Jezebel: Teenagers

Teen Girl Gets Lipo To "Prevent" Eating Disorder

Intern Margaret — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:00:00 EDT

Today on The View, we met 15-year-old Amanda, who had a breast reduction and liposuction on her stomach. Amanda is small, so you can see that DD/E cup breasts might be a strain on her tiny frame. But since she is obviously not obese, why would lipo be necessary? To prevent an eating disorder, of course! Amanda's mom explained that everyone in their family has belly fat, so she knew that even though her daughter was "eating less and less" it would never go away. Amanda's doctor had no problem doing the surgery, since "not everyone is blessed with the right looks," and he likes to "give children who are disadvantaged a chance to look better." Check out the clip above, and try to figure out what about Amanda's normal physique made her so "disadvantaged."

Baby Borrowers: Fake Parents Teach Real Parents About Respect

Slut Machine — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 11:00:00 EDT

Last night on The Baby Borrowers, the teen parents had to deal with perhaps the most challenging task to date: Raising teenagers. One couple, Alicea and Cory, were placed with an insolent, destructive 13-year-old boy who clearly has no respect for anyone. When his mother came to pick him up at the end of the experiment, Alicea and Cory were sure to let her know just how ill behaved he was. But she was one of those "Oh, not my child" kind of parents, insisting that the teens just weren't assertive enough. Alicea and Cory held their ground, and I think they really actually walked away from this one learning a valuable lesson: That children are a reflection of the way their real parents raise them, not the way their fake, TV, teen parents handle them for 3 days.

“It's Fun To Be Seventeen", Unless, Of Course, You're Seventeen

Intern Margaret — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:00:00 EDT

It’s been a while since I’ve read Seventeen, but I assumed not much would have changed. Through the ages, teen girls have always needed the magazine to rehash the same stories about which jeans look best on “curvy” figures and assuage their fears about vaginal odor. But this wise “older sister” has turned abusive of late. Even though makeup, boys, and eating disorders are still the topics at hand, the August issue has a pretty relentless message of “everyone is judging you constantly, so listen to us or suffer the consequences.” After the jump, a guide to the panic attack-inducing world of the adolescent female, as seen through the eyes of Seventeen editors.

This letter from Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket sets the tone for the entire issue (bold-facing hers):

Hi! I have a weird Q for you: If your outfit could talk, what would it say about you? Think about it for a sec. We put so much importance on first impressions. And when you're going back to school, meeting new teachers, checking out cute guys, and seeing your friends again after a long summer, it's especially important - you're making impressions on about 150 people a second. Sure, your energy and vibe go a long way toward telling people who you are and what you're about, but your clothes and makeup are an important part of the package. That's why I'm practically obsessed with helping you get your look just right for the first day of school. So when your fourth-period history teacher sees you in class, or when your secret crush (who, BTW, got the best muscles over the summer) asks where the music room is, you'll be saying all the right things - before you even say a word! How's that for an awesome payoff from a day of shopping?

What impression do you want to make this year?
Tell me everything at ann@seventeen.com
XOXO
-A

I’m never going “back-to-school” again, and yet for some reason I’m now anxious about September. Thanks Ann!

The beauty section explains how to “tell everyone about yourself” by “picking the look that makes the right statement about you.” So, if I wear a subtle shadow with purple liner, will that tell the world “I’m serious about school” but “I don’t take myself too seriously?”
This two-page fold out chart shows how size measurements vary for different styles of jeans. Maybe I’m just feeling vulnerable after measuring my waist to 1/8 of an inch, but I think the real message in the size 15/16 row may be “Sorry! They don’t come in this size, fatty!”
In case you’re a little too flabby for those “perfect fit” jeans, the magazine's health section includes a “get your best butt” exercise plan. It also advises that you shouldn’t eat chicken Caesar salad because the dressing is fattening, but that apple rice cakes “are almost like mini apple pies.” But watch out, because exercising too much or counting calories obsessively could be a sign that your “feelings are bad for your body.” And yet, if we don’t watch ourselves everyone may “see the emotional weight we’re carrying right there on our stomachs, hips or thighs.” I guess everything about me really is wrong!
Maybe it’s not just me – there’s probably something wrong with my friends too. I’d never considered the possibility that boys don’t like me because my friends are annoying!
But think twice about ditching your friends for a guy. In “Sex Lies He Tells you,” we learn that “sometimes he’ll say anything to keep going.”

