BEAUTIFUL TEEN CLICHE aka FRIENEMY aka TRAINWRECK IN THE MAKING

BEAUTIFUL TEENAGED CLICHÉ aka

FORMER DAUGHTER’S BFF aka

PARENTING VICTIM aka

TRAINWRECK IN THE MAKING

You know her. Yes you do. You either wanted to date her, or you wanted to be her or you hated her. You know who she is but she has no idea who she is or even what might make her momentarily contented.

I feel pity and disgust when I am reminded of how completely self-absorbed, self-serving, and obviously insecure you are. Your sheltered upbringing at center of your very own only-child’s universe has shaped you into the only true thing you will ever be: Lonely.

Why else would need the constant re-assurance of conquest after conquest? Stroking your own broken ego by soliciting compliments is a very peculiar way to bolster your confidence. Silly sad girl- you fail to see that flattery obtained by force, by coercion is false-admiration and is ransomed and utterly worthless. You cheat yourself every time out of allowing a boy to really discover and therefore admire and perhaps even love you. You are a pathetic creature, bent on being the object of everyone’s affection- are you so naïve? Did you believe your mother when she said you were perfect? Did you believe her when she said you could be anything you wanted to be? Has hearing her tell everyone that you are academically gifted, musically gifted & physically stunning made you believe this about yourself? I know better. On the contrary I see you constantly seek reassurances in the immature compliments of horny adolescent boys. You don’t believe her when she tells everyone that you’ll go to Harvard and then Yale and perhaps even Oxford as well. You have heard her make these grand statements about your future, before. You do not trust her because you know she is inconstant, unwell and prone to imaginative speculation. She is your most vocal supporter and your harshest critic.

Did you believe that stroking your needy ego by seducing boyfriends and crushes of your closest friends makes you seem more confident or less? Do you feel truly attractive? It seems contrary that a confident, well adjusted, socially driven young lady would require so much flattery.

You’d say this girl was compelled by her parents to be perfect. Anything less than an “A” is failure and proof that she’s lazy. You’d say she had an attractive package- she’s been marketed as the girl next door on her way to big things- if you were her mother. The little voice in her head tells her she will never live up to the impossible imaginary standards of perfection. The expectation of flawless beauty, selfless charity, academic prowess, musical acumen and christian chastity make her seem at first ideal. If she were capable of being any of this of her own accord she’d be a worthy friend in deed. She’d be the ideal friend for anyone’s daughter on paper. Reality is that she is a physically attractive young teen that seems terrified of not quite measuring up. She must continually examine herself and therefore compare herself against every girl in close proximity. She must have the affection and allegiance of boy after boy. She hears them answer her as she trolls for compliments. She flirts to measure herself, not to enjoy love or falling in love. Discovery of love isn’t even a consideration. She just requires proof that she is what her parents expect. The expensive price of these noble expectations will be paid in the terribly unoriginal ballet of the sexually immature and truly insecure Southern Belle. This opera will likely play out publicly in the back of some boy’s truck.

She has all the trendy accoutrements of her so-called perfect life. Her parents have broken her heart with dishonesty and divorce. She exacts sympathy from those around her, manipulating them with her insinuations of an eating disorder and not exactly private self-harm. Perhaps it is a coping mechanism that she pretends she is oblivious to cliché, telling evidence. If she could see how her sad pageantry proved so clearly her failures perhaps she would implode with shame, rage. Would she ever hold her parents accountable for these egregious expectations? Would she recover quickly enough to live a life for herself based on what she might like to be, based on what she might truly be gifted to do?