Dog With a Blog

For my coding project, I have been viewing television shows geared towards preteens and adolescents. The humor is often base and the plot lines are consistently predictable and unrealistic. But that's besides the point. What bothered me was the portrayal of their leading ladies. As I watched "Dog With a Blog", I was utterly shocked. The star of the show is a young teen girl...who only gushes about her boyfriend, and wears enough makeup, fitting clothing, and hair products to pass for a thirty year old woman. It broke my heart. I felt uncomfortable viewing her, recognizing that a 13 year old was more glamorous than I, but also because I realized that this girl was the new role model for tweens. It shocked me further as I looked at pictures of her from the previous season: the difference between the two was astounding. The fresh-faced, loose clothes, spunky little girl had been robbed of her carefree appearance in a matter of fifteen episodes! Yet, I think she was robbed of more than her wardrobe. Her character was quickly revolutionized from a kid that was completely absorbed in her love for her dog, to a young woman whose dialogue only revolved around crushes and boys. It's tragic. I wish I had something more remarkable to post about this subject, but I'm too bummed about it to think of something profound to say...the only words that come to mind are "ick", "bummer", "gross", etc.


Season One Images:










AND......

SEASONS TWO AND THREE







***Granted, the young lady is consistently dressed appropriately--nothing revealing or terribly provocative, which is actually pretty refreshing. But the whole basis THE DOG ON THE BLOG, was hardly mentioned anymore...because she was too busy flirting! Yikes.
There's so much that needs to be said regarding the implications of media portrayals on young ladies. But I won't delve into it. I'll just say this: we are what we watch. As we continue to show girls TV content where characters are only good for flirting, young ladies are going to adopt a similar perception of their own worth.