I remember there being a few non-heinous aspects of being a teenage girl, but after reading Seventeen (motto: "It's fun to be seventeen") I've realized it’s just seven years of public humiliation and ridicule. I wish that when I was growing up I had more positive role models to guide me through these difficult years — like the girls from The Hills! Who better to look to for cues on self-respect and supporting other women than Lauren Conrad?

Is The Obesity Epidemic Messing With Kids' Minds?

Dodai — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 12:30:00 EDT

Which is worse: Feeling fat? Or being fat? A survey by the Germany Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KiGGS) found that among 7,000 teenagers, more than half of the girls (and 36% of the boys) thought that they were "too fat," even though only about 18% of the kids were actually overweight. And the teens — especially the girls — who thought that they were "too fat" reported lower self-esteem and "quality of life." Reporting on this issue in the New York Times, Tara Parker-Pope writes: "At a time when much of the Western world is focusing on obesity problems, even teens who are at a healthy weight may develop a distorted body image." Even more troubling is how some kids act when they think they're overweight: The Times of London has a story about a boy named Zach, who is on a careful diet, works out for 45 minutes after school every day and does push-ups, sit-ups and crunches before bed every night. Zach is 10 years old. And still fits into the same clothes he wore when he was 8 and 9. Writes Siobhan Mulholland: "Not by any stretch of any fattist imagination could he be described as fat."

Clearly, the effort being made to fight the obesity epidemic is resulting in what Parker-Pope calls "collateral" damage. From commercials to music videos and magazines, the pressure to be thin is all around us, and it would seem few of us are immune. And interestingly enough, when this topic came up via e-mail at the Jezebel virtual HQ, everyone had something to say. "The more weight I lose the fatter i feel," one editor sighed. One editor wrote: "I’ve often thought that when I think I’m thin I’m actually thinner – like it’s some psychological thing as in, if I think I’m thin my metabolism actually works harder. Which would explain why I’m so damn fat now after feeling so damn fat for months on end." Someone else added: "When I beat myself up for being gross and fat years ago I was actually 30 pounds thinner; now that I'm heavier I'm more forgiving of myself and less depressed." Someone else explained: "Getting super thin can fuck with your head. I'm naturally between 125-130. I was totally happy about that, until I got really depressed and got down to 117 without really trying. I was there for like, 9 months, and I realized, holy shit I can be skinny. Of course, when I was no longer depressed, I gained the ten pounds back. That's when I
started thinking I was fat."

It's no big secret that mental and physical health are linked. And as someone who has been thin and sad, fat and sad and fat and happy (never thin and happy) I often wonder about which is more important: Mental health or physical health? In a perfect world you wouldn't have to choose, of course. You'd reach optimal levels in both arenas and live happily ever after in a cottage under a rainbow. But if things keep going in this direction — where kids start dieting in middle school — aren't we going to have a mental health epidemic to go with the obesity one? (And, back to the earlier question: Which is worse? Feeling fat? Or being fat?)

'Feeling Fat' Is Worse Than Being It, German Study Finds [Science Daily]
Many Normal-Weight Teens Feel Fat [NY Times]
The danger of children who insist that they are fat [Times Of London]

Study: Child Adoptees More Likely To Turn Into Teen Terrors

Jessica — Tue, 06 May 2008 09:30:00 EDT

If wee Zahara Jolie-Pitt turns out to be a total goth who listens to Morrissey nonstop and refuses to leave her room, Brad and Angie shouldn't blame themselves; adopted children are twice as likely to be diagnosed with an emotional or behavioral problem, says a new study out of the University of Minnesota. According to Time, "foreign adoptees are far more likely to internalize their problems, suffering more commonly from depression or separation anxiety disorders," explaining Zahara's potential black-clad teenhood. "Domestic adoptees, on the other hand, tend to act out." Before the University of Minnesota's research, it was assumed that adoptees were diagnosed with mental health issues more frequently than other children because their parents were often wealthy and had better access to psychiatric care than the average child; this study suggests that that the disparity could be due to genetics or poor perinatal care. "The deleterious effects may quite possibly have come before the adoption ever took place," study author, psychologist Margaret Keyes points out.

The Minnesota research team assessed 540 non-adopted adolescents, 514 internationally-adopted adolescents and 178 domestically-adopted adolescents from the ages of 11 to 21, according to a press release. The study also interviewed adoptees directly, as opposed to relying on questionnaires filled out by parents, as prior studies had.

