In the depths of YouTube, I’ve recently stumbled over a show called “Make Me Over”. With Bethany Mota, a young beauty vlogger from the platform, as moderator and her “glam squad” consisting of a stylist and two hairdressers, the show is clearly targeted at girls from the ages 12 to 16. It remains untold if any of them are professionals or have at least some training.
Apparently, the team receives plenty of makeover requests from desperate female American teenagers who want to improve their outer appearance by copying the style of some celebrity. Some give reasons like wanting to change their style, an upcoming prom or having lost a lot of weight, whereas others have more serious issues. The saddest ones I’ve seen so far were requests coming from really young girls who were bullied at school because they looked too tomboyish. Hello? When I was 12, most children looked alike and there was no strict differentiation between male and female.
Personally, I think the show sets a terrible example for teenage girls with low self-esteem. Instead of encouraging them to stand up for themselves, they just doll them up with tons of makeup and cheap clothes from a trendy clothing brand. So actually shows like “Make me over” only perpetuate stereotypes and enhance the message of changing yourself to turn you into a more likeable/ popular person. Shouldn’t people accept you just the way you are?
Also, it only scratches on the surface of a far more complex problem: the effects of being brainwashed by the media. Teens are told to dress provocatively to appear all grown up. Can’t they do that ten years later? Guys, what do you think?
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