Femme Rebellion - Senior Capstone

FEMME REBELLION

Let’s be real. Let’s chat. Let’s be raw.

Editor’s Letter

Hey 13 year old Gab,

I know that life can seem like a lot. You take on a lot for a 13 year old girl. You go through a lot and try to hide it. I am writing to you to tell you a few things, give you some updates, but also share some wisdom I have learned over the last few years.

To start, it is going to be okay. You are the real life 13 going on 30 movie character. You take the world by storm and are ready to take over once the wind hits behind your wings. I know it may not seem like you are strong and beautiful right now, but during this time in your life, it is important to not be so hard on yourself. For a few years now, you have and will continue to be your own toughest critic. Drop it. Additionally, I know it is easy to compare yourself to others. We have a lot of high standards to keep up with like all the aesthetic “just girly things” and Tumblr girls. Your acne will go away quicker than you think and it does not always need to be covered up. Your love for makeup is never going to die, but it will change. We also get braces which make our teeth finally look the way we want them to. Girl, you don’t even know how good you have it. Also, Boys ain’t shit! A huge lesson I learned is that boys will not define your value. It is hard to navigate middle school and entering high school, while trying to impress your girlfriends and guy friends. It is okay if not everyone likes you. But don’t worry, you have the glow up of the century where you realize how gorgeous you really are. And also, Matt came around in high school and is still our boyfriend at 21.

It is really important to remember to be kind. The best thing you can do is kill people with kindness. People will like you for who you are. Being authentic to yourself and not trying to be someone that you aren’t is the best thing you can do for yourself. Your confidence will come with age. Your self esteem will grow as you grow into yourself. There is so much that you do not know about yourself yet. There is so much more life to life. Word for the wise, just be the bigger person. Holding onto grudges only hurts yourself and forgiving is not a weakness. We forgive but don’t forget because we are in fact Maggie’s daughter who has a strong head on her shoulders.

You went to college in Philadelphia at Saint Joe’s, but you didn’t end up dancing. You are going to have to walk away from the biggest part of your life, but you will learn you are more than Gabby the dancer. You will still dance and teach, but you will be known as Gabriella Guzzardo the (amazing and iconic) person. A great person who is passionate, caring, empathetic, strong, funny and creative. You are going to meet people from all over the place that have different lifestyles than you and different upbringings. You get to live with your friends for 4 years and create bonds with them that will last a lifetime.

Also, be nice to your parents. They will turn into your best friends, cheerleaders, therapists, life coach and go to people. They have in fact lived a life before you and they have good advice, you just have to listen to it. They love you more than life itself and their guidance, grace and thoughtfulness should never be taken for granted. Joey is an angel on earth as your brother. He is going to put up with you and just let it roll off his shoulder. Also, hug your grandparents tight. You have some of the coolest and most amazing, supportive grandparents on planet earth. Appreciate your family and love them.

You are going to grow into the most amazing person that you should be proud of. Allow yourself to feel emotions but you will learn to navigate them without making things worse. You will grow into your body. Hormones and teenage years are a lot, but you will get through it. Stop comparing yourself to all the famous models and celebrities. There is so much more to you than your appearance.

You are beautiful, strong, worthy of happiness and a great person. Keep your head up high and keep growing into a beautiful soul. You are going to be successful and okay. You got this girl.

Best, 21 year old Gab

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EDITOR’S LETTER

A letter to my 13 year old self is a passage that I want all of my readers to see a little pice of themselves within. Take a second and reflect on your teenage and young adult years.

THE REALITY OF BEING A COLLEGE GIRL IN 2023

An honest opinion column about my feelings towards how college girls are precieved by others in society. It is an interesting time to be a young adult in a digital age.

SOCIAL MEDIA DEEP DIVE

A deep dive into the most influential social media platforms that effect and further the beauty standards in place for women to follow.

“GIRL”

Inspired by the passage written by Jamaica Kincaid. My own rendition of “GIRL” explaining the contradictions and stipulations that come with being a woman in society.

BEAUTY MUST HAVES

A compilation of my some of my favorite skincare and makeup products I love to use to feel my best self.

Table of contents 1 4 6 17

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The reality of being a

written by: Gabriella Guzzardo | Chief Editor

Being a part of this generation of women is so interesting. It is a time where you are completely indulged on social media, while also being a full time student trying to get their life started. Even though I grew up with social media present, I still find it really interesting when looking at it from the outside in. Throughout growing up, each social media platform has been very popular, some still being super popular. But their roles are super interesting to look at in correlation with being a college aged female during this time. Social media is a sport. As a female, your social media is you. It is what everyone who isn’t with you directly in person see’s of you as a person in your life. Your accounts are the basis of how people see you, check about you and compile their thoughts and judgements about you on. This all being said, that is why every girl’s Instagram is their absolute best photos and moments of themselves (edited or not).