Keyes made sure to emphasize to Time that even though adoptees are more likely to have a rough time during adolescence, potential parents shouldn't be deterred. "Males are likelier to have behavior issues... But no one is overly concerned about having boys," Keyes said. She also added, "All adolescents struggle with finding their identity. It makes sense adopted children would struggle more than most."

Adoptees More Likely to be Troubled [Time]
US Teens Adopted As Infants Appear To Have Moderately Increased Odds Of Mental Health Problems [EurekAlert]

Angela Chase: "When You Call Someone's Name, Like, Kind Of Loud And They Don't Hear You, It Makes You Feel Really Lonely."

Slut Machine — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:30:00 EDT

Juno was released on DVD today, and as FourFour's Rich brilliantly points out, teenage heroine Angela Chase of My So-Called Life is the anti-Juno. While Juno reveled in her own quirkiness and established individuality — something that is rare, if not nonexistent among teens — Angela dealt with the desperation of "fitting in" and over-thinking every situation in an attempt to try to figure out who the hell she was. Her efforts led to introspective voiceovers that are as hilarious as they are wise: "I thought at least by age 15, I would have a love life. But I don't even have a like life" and "The thought that I might be seeing Jordan Catalano in a few hours was, like, impossible to comprehend. Like when they first tell you about infinity." "It's so weird that teachers actually, like, live places." Clip above.

The Anti-Juno [FourFour]

Cheerleaders May Face Life In Jail For Beating Fellow Teen

Jessica — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 09:30:00 EDT

The ultra violent cheerleaders from Florida who attacked a fellow pep squad member with the intention of posting a video on YouTube have bigger fish to fry than missing trips to the beach. According to CNN, the six girls involved in the beatings and the two boys who acted as lookouts will be tried as adults. All eight suspects are facing charges of kidnapping and battery, while three of the eight are facing charges of tampering with a witness. Frank Green, executive director of Keys to Safer Schools, tells CNN, "In one respect, girls have always been more vicious than boys. Their violence is of a personal nature... girls want to cause pain and make the other girl feel bad."

Girl-on-girl crime has reached a shocking high, as 25% of high school girls have reported being in a fight in the past year, according to a CDC survey. (CNN reporters, searching for the term "girl fight" on YouTube — got thousands of results.) And the Florida teens are not alone in the current news on young females engaging in fisticuffs: In Pennsylvania, a 10-year-old girl and an 11-year-old girl beat another 10-year-old girl so severely on a playground the night of April 3, that the victim has a shattered hip. The lawyers for the perpetrators are attempting to get them tried as dependents instead of delinquents. (If the girls are determined to be delinquents, they could be put in juvy until they're 21.) According to an AP report, the girls' lawyers are arguing that they're "too emotionally immature to understand the criminal charges against them." The victim, however, understands that she is still in the hospital and may need a hip replacement, simply because she was trying to defend her little sister from bullies.

Suspects In Video Beating Could Get Life In Prison [CNN]
Attorney: Girl Too Young For Attack Case [AP via Breitbart]

Earlier: The Meanest Girls At School Are Often The Most Popular

High School Confidential: A Reality Show That Keeps It Real

maria — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:30:00 EDT

High School Confidential, a new miniseries premiering on the WE Network tonight at 9, promises to document the myriad of issues facing today's teenage girls: Pregnancy, anorexia, divorce, even death. What separates this series from similar documentaries is that it follows a specific group of girls (in suburban Kansas) during all four years of high school, and features extensive interviews with both the teens and their families. Since most "reality" shows tend to focus on extremes, a program that presents life at face value sounds refreshing. But will it make for good TV? The critical reaction, after the jump.

The New York Times:

Most of the episodes follow two subjects and end with their forced, pat self-appraisals. ("My name is Suzy and mine is a story of a girl who started freshman year confused and unsure of herself and four years later really found out who she was.") And while High School Confidential has its flaws — it is choppily edited and far too spare in its depictions of the girls living rather than talking — it does us a service by portraying teenagers beyond the media's typical parameters of exceptionalism.

Los Angeles Times:

Chronicled from 2002 through 2006, they grapple with what their parents did a generation ago: Should I go to college? Should I have sex? They also wrestle with other issues: Drugs and alcohol are readily available, after-school activities and sports consume much of their lives, and some people have sex as easily as people once changed dance partners.The teens profiled went to Northwest High School in Overland Park, Kan., and though one lives on a farm, the others are daughters of suburbia and could easily be anywhere.

