s hugely successful but I’ve always liked her stuff and her new album (Pocketful of Sunshine) which was released in the US today is great as well. Say what you will but after working and talking to hundreds of young girls and boys, I know that (and I know i’m not making some startling discovery here) self-esteem is a huge issue for young girls in particular.* If our modern media systems tell young girls that basically, as Jean Kilbourne says, women shouldn’t have pores (among other disturbing things), then you can damn well bet that “the pretty girls” shouldn’t have freckles either. I know it’s a metaphor, which is why it works so well, but compared to a lot of the other crap out there, i’m glad that there’s at least someone who has consistently (and I mean consistently) been a positive female role model in music while sticking a giant middle finger to the men’s magazines that want her to pose for their covers.**
*I’ve written about this before but i’ll briefly say it here. The parents that I talk to when they tell us why they want their daughters enrolled in the program they always specifically say self-esteem. They almost never say this for boys. Do boys have problems with self-esteem? Of course they do, but it says something when it’s to the point where mothers and parents will be so specific as to say so and use thatword.
**According to her wiki, she refuses to do men’s magazines shoots. Go NB!