I Will Proudly Take My "F"

"Sometimes I feel like I'm sittin' in the back row of Barbie and Ken 101
A class we are all in, but never seem to learn from
Some general ed requirement for
Students of American culture"

Society is a universal classroom that we are constanlty receiving a daily dose of brainwash from. A place where who we are and what we should become is laid out for us on television, magazines, billboards, etc. A mirror image of what young females urge to be is depicted through models that actually believe that "zero" is a size women should be in order to be accepted or considered beautiful. The issue of societal insecurities among young women is something that is hardly recognized and needed to be addressed. Rafael Casal's execution of his poem "Barbie and Ken 101," was wonderful.

When I say "young women" around the world, it includes me. Although I have limits to my daily studies of societal brainwash, I don't exclude myself and speak upon the issue as a hypocrite, but as a victim of this corruption. Trying to keep up with the new fashion trends, new gadgets, knowing what's "in" and what's "out." These are the basics to the little part of the big picture that I partake in. However, many females go through extremes such as starving themselves because they dont't believe they are trim enough. According to The National Institute of Mental Health, between 5-10 percent of girls and women suffer from eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia, binge eating disorder, or other associated dietary conditions.

"My teacher has no face
She is every Revelon model women have ever chased
Her lectures come through magazines in beauty shops & add campaigns,
Shit, just turn on your tv
This just in, a skewed perspective for todays youth
Y'al ladies aint thin enough, fellas aint trim enough, wanna be sexy?
Y'al don't go to the gym enough,
Cut to commercial,
C'mon just come tune in to our maintenance team,
Convince you're ugly then tell you how to fix it with maybeline
Perpetually started by these dolls marketed in the late 50's named
Barbie and Ken,
Hence, the class I'm in."

The administration that provides the notes for us to soak in, they are faceless. They show the norms of our world and turn them into faults and insecurities of a human being. Freckles, pimples, different size noses, chins, lips, etc., should be changed to what is "right" or "acceptable." So this makes it ok for young girls to hide there true beauty under coats of make-up, or lead to excessive measures such as surgery. The number of kids 18 and under having plastic surgery rose from just under 60,000 in 1997 to nearly 225,000 in 2003, according to statistics compiled by the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. How has this become a "norm" in our society?

"Less gut less pudge less lunch less real, more looks more love more Barbie appeal?

When little kids idols are Nicki Minaj or Lil' Kim, then we have a problem. Their construed mindset of beauty comes from molding themselves into looking like a "Barbies," where fake everything is "in." We were all uniquely created so that we could be easily differentiated, but if we all become a mirror image of what our faceless teachers (better known as "society") depicts as beauty, we diminish our originalty and began to lose ourselves.

"The most attractive women are the ones who don't give a f**k
So screw your teachings your lessons and plans
You skewed sick distant relative of the man
Your plan for brainwashin' my baby I reject
I'm walkin' out of this class, and I will proudly take, my F!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGsTfCL1Joc