The Washington Post:

Somehow, even after following these girls from ninth through 12th grade, Confidential manages to make their stories boring. Watching it is like sitting next to your great-aunt as she flips through the family photo album. Individual pictures might grab you, but on the whole, you'd rather be cruising the mall. One wants to like these girls. They're forthright, articulate and darn cute with their straight long hair and braces that by junior year have disappeared, revealing perfect pearly whites. But they don't engage us, and that's not their fault. Their stories don't move us largely because of how they were shot and edited.

The Hollywood Reporter:

The premiere episode revolves around Lauren and Cappie. Lauren, the apple of her parents' eyes, is diagnosed with a brain tumor during her sophomore year. Cappie, the rebellious product of a broken family, veers off into a life of partying but has a change of heart.The series, from Liese's Herizon Prods. and New Line Television, is remarkable for the way it compresses time and hones in on pivotal moments. Even so, it might have been even stronger if Liese could have delved more deeply into these young lives so that we not only see the changes but also better understand, particularly in Cappie's case, how they came about.

Chicago Tribune:

Though the interview segments are sometimes compelling, High School Confidential tends to rely a little too much on talking-head footage of the girls and their parents.The show is often more interesting when it just shows the girls living their lives.

Variety:

The trappings and small touches (such as the musical score) are, admittedly, a trifle soapy. Still, by choosing a heartland state and letting the girls and their parents speak naturally about what's transpiring, Liese and her collaborators convey the universal challenges of growing up — rites of passage that include concerns about sex, drugs and family issues, especially with divorce rates taking a toll on the traditional nuclear family. Given the ongoing culture wars, it's a timely reminder that such dilemmas are hardly confined to the big city.

High School Confidential [WE TV]

Teens Today Think Coats Are Tres Uncool

Anna — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:00:00 EST

We're always curious as to what's hot and what's not among American adolescents, and this morning, we learned something shocking: Midwestern teens don't much like coats! In a Today Show segment titled "Leonard's Look", Mike Leonard took to the streets of suburban Chicago (high temperature yesterday: 27 degrees) and found a flurry of kids walking around in the cold without benefit of coat or jacket. It was both amusing and inexplicable (says one kid: "I think [coats] are losin' it a little bit".) Clip above.

Teen Girls Shocked To Learn That Perfect Women Aren't So Perfect

dodai — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 12:30:00 EST

On this morning's Today show X Factor Hour (our phrase for the female-centric segments that dominate the programming between 10 and 11am), the show's producers and hosts took a break from cooing over calorie-laden holiday treats and sparkly doodads to discuss something far more interesting: teenage girls, self-esteem and society's unrealistic standards of beauty. We've written about Dove and their campaign for real beauty before. Now they're having teen-friendly stars like High School Musical's Monique Coleman and singer JoJo attend after-school workshops, where the celebs — and a self-esteem expert — talk to teenage girls about the difference between reality and "an image." A digitally-enhanced, unattainable image. Says 14-year-old Kasia, "It was very shocking." For us, too, Kasia! Check out the clip, above.

Missing Teenager Is Also Internet Porn Phenomenon

Jessica — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:30:00 EST

In a story that's sure to be poached for an upcoming episode of Law and Order SVU, missing Kansas teen Emily Sander has been outed as internet porn star Zoey Zane. On her website (which seems to have been taken down), Emily/Zoey describes herself as a "a spunky little teen with a super sexy side," who started shooting homemade porn "as soon as I turned 18." Emily was last seen this past Friday, clad in a "Don't Mess With Texas" t-shirt and leaving a bar near her school with Israel Mireles, whom she had just met that evening. According to the AP, Mireles' motel room was searched the next day, and it was "found to appear in great disarray, and a large quantity of blood was found in the room...Bed clothing was found to be missing. The police were called."

When Emily first started out as Zoey Zane, only her close friends knew about her alter ego, but over Thanksgiving she broke the news to her parents. Her boyfriend broke up with her when she told him she as doing porn, and her grandmother, Shirley Sander, was predictably outraged, telling reporters, "We have never heard anything like this and truthfully I don't believe it."

Zoey's emergence on the DIY-porn scene was not unnoticed. On October 31st, our brother site Fleshbot featured Zoey in a Halloween-themed striptease (link NSFW) with a couple of friends dressed (and undressed) as characters from the Wizard of Oz, and her likeness was featured on several other porn-centric sites. Authorities are investigating to see if there is any link between Zoey's semi-secret career and her disappearance.

