Teen YouTuber Nash Grier has sparked tons of controversy and backlash for his video "What Guys Look for in Girls," a video in which he and his friends JC Caylen and Cameron Dallas dictate what a girl should and should not do. According to the video if they're not the type of girl they describe, then they'll probably "never be loved."
Given how Hollywood and the acting and modeling industries have already had a detrimental enough affect on how teens, especially the pre-teen/teen female demographic view themselves, it is completely unnecessary for three boys to decide what is attractive to guys only according to them.
In the now infamous video, the boys contradict themselves the majority of the time, saying how girls should shave and wear make-up if they want but not too much make-up. They also describe how they "like the innocent type of girl" who isn't afraid to get "freaky" when they're in private. At the end of the video they then say that they want the girl to be all that was mentioned before but to also keep a natural look and to stay true to their own personality and appearance.
There are many, many, many comments already on the video from enraged viewers and countless people, including John Green, have made response videos. These videos range from just explanations about how what they're doing is wrong to a poetry slam that describes what it is like for a girl who is constantly told that she has to change to the point that she does not even look at herself in the mirror when she changes clothes.
With over 700,000 followers on Twitter, most of them girls, Grier doesn't seem to realize how impressionable they are. Girls already have a ton of pressure when they compare themselves to their friends or to celebrities and models on television. Three 16-year-olds mandating what they have to look like in order to be loved isn't what they need.
I'd like to believe that there are some decent guys out there who aren't so superficial that they consider something like a girl having arm hair or what color lipstick she wears a deal breaker for a relationship. So many people are making an effort to help young girls see past this image of "the perfect teen" and realize that they're not supposed to be cookie-cutter images of each other and that being different and unique is a good thing that should be encouraged, not a reason for us to change or hide or think of ourselves any less.
Jennifer Lawrence is well-known for refusing to lose weight prior to shooting the first film in The Hunger Games series. Lawrence explained that she remembered what it was like to see people she aspired to be and think that she would never be able to look like them. She wanted to prevent the same thing from happening to her fans. So many celebrities have been taking a stand against being forced into a mold and are okay with being different. It's scary that after watching Grier's video or ones similar to it that some girls might actually take their word to heart and change so they fit into these made up standards thinking they'll be better after they do.
Being constantly told that being the wrong height, weight, hair color, eye color, skin color or "type" is what stands between you and your potential happiness is despicable. Many have brought up that the boys have freedom of speech under the first amendment and that's great for them and all but they aren't exactly stating their opinions.
Almost every phase in the video begins with "Girls should..." and not "I like a girl who..." Sure this could just be something that is brushed off because "boys will be boys.'" But when there are young girls affected by body dysmorphic disorder, eating disorders, cutting and drug use because they believe it will make them fit in, girls will be, and should be, told not to take Grier's comments seriously.
But the truth is that no matter what people say it isn't very simple to just ignore the ideals of perfection when they are almost everywhere. It's 2014. Shouldn't changes be happening by now?