Sheissocute08:9:08pm: Why R U.. Curious??

When reading how girls value Instant Messaging or IM in (Instant Identity) I think it sums up how most girls feel, especially in adolescence that IMing is a private conversation shared between people that cannot be shared with others and cannot inhibit them but allow them to truly express how they feel to friends and others. We start the identity process through the creation and use of screen names like on AOL (America Online) to the way we decorate our icons, our background textbox, the font, smileys, etc. It’s essentially another portal of communication but explored and researched it is part of our identity because we personify that portal to reflect our own interests and how it best represents our nature. It’s not too much of a shock to find that 13 million teens are exposed to IMing. I think it’s important to remember what it was like at thirteen, and IMing, we all had at least one conversation where we wouldn’t be caught dead asking our parents about, “what is swallowing,” and while we may have felt ashamed thinking about it now, we were just curious because depending on our cultures, not all of us were fortunate to receive an objective view of things. So we relate to one another and create a vernacular for phrases that have been translated or created over generations but are socially acceptable under the right circumstances.

However I understand all this opportunity of self-expression doesn’t equate to good intentions or publicity. Personally I was partially ashamed and embarrassed to find that some girls, specifically the African American girls described in the Get On My Level passage. There seemed to be a lot of need to explicitly express their sexuality in provocative profile photos or taking excerpts of hip-hop lyrics that identify women as sexual tools or use their sexuality as a weapon of social status. With my experience with MySpace, I have seen this across the board for many races however there was a tendency for African American girls to stand out from time to time and it’s a little disappointing to see that research confirm my experiences. However I think if it weren’t for these methods of self-expression, there wouldn’t be an opportunity to address the issue of sexual identity and researchers would probably have a harder time in trying to find how adolescents associate themselves, especially when we’ve habitually discussed how media has a huge influence.

“Girls will express themselves when they feel they are in a safe place, free from judgment or inhibiting adults or male peers.” .I think one of the reasons why gurl.com has become so interactive is due to its girl authored sections to state how they feel and ask questions. There are sections like the facts about (insert topic here – and there are quite a few) that offer expert and factual advice so that false information isn’t being passed around but at the same time, the information is just that there are no attitudes, no judgments nor opinionated disclaimers about the information, just a channel for girls to know the facts about certain sexual and health topics and a chance to make their minds about the information given.