Missing Girl A 'Porn Star' [NY Post]
Missing Student Led Double Life As Porn Star [MSNBC]
By Request: Zoey Zane's Halloween Striptease [Fleshbot, NSFW]

If It's Illegal For Them To Have Sex, Should They Get Birth Control?

mcarpentier — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 12:00:00 EDT

So, I ignited a bit of a shitstorm when I suggested last week that statutory rape laws (i.e., the ones that define consensual sexual behavior often among — but also with — teenagers as functionally equivalent to actual forcible rape) were, among other things, lacking in the recognition that sexuality is deeply personal and one's interest in or ability to choose to have sex doesn't and shouldn't start when the government or our parents decide that we're ready. Lots of you disagreed, which is fine. But, because I'm all about stirring the pot, let's talk about it a little more, in the context of the Portland, Maine school board's recent controversial decision to offer a full range of birth control services at its King Middle School health center (where students range in age from 11 to 14) , after the jump.

King Middle School's health center - which students need general parental permission to utilize but which offers privacy on the specifics of that utlization — served 134 students in the last school year, 5 of whom reported having sex, according to the lead nurse. Middle school students are between the age of 11 and 14 (depending on the school) and, Maine's criminal code says that it's illegal for anybody under the age of 14 to have sex, period, even with one another- having sex with anyone that young isn't even statutory rape, it's "gross sexual assault" regardless of the age of the person doing it . Notably, a health care provider with knowledge of such a thing is technically required to report it to the authorities, and both kids would be subject to criminal prosecution.

On the other hand, a recent poll polls shows that most people think giving out birth control at school isn't the worst idea in the world because it can serve to prevent pregnancy and (if we're talking about condoms) reduce the spread of STIs. But, obviously, you can't get kids to ask for birth control if the only person they can ask is legally required to report them (or their chosen sex partner) to the authorities because state lawmakers have chosen to criminalize the behavior in which they're choosing to engage. So, to a degree, lawmakers in Maine are going to have to decide if it's more important to provide these kids with access to birth control or enforce their age-of-consent laws and their health-provider reporting laws (which everyone knows will just force the behavior underground again).

I think that this situation is a good illustration of the problem with the unintended consequences of these laws. Kids are going to have sex, and some of them are going to do it when us grown-ups think they are too young and too immature to make good decisions about sex or the people with whom they are having it. And, for many of those kids, they might well be too young emotionally and be making bad choices, but making bad choices as a teenager is part and parcel of being one. I agree that there is a line of "too young" where it is child abuse and not consensual sex, but the line shouldn't criminalize a freshman and a senior agreeing to have sex, even if the dude in question is an asshole. I also agree that some dude in his 20s or older pursuing 15 year olds is creepy — I thought it was creepy at 15, too — but creepy-but-consensual and deserving of jail time and permanent registration as a sex offender are two completely different things.

In my opinion, by criminalizing the consensual behavior of kids in this manner, we are just forcing it out of sight and creating bigger problems (pregnancy, disease transmission, etc.) rather than doing anything productive about it. Want productive ways to keep teenagers from starting the sex at a young age? Well, a quick lit review spotlights some pretty obvious things: talking to your kids, making them aware that you disagree with the behavior, keeping them away from kids that engage in other risk behaviors, making sure they have high self-esteem, keeping communications lines open, and all that other obvious parenting stuff that the government can't control or enforce, either.

Maine middle school to offer birth control [MSNBC]
Maine Criminal Code Title 17-A, Chapter 11, Sexual Assaults [Maine Criminal Code]
Most OK with birth control at school, poll finds [MSNBC]
Articles on Teen Sexuality [Teen-Link]
Teen Sexuality and Pregnancy - Early Sexual Activity [Library Index]
The impact of self-components on attitudes toward sex among African American preadolescent girls: the moderating role of menarche [Sex Roles: A Journal of Research]

14-Year-Old Girl Trades Sex For Bacon Double Cheeseburger, Has No Regrets

Slut Machine — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 13:00:00 EDT

The clip above would be way more hilarious if this girl were a Tracy Morgan character or something, but you know, it's real, so it's sorta like, sad. But either way, it's amazing. Angelique is a 14-year-old girl who's been having sex since she was 11, and is apparently a hooker. She went on the Maury Povich show yesterday to explain that she's confident in the way she looks, loves her lifestyle, will beat the shit out of anyone who doesn't agree with her, and brags about how she has had sex for a bacon double cheeseburger. Thanks to Molly for catching this one!