It is really hard in our society to not compare ourselves to others. We see other girls our age look completely different and somehow we still find ourselves not wanting to completely look like ourselves. This is in part due to social media’s unrealistic standards of “beauty”, which are oftentimes enhanced by botox or filler, elective surgery and photo editing. Photo editing is a phenomenon I have a huge problem with. I understand that not every photo is the most flattering, but oftentimes we are our own worst critic. When there are options in place like photo editing software, it can be tempting for females to want to edit themselves to look a certain way because of how other people look in their posts.

In the age of influencers and models being the celebrity image, it is hard to have beaming self confidence. I will say that social

media has been better than in past years with canceled culture and overall online criticism. Even though those phenomena have been toned down, the overall view of being a normal looking person with normal body and facial features is not romanticized or praised. I have come to terms with the fact that it probably never will because society is obsessed with their own definition of perfection, whatever that means for them.

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college girl in 2023

It is important to note that everyone has a different definition of perfection, so we will never reach a common ground of perfection - but that is in a way, a good thing.

The male gaze is also something that straight women always think about. Girls criticize and judge girls more than anyone, but men who are interested in women are also critics themselves. I have a major problem on social media when men feel okay with commenting on a woman's image in a negative way. I feel a certain way when a woman comments on a man's image as well. When in society did we say it is okay to comment on someone’s appearance when they did not ask for it? That is something I will never understand. Everyone has their own opinion and they are entitled to it, but for god’s sake, keep your opinion to yourself!

There is a different type of hurt when men decide to comment negatively on your appearance because of the way it affects your personal self esteem. When someone who is within your personal sexual preference says something negative about you, you take it to heart and think that everyone must think of you that way. That mental trauma is something that is overlooked. No wonder there are record numbers of mental health issues and body dysmorphia when society constantly has an opinion on the way you look.

It is an interesting time to be in your 20s and on social media becoming a woman. There is constant pressure on you to live out the best years of your life, to look the best in your life you will ever look, be the most successful version of yourself possible, while also completing a degree and setting yourself up for success. It is hard to come to terms with the face that you may not achieve all of that stuff society says you must.

Personally, I think it is okay to feel some type of way about the standards and expectations society puts in front of you. It is okay to make mistakes in your 20s. It is okay to post what you want on social media. It is not okay to feel entitled enough on social media to comment on others your age and expect yourself to look like someone else. We are smart, beautiful and emotionally intelligent people. Drop all the expectations society puts on us to have huge lips, big boobs, a huge butt and toned abs. Do what makes you feel beautiful because the most successful people in life are those who are happy and at peace with themselves.

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Social media’s role in defining beauty

Let’s take a deep dive into the reality of what effects social media has on us as people functioning in society. We all endulge and engage in social media, but often never reflect on what is has done to our society and to us.

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let self love bloom

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Instagramable Content: A guide to Instagram’s unwritten rule book

Social media is the only sport you can’t get a varsity letter or gold medal in. Seriously.

written by: Gabriella Guzzardo | Chief Editor

Instagram is undoubtedly one of the largest and most used social media platforms in the world. After being bought by Meta, aka Facebook, their privacy and security has changed, but the way it is perceived by society has not. The amazing thing about Instagram is the role it plays in everyone’s lives; but especially college-aged females ranging from age 18-22. Instagram acts as a search engine, constant feed of entertainment, while also being a source of information to read about the people in the world, whether they are close to you or complete strangers. If you meet someone at the bar and want to know more about them, and know their first name, you look at their Instagram. If your ex boyfriend starts to date a new girl, and you know their name and have an idea of what they look like or the school they go to, you will search and find them on Instagram. Both investigative and informational, Instagram allows you to get an idea of what someone likes, where they are from, what they look like and everything in between.

For college aged females, Instagram is a sport. Because of its function as a reach engine, Instagram is seen as many people’s first impression of you. When it comes to first impressions, you always want it to be good, but it gets taken too far because of the extent that females will go to look appealing to those who see them. There is an unwritten set of rules that females follow on their Instagram, essentially created by society. The rules all have to do with what you look like in the post, where you are, and what you are doing. Weirdly and ironically, you can tell a lot about someone by their Instagram profile.

