Why are you wearing THAT?

     The girls of Pretty Little Liars are constantly being stalked, threatened, or hurt while also going to school (sometimes), working, and maintaining romantic relationships with whomever they are paired up with at the time; however, they always look beautiful. Hanna is considered the fashion-ista character, but the other three girls are always decked out in perfect hair, make-up and outfits. With a much as these girls have going on, you would assume that they would have other things on their minds than their shoes, but...

...that does not seem to be the case. Now, I have no problem with the fact that these girls are always dressed to perfection, and honestly I don't expect anything less from a show with a huge wardrobe budget, but I do have a problem with how they treat the characters when they are not looking their best. In order for these high school girls to even consider wearing sweatpants in public they have to have some sort of excuse.

Hanna was dumped by her serious boyfriend.

Aria was very sick.

 Spencer had a drug problem that caused her to sleepwalk to school. She woke up the next morning at her teacher's desk and put on the clothes she could.

     The reason that I have a problem with this is because most teenage girls who only have to balance school, work, and relationships, who do not have the added pressure of having a stalker trying to torture them, wear sweatpants to school quite often. During my senior year of high school, as these girls are in, I wore sweats almost every day because I was too tired to wake up early and try to look perfect. This show gives the girls that watch it an unrealistic expectation of beauty for when they go to school, and if they do not look as put together as the characters do, there must be something wrong. School is for learning. It is not a fashion show. It is not necessary or realistic for girls to have their hair and makeup done with the perfect outfit every time that they go to school. There is so much more to worry about during senior year than looking "perfect."

@#$%!

 WARNING: Vulgar Language

     It is almost impossible to turn on the television and not hear someone using profanity, whether it be bleeped out or not. George Carlin, an American philosopher, gave what he believed to be the seven words not allowed on television. 

     In his speech, he did not include one of the most widely used curse words on television. In fact, in 2010, it was the fourth most common non-bleeped out curse word, right behind hell, ass, and damn. It is also used 7 times more often in television than its male counterpart, bastard. I'll let Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad do the honors of saying it first in this post since it was his character's catch phrase.

     Yes, that's right. The word is bitch. Bitch has become such a part of language on television that it is included in many shows. This does not only include shows on channels such as Showtime or on television shows geared strictly for adults. The word bitch can be heard in many different shows of different genres on different television stations.

ABC Family's The Fosters

Fox's New Girl

CBS's How I Met Your Mother

FX's American Horror Story

ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars

     My problem with the word bitch being said so often on modern television is not the fact that it is a curse word. It is that fact that it is a very derogatory term for girls and women. According to Merriam-Webster, bitch can be defined as "a lewd or immoral woman" or " a malicious, spiteful, or overbearing woman —sometimes used as a generalized term of abuse." I don't understand how such an offensive word can be used openly, in any way, and as many times as the writers wish, while sh*t, a word used to describe feces, is put up with words, such as f*ck, that are off limits at almost all times. Breaking Bad was allowed one use of the word f*ck per season, but as many uses of the word bitch as they pleased. Why is this okay? 

     Another problem I have with the overuse of the word bitch is that in many cases, such as Pretty Little Liars and The Fosters, the shows are geared towards young-adult female audiences. Girls who tune into these shows have to hear the term at least once an episode. It becomes normal for them to not only be called a bitch, but to call others a bitch as well. The normalization of the word has allowed for many people to look the other way when it comes to saying bitch on television, but I believe that viewers need to realize that calling a woman a bitch is dehumanizing and degrading and should not be tolerated. Especially on prime time television when many females are watching.

FTM Transgender on The Fosters

Transgender actor Tom Phelan

     The ABC Family show The Fosters is getting a lot of recognition for being a very progressive and representative show, especially of the LGBT community. The newest LGBT character is a female-to-male (FTM) transgender named Cole played by real life FTM transgender actor Tom Phelan. Cole lives in a group home for girls while waiting for a space in an LGBT group home. Being a FTM transgender in a girls home causes many problems for Cole, many of which are shown throughout the show.

BINDING

     In his first episode, Cole is shown binding his chest in the bathroom with an ace bandage. Because Cole lives in a group home, does not have a lot of money, and does not have the support of his parents for his transition, it makes sense for him to only have an ace bandage to bind with. However, I was upset that the show did not go into the risks of binding with an ace bandage. The actual binding was not talked about at all. It is very important for FTM transgenders to know and practice safe binding techniques in order to save their bodies permanent damage.

HORMONES

     Another problem that Cole runs into during his stay at the girls home is access to hormones. These hormones are necessary in order for a person to transition from female to male. Because Cole lacks his parents support and is under 18, he cannot get the hormones from the doctor so instead he gets them on the streets. He claims that they are the same hormones he would get from a doctor and that they are safe. Later in the episode he is rushed to the hospital from overdosing on testosterone.

     

     I was very happy that The Fosters showed what can happen when a person takes hormones without a doctor's supervision. It is very important for youths watching the show to understand that they cannot get hormones from just anyone and think that they will be fine. There are many side effects with these hormones so it is necessary that a transgender have a doctor prescribing and monitoring the hormones and their effect on the body.

Visit TYFA for more information for transgender youths and their families.