Hey Teens: Let's Talk About Sex

Slut Machine — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 14:00:00 EDT

The Midwest Teen Sex Show is both a bizarre and brilliant concept. A biweekly podcast made by adults and intended to be "sex information" rather than "sex education", the show uses skits and monologues to explore one topic for each episode (female masturbation, birth control, older boyfriends) in a frank and funny way that people should be using when discussing sex with teens. For example: For the episode on "The First Time", host Nikol—a once promiscuous teen—tells kids to not expect much from their first time and that "practice makes perfect and you'll need a lot of practice." She also advises boys about how the first time will hurt the girl, so they'll want to "enter her slowly." And for the episode on birth control, Nikol, a mother of three, asks:

Have you ever seen a baby? They're fucking stupid. They don't know anything and you have to feed them at least once a day.

But the show, while sex positive, isn't solely about getting teens to fuck like animals. There's also an episode all about abstinence, which focuses on both the good and bad aspects of it. (Pro: No STDs. Con: It's boring.) We're not really sure if the folks behind The Midwest Teen Sex Show are reaching their target audience (after all, the URL does sound porny), but we do know that if we'd had cool adults being so honest with us about sex at such a young age, we'd have been way appreciative.

Midwest Teen Sex Show

Be Careful What You Wish For: The Illustrated Swimsuit Edition

Dodai — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:45:00 EDT

We've been talking a lot about precocious pre-teens who are too sexy too soon. Today, a solution! Coutorture links to this post on Chic And Untroubled, featuring Wholesomewear bathing suits. It's "modest" swimwear that "highlights the face, rather than the body." Hmmm. Is this really preferable to a GapKids string bikini? [Chic And Untroubled, via Coutorture]

OMG, What Is That Fork For?

Dodai — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 13:30:32 EDT

Between social-networking sites, texting and instant messaging, teenagers these days may be tech-savvy but socially inept. So some UK high-schoolers are taking etiquette classes, the Telegraph reports. The teens learn a proper handshake, table manners and dressing for one's skin tone. The interesting part? While you may think of the Brits as well-versed in propriety and originators of the "stiff upper lip," the training course, called Ready4Life, was created by an American. (Not to worry! The table manners are taught by a head butler from an upscale hotel.)

In any case, a select few from the younger generation are learning that while it may be cool to have an amazing MySpace profile or be a brilliant on IM, you need to make a good impression at a business dinner as well. The article mentions an L.A. program called Petite Protocol, but wouldn't it be a good idea to add this kind of stuff to the core curriculum all over this country — especially in Hollywood?
How Do You Get Today's Teenager To Smile? [Telegraph]

Posting Porn On Your Enemy's Messageboard Is The New Catfight In The Cafeteria!

Dodai — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 10:34:47 EDT

Over at WWD, there's a story on the storm brewing around dueling teen-magazine messageboards. Although YM folded in 2004, YM.com is alive and well, because that magazine's subscribers were moved to the Teen Vogue database. Since then, things have gotten, well, a little scratchy! To wit: A YM poster called Teen Vogue readers "rich girls mostly who don't give a blank about anyone but themselves and their credit cards." Then, a Teen Vogue poster wrote "the YMers don't have a heart, they are jealous of us because we have style, and they do not." Me-ouch!

The bad blood has gotten so bad, the communities have been going so far to disrupt one another's boards by going undercover on spy-like missions and spamming one another with posts of pornography. A girl speaking her mind is nothing new, but are these girls more likely to also say evil things by the lockers between Chemistry and French because they're used to writing them online? And since some of these chicks are clever, crafty and cunning — self-admitted masters of subterfuge ("We [write posts like we're] psycho stalker sex crazed rapist-murderers or really stupid girls") — wouldn't it be awesome if they could be recruited into the CIA? Maybe if they put their differences aside, teenage girls could find bin Laden!

Memo Pad [WWD]

Words Every Young Woman Should Know

Anna — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 12:26:15 EDT

Apparently, the American Heritage Dictionary has compiled a list of 100 words every high school graduate should know. Despite the fact that we don't know close to a dozen of the entries on this list ourselves — abjure, abrogate, abstemious, bowdlerize, gamete (wait, we learned that today!), hypotenuse, jejune, moiety, orthography, & quasar — we have some words (and phrases) we'd like to suggest instead. Check out our random, hastily-put together list after the jump (check out American Heritage's list here) and submit your own in the comments and we'll put together our own "Hot 100" list and have it up tomorrow.

*guarantor
*selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor
*glass-ceiling
*Hitachi Magic Wand
*Bitchelorette
*gluten
*clusterfuck
*idiocracy
*Equifax
*prescription drug benefits

100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know [HoughtonMifflin]