To hate the vacuousness of some young girls nowadays?

[CarryOnCharon]

I find it so sad. 12 year olds obsessed by beauty brands, TikTok, doing their hair for school, fake tan, ridiculously short school skirts, it all seems so sad. And they are clones. Room in their heads only for brands

i know this is not all of them.

This is worth a read. It's not harmless.

https://www.dove.com/us/en/stories/campaigns/social-media-and-body-image.html

Nothing new. It's but 'these days'. I remember being overly concerned about having the cool shoes and girls going gaga over bands when I was a 12 year old. They are kids. They are kind of all over the place. Don't be an old fart

Well most have £4.99 B+M dupes! What on earth makes you think having a cup or nails = no childhood?

I was totally a vacuous teen. Putting on eyeliner in school toilets, dousing myself in perfume, using my mums Dior skin care when she was out of sight 🙈 Been a successful doctor for 20years now.

It’s so different now

All you folks saying this are wearing rose tinted glasses about your youth

I definitely remember "vacuous" stuff being popular among my peers when I was 12 in the early 00s. The brands weren't as pricey but it was still the same basic desire to be on trend and cool by having the right names.

It’s part of a bigger culture where teen life is sheer materialism and being cooped up on screens.

What a sexist and unpleasant undertone on this thread. I find it so strange when grown women are so judgemental and derogatory about young girls and women. Leave it, they don't have to be in any way that pleases you or gets your approval.
Op you are projecting your misogyny. Sad.

But now you’d be sneering at your mother’s perfume and demanding the latest sm approved fragrance.

This is the massive difference

Yes - social media is an issue in general - I doubt anyone disputes this - which is why, as actual parents of teen girls (and boys) we need to have open communication, trust and awareness - but the OP is not talking about that - they are just labelling teenage girls as 'vacuous' because they like discussing make up.

YABU. I've taught many girls with fake tans, false eyelashes and nails, and perfect makeup, who also study hard and have serious career ambitions. Don't assume the two are incompatible. Yes I think it's a bit of a shame that they feel the need to comply with these beauty standards, but don't you dare call them vacuous. The interest in beauty is only a small amount of who they are.

Riled up skirt ✅
Sun in ✅
Gradual tan moisturiser ✅
Foundation ride mark round the chin ✅
Blue mascara ✅
Shiny lip gloss ✅
Any trend going in Cosmo ✅

We were no different in the 90s.

and yes, we were into "brands" they were just the brands the time - Barry M, Boujois, No17, Bodyshop, Rimmel anyone?

I think that’s a bit naive of you op… that was the young herd mentality back then. Exactly as now it’s Kardashian figures and tiny Nike shorts. They would argue they are experimenting with different beauty looks and latest skin technologies. It’s a reflection of current pop culture, exactly like you describe the pop culture of the 80s!!!

@ghostyslovesheets no they're the real Stanley cups in the classrooms I've been in. I counted 6 all same shades colours though clearly a friendship group.

When I say no childhood I mean that. instead of worrying about being cool or what so and so has , comparisons or what Molly Mae is doing - I've heard this from 10 year olds. And TikTok stuff all the beauty stuff too.

They could be playing? The constant phones etc isn't helpful for childhood let alone adulthood.

It’s so different now. These aren’t trends, they are must haves

12 year olds in body con outfits and full nightclub makeup as seen on the media

But teens have ALWAYS (well post war) been targets by consumerism and media - that's not new. I can only speak for my 3 but, while they do engage a lot in SM they are not cooped up on screens 24/7

Well I was going to actual nightclubs at 14 - in 1984 so that's an improvement!

Yours might not be captured, of course not

But many are

Unless "close association" means you live with them, (although even then to make the outlandish claim you know what someone thinks about "all the time" is obviously non sense) then it all stands.

If they live with you, then I would both lay some blame at your door, and or pity the girls involved.

If they do only think of brands then their parents have failed them and they deserve no ire- rather judge their parents for their mistakes, not the children who are but products of their upbringing.

@FaeryRing @ghostyslovesheets

the consumerism is starting earlier and earlier. Does a 10 year old need a £45 cup...

This!

Hurray for progress! 👀

*demanding the latest sm approved fragrance.

This is the massive difference*

The only difference is that we were influenced by the SM of the time in the form of magazines like Cosmo and Bliss because the internet didn't exist.

It's still social influence!

The trend, and the consumerism, is different, and it’s not harmless

Of course they bloody don’t.

All very well making yourself look like a five star feminist and cooool mannnnn by calling OP a misogynist and out of touch, but in 20 years when these girls are crippled with anxiety they are now and wondering why the fuck we didn’t empower them to rein in the impossible beauty standards that have resulted in the horrors of lip filler, Botox and experimental ‘vitamin injections’ etc what will we say then?

It’s nothing like wearing bloody blue eye shadow in the 80s, stop the faux naivety