Pass It On: My response to Nash Grier

There was a video on YouTube posted by Nash Grier, an attractive sixteen year old Vine star, which has since caused a lot of upset in the YouTube community. The cringe-worthy video is entitled "What Guys Look For in Girls" and has since been taken down by Nash, however once something is put on the internet it is never gone for good.

In the video, Nash is with Cameron Dallas (also of Vine fame) and Jc Caylen (member of YouTube collab channel OurSecondLife) and they are discussing what they look for in girls. Which has been done many times before on YouTube by several people, However it is not done in the manner that these boys decided to do. This video is contradicting, hurtful, and wasn't the least bit thought out.

"Be entertaining, but don't be too loud because that's annoying" (..okay)
"Let there be a chase; but don't play too hard to get, and also don't be too easy because you're probably a whore" (slutshaming, NICE)
"The natural look is great, but remove your body hair" (THIS ONE)
"Don't wear lipstick because then I won't be able to kiss you" (I will wear whatever I want, thanks)
"Don't draw on your eyebrows" (GOOD ONE)
"Have your natural hair, but change it often" (Um)
"A girl that's good at video games, but not obsessed because that isn't cute" (HA)

So basically what he's saying is: BE YOURSELF BUT ALSO CHANGE EVERYTHING. This video irks me for several reasons and I want to go through them all. First off, Jc Caylen is 21 years old,  He is an adult and should have known that this video was wrong. Not that he said any hurtful things (It was mostly Nash and Cameron) but he sat through it and didn't think to say that it was wrong or it was a bad idea. I am a fan of Jc and O2L, I was just very disappointed to see this. Second off, they didn't pay any attention to the fact that the audience seeing this video would be 99% teenage girls, who would then get the thought "okay, in order for myself to be attractive, I need to do all of this while maintaining my sense of self". It's toxic and not alright. They were being completely unrealistic and Nash tried to justify it as "just trying to make girls with these attributes feel good about themselves" in a Twitter apology saying that the bottom line that  the message he was sending in the video was for girls to be themselves because that's the most attractive thing they could do. That was a 20 second message in a 9+ minute video, just saying "be yourself" won't make up for making millions of young girls feel awful because they don't fit your image.

Now I want to get more into talking about all the contradictions made about the image that they want in a girl. I think that most guys don't understand that when girls put on makeup they are doing it for THEMSELVES, Not to impress a boy. They like the way it makes them feel and to tell a girl not to wear lipstick because you don't like it is like saying "throw out your PS4 because I don't like it". Not very nice, is it? If a girl wants to wear lipstick and fill in her eyebrows she is allowed because it is her god-given right to do whatever the hell she wants because it is her body, and her life and it should not concern you one bit.

As for the body hair issue, which COMPLETELY blew my mind that they had the audacity to even go there and make a huge deal about it. What Nash does not seem to understand is that some girls are extremely insecure (myself included) about body hair and to cause the scene that he did probably made a lot of girls feel horrible. While growing up I was insecure about the hair on my arms and upper lip. One day on the bus another girl pointed to me and made a comment about how I should shave and ever since then it has been something I try to hide and make less noticeable. Another thing that he doesn't understand is that in order to wax body hair, you need to grow it out so it's long enough so even his "ideal hairless girl" will have to grow body hair for a couple weeks. What then? Will he break up with her because her leg hair is longer than his? (if he even has any).

In conclusion, I feel like these boys will be feeling the consequences from this video for a very, very, very long time. Because when even Hank Green makes a comment on how what you did was wrong, you know you screwed up.

My 2013 in Review

Happy New Year everyone! Before I start talking about my hopes and goals for the new year I want to look back at my 2013 and share it with you.

Highlights
- 5 concerts (All Time Low, Taylor Swift, Marianas Trench, Jonas Brothers, Fall Out Boy)
- Figured out what I wanted to do with my life
- Started college
- Really started watching YouTube
- My beautiful baby cousin, Hilary was born
- I got a job

Lessons Learned.
1) Don't drag things out, rip off the band-aid . I ended my first (almost) relationship after thinking about it miserably for a month, I got to the point where I was up at night worrying about it. Eventually I just decided to make that move and I felt so relieved

2) When you enjoy school, you will be more successful. In high school I never did exceptionally well. I didn't fail any of my classes but I wasn't one to strive for good marks. I had a "meh, good enough" mentality because I didn't care. Now that I am in college, learning things that interest me, I finished my semester with a 81.4 % average.

3) Stop hating your body, accept your imperfections. I know that I will never be a model, I am too short and quite curvy and I have decided that instead of forcing myself into a strict diet, to accept my body for how it is.

4) People do not change. There is no point in thinking someone from your past is "different now" because you haven't talked to them in a year and a half. They will not be a new person, they have the same morals and standards and you will just realize why you stopped talking to them in the first place.

5) Make mistakes. It's how you learn life's important lessons. Don't be afraid to screw up and make a couple of mistakes, Admit it to yourself and move on.

6) Use sunscreen. This is self explanatory but I got the worst sunburn I had ever experienced and now that I am going to school for esthetics I know how easy the skin can be damaged.

7)Tell people how you feel. It's better to say too much and scare someone away than to say too little. If they decide to leave then they don't deserve to be in your life.

I hope that 2014 is filled with plenty of new experiences, good and bad. And I can'y wait to embrace it all.
You can expect plenty of posts in the future about beauty and fashion and life advice on this little old blog. I want this to be the year that I commit to this.

xoJess