The Teenage Taboo

            As I was wandering around the mall a couple days ago, I noticed something particularly unnerving in Barnes and Noble. While perusing the shelves I walked past a few disgruntled employees restocking books in what appeared to be the “Teen Fiction” section. I overheard the male employee talking loudly about how  “s***ty” Twilight was and how irritating it was to deal with the billions of “stupid” teenage girls that came by looking for the books. His female coworker had chuckled in agreement, but quietly mumbled that they weren’t “that bad” and that she had actually enjoyed them. The male employee quite literally glared her down- after which he told her that she has “got to be kidding him” and that the books were “insipid teenage trash.” The girl quickly acquiesced and ducked her head in an ashamed way. At that point I had already lingered too long eavesdropping on their conversation so I casually strolled away, leaving this memorable scene behind.

            Several things bothered me about what had transpired. However, one particular thought really struck me. What’s the deal with teenage girls? Why does everything they touch apparently turn into something equivalent to dog feces?

It seems like whenever the general teenage girl population decides they like something, a taboo force field is placed around that thing and it automatically becomes worthless, frivolous, and silly. Take Justin Bieber, for example. While within the social sphere of the teenage girl there is pressure to like him, outside that sphere there is pressure to hate him- or be doomed to the superficial and naive teenage girl stereotype. Why can’t tastes be tastes? Does society need to portray the interests of teenage girls as cheap and silly? I think that this concept of the “teenage girl curse” really undermines feminism too. All too often I have discovered that one of my favourite self-proclaimed feminists falls prey to the trend of demeaning and patronizing teenage girls and their interests.

Being younger may make you less experienced, but does it make your interests any less sincere? I don’t believe so. It is sad that an older person like the girl employee in the bookshop feels the need to defend herself from being accused of sharing some tastes with a teenage girl demographic, like she should feel shameful of it. No wonder teenage girls are notorious for their low self esteem- they are constantly told that everything they love is silly and worthless and “insipid teenage trash.” Imagine a world in which tastes aren’t classified with certain genders and age groups. People would definitely feel more freedom to love what they love- and never be ashamed of it.