I'll Be Your Teenage Dream Tonight

I recently went shopping with my mother and sister to stock up on winter clothes. They had come up to visit for a football game, and we had all day to spend Sunday shopping and wandering around Winston. We arrived at Hanes Mall around 1 on Sunday afternoon and began our mission of finding winter clothes. My mom likes to go shopping once - buy pants, shirts, coats, shoes, socks, and everything we may need for winter all at once, so we were all prepared for a long day of shopping. One of the first stores we came to was Abercrombie and Fitch. My sister is still in the teeny-bopper stage of her life so of course we had to go in. I'll admit that I use to love the store - the loud music, the stiff smell of cologne that hits like a train as soon as you walk in the store, the tight clothes, and the visible moose logo on every single piece of clothing in the store, I loved it all until I came to Wake and learned that people only wear J. Crew. So anyways - we went in the store, and my mom immediately commented on the huge picture of the naked guy on the wall. My sister had already begun scanning the store, so I was left to listen to my mom's complaints. That's when I began to notice that moms all around the store were murmuring to themselves about the naked pictures on the walls like this one. (And this one isn't even bad!)


But that wasn't the only thing they were complaining about. They were muttering about not being able to see the prices of the clothes because the lights were so dim. They were complaining about not being able to argue with their daughters about how tight the pairs of jeans were because the music was so loud, and they were sniffing constantly in between their complaints at the overpowering smell of cologne. But if there are so many things moms hate about this store, why did they still allow their daughters to shop here? 

Some of the reasons moms have for allowing certain things are completely beyond me, but the reason they allow their daughters to shop in stores like Abercrombie and Fitch has a lot to do with the teeny-bopper's behaviors and attitudes towards shopping. Today teenage girls (and guys) have a lot of pressure on them to look their best. They have to be as skinny as the models and always look cute, and clothes are one of the biggest determinants. In Abercrombie and Fitch that day, I saw several young girls trying on clothes. They would come out and show their friends or their moms the outfits they were trying on and many would ask, "Is it tight enough?" Teeny-boppers want everything to be skin tight - I know I did whenever I shopped there and my mom and I would argue forever about which size jeans to get.

Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" is a perfect example of the pressure put on girls today to fit into the tight jeans from Abercrombie and Fitch and look their best. Here are the lyrics just in case you haven't heard them lately.

I might get your heart racing
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

Let you put your hands on me
In my skin-tight jeans
Be your teenage dream tonight

 My sister is a perfect example of the teeny-bopper I am talking about that lives by the lyrics of Katy Perry's song. Her body language throughout our shopping experience and the things she looked for in the clothing she chose exemplify the values of the teenage dreamers perfectly. She only went for the clothes with the biggest moose (everyone had to know that she shopped at Abercrombie), the lowest cut, and the tightest jeans. And she was not the only one choosing these clothes. Every single girl that stepped out of the dressing had on almost the same outfit and they all stepped out of the dressing room like they were on a mission to be the cutest girl there. They would check themselves out from every possible angle and then do it all over again. Then they would stand in front of the mirror with their hands on their hips and nod either in approval or disapproval.

This idea of being the "teenage dream" is every teeny-boppers fantasy, but who doesn't want to be somebody's teenage dream!? I think that is why moms indulge their daughters and allow their daughters to shop at stores like Abercrombie and Fitch - it's a way of accomplishing the American Dream, except now it's the Teenage Dream.


- Anne Davis