Speech- the influence of fashion on teenagers.
Hi. This's my speech I wrote for the comps at our school. Crits welcome :]
I'm aware that some of it may not make sense without seeing someone else read it to you. I've put in brackets things I did rather than said. Hope it's understandable enough, but if not, sorry about that, but it is, after all; a speech.
Oh, and by the way, my name is pronounced EYE-Larh. thanks.
[p.s~ sorry if I posted this twice by mistake.]
...
[said in a girly voice and spoken really fast]
Well Hi there! My name’s Isla. I like to
wear revealing clothes, flunk out of maths,
call everything hot, say like like 365 times
a day and wear a CM thick layer of make
up that takes an hour to apply every day.
[said on a monotone with my nose blocked.]
Salutations.
My name is Isla; but you can
call me Cyber Queen, I’m the third gamer
in New Zealand to defeat the level 64
boss.
[said in a low American gangsta voice/accent.]
Sup ma homey G. The names I-dog.
In my spare time I enjoy low riding
baggy jeans, wearing backwards caps,
and thinking I’m too cool for you.
[said in a low depressed voice]My name is Misery. I like to sit in
corners and cut myself, and just generally
cause physical harm to my body. It takes
my mind off the mental pain.
What I have just shown you, are four
examples of common stereotypes that
can be found in every high school.
Nerds, Emos, Plastics or populars,
and Gangstas.
As humans, we are drawn to people
who are like us... as a result of this,
you end up with little groups called
cliques.
The word clique originated
from the French language, and its
literal translation is together.
People in the cliques are bound to
each other by what they have in
common. Things like music tastes,
opinions, hobbies, and sometimes
race and or gender. But perhaps
the biggest influence on these
groups is fashion.
Colours, styles, designers...
everything. What you wear can have
a massive impact on who you’re
allowed to hang out with in the cruelly
complicated social food chain we call
adolescence. When we see people
for the first time, it’s quite often that
we think we can tell everything about
a person judging on how they’re
dressed.
Sometimes this is true, sometimes it’s
not. For example, if you were to see
a girl with a fake tan, a mini skirt small
enough to be a belt, a top that begins
*here* and ends *here*, then just from t
hat you can tell that this person is very
confident in their appearance. But
every case is different.
It may be that this girl isn’t very
confident. She may find herself giving
in to the pressure from her friends to
dress like them. Sometimes trends
like that eat away at your personality
until there’s nothing left except for what
everyone else in your clique wants
you to be. Fashion is a funny thing. It
makes us work so hard to be
something we’re just... not.
If you look through any magazines
you own, you’ll probably find that
any of the women in there are of the
same build. Tall, elegant, really
creepy skinny, tanned... I’m sure you
know the type. Isn’t this a horrible
example for anyone reading them?
because fashion doesn’t only apply
to clothing. It applies to bodies as well.
From a young age, whenever we see
pictures of people of billboards, and
on advertisements, we are brought up
to think that everyone has to look like
Johnny Depp, or Jessica Alba.
We’re brought up to think that there’s
only one way to look. This is not fair,
and not true.
There’s something I find really hilarious.
There’s a new style that was started
not long ago, called scene kidds.
This style focuses on individuality and
embracing your flaws. But what a lot
of the scene kids are doing, is copying
each other. They steal little bits from
everyone else, to make themselves
into what they want to be.
That must be what’s happening,
otherwise there’d only be one scene
kidd. Right? So what they’re really
saying to themselves is “I’m going to be
really unique, and be like them.”
Ridiculous, isn’t it?
So now I come to the big question.
Is fashion healthy? is what it’s doing
to us, as teenagers, a good thing?
the answer is far from simple. By
hanging out in our cliques, we feel
accepted. We know who we are, and
who we can rely on. Someone who
will agree with you, is never far away.
But fashion is cruel, and harsh. Over
time it’s gained the power to create
barriers between ourselves and
people in other groups.
The barriers are so hard to break
through, that few people bother to
try. It’s become easier to just stay
where we are, and not leave our
comfort zone, socially. So fashion
is extremely two sided. It can give
you confidence in yourself, but it can
also make you feel *this tall.*
Whether or not to embrace fashion
is up to the individual.
Who better to illustrate this then
one of my favourite gangstas
Jermaine ‘the J-dog’ Clement.
As the J-dog once said:
“Look. I’m a person. Brett’s a
person. You’re a person. That
person over there; is a person.
And we all deserve to be treated...
like a person.”
When fashion-related celebrities try to sound deep you end up with quotes like
"A woman should be two things. Graceful and stylish."
I think my favourite is::
"It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."
.[x.Izzle.x].
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Originally Posted by ReccyV