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To start, the way your face and body looks will depend on if you post something. Naturally, no one will post a photo that is not flattering, but Instagram has an even stricter set of standards for a picture. The ideal lighting to make your eyes look bright, your hair sleek enough so it does not look dirty or disheveled, the perfect “not trying but it was tossed in the wind” look. A lot of the way females look is based on things that have been seen from other creators. The problem with this, a lot of the time, is that those people who create new trends in beauty and fashion will not always be truthful. Pictures can be photoshopped, budgets for fashion can be extremely high and after-all, no one looks the same as their neighbor. But who said we have to?

Instagram’s unwritten set of rules is responsible, in part with other social media platforms, for the beauty standards that are put in place for women. Where will it stop? Will it ever stop? These standards trigger eating disorders, depression, anxiety, medical procedures and so much more. These are serious issues that do not come overnight, but when you are a part of a community that values the best and ideal version of yourself, even if it is fake, it is a tolling environment to be in.

At the end of the day, no one looks the exact same way. That is okay! There is nothing that makes Instagram a place that we need to look absolutely perfect, as our best versions of yourself all the time. Instagram is made to document memories, not critique and edit the way you look, in order to satisfy the rest of society looking at our profiles. I guess what I am trying to say is, it is okay to have a pimple on your face. It is okay to be bloated. It is okay for your legs not to be shaved. It is okay if your clothes are not designer. You don’t have to workout everyday if you don’t want to. You’re beautiful the way you are. Whatever your happiness looks like, don’t let Instagram change that.

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Tik Tok for 20 somethings

How real can influencers be?

written by: Gabriella Guzzardo | Chief Editor

It is the app that you go to when you are bored, about to fall asleep, sitting on the couch relaxing, wanting or needing a laugh, and open minutes after you close it out. I have sat on Tik Tok for literal hours at a time because of how it keeps my attention and keeps me wanting more. Tik Tok is the one of the fastest growing social media platforms that sparked society’s love and want for short-form video content, 1-3 minutes or less. There are many genres of Tik Tok that can be generated and displayed on your “for you page”, ranging from cooking, to golf putting to get ready with me videos.

Undoubtedly, the “get ready with me videos”or, GRWM, that would go viral day after day are one of the most fascinating to watch because of girl’s obsession and interest in the lives of other girls their age. These videos are usually 1-2 minutes long, made by females aged 16-30, doing their makeup routine from start to finish,while showing the products they use. It is a form of content that is extremely entertaining for college aged females because it will show the products that we could buy ourselves, in order to achieve the same look as the girl who posted it. There is also a key part of these videos that not everyone who consumes the content talks about, the beauty filter. The beauty filter smooths out the skin making it an even skin tone, brightens your face and eyes as well as your hair. It is “natural” enough to where you could not detect it in some videos, but it is strong enough to cover and disguise acne and facial imperfections as well as facial hair.

This feature is a key reason that a lot of girls may feel insecure on Tik Tok. There have been huge stars who went viral posting their “get ready with me videos” such as Alix Earle, Jordyn Mannino, Xandra Pohl and Monet McMichael, who each have millions of followers from their start doing GRWM videos. Their lifestyles and personalities are all different, yet attract very similar following because of the content they provide.

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CREDIT: Xandra Pohl Instagram (@xandrapohl) CREDIT: Ahnesti Monet McMichael Instagram (@monetmcmichael)

“I’m so f*cking sick and tired of the photoshop.”

- Kendrick Lamar

The new generation of Tik Tok influencers have been increasingly authentic due to the harsh critique of many social media influencers in past years, promoting brands and lifestyles for money via brand deals and partnerships. Since these influencers were all social media consumers like us all just a year ago, their real and authentic content and conversations around body image and self esteem are shockingly candid. Alix Earle was tried by her Tik Tok community for posting a “what I eat in a day” video, while only eating smoothies, vegetables and some she does not eat like this everyday. Videos like those can be very triggering for followers to watch when a very skinny, toned woman comes onto the screen eating just fruits and vegetables. It promotes a very unhealthy and unrealistic lifestyle. This one video shifted the trajectory of her content. Once she was called out by her following, she opened up about her personal fitness journey, how she manages her dietary habits, the good, bad and hungover, as well as her journey with acne being on the harsh medication Acutane.

Stories like this require an immense amount of vulnerability on the influencers part, which I think is huge for content creation. There has been a shift for content creators to be 100% authentic and real no matter who they are and what they do, because as a society, we are finally putting a stop to unrealistic and unreasonable expectations set by influencers. Of course there are still some who will promote anything to get a check in the mail, or act as if they work out constantly when they are in the plastic surgeon’s office daily. I think that females in society are heading in the right direction of boosting influencers who are real and entertaining, without setting unrealistic beauty standards for the rest of us.

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CREDIT: Alix Ashley Earle Instagram (@alixearle)

Buy the Facebook fitness plan? Why you shouldn’t feel the pressure.

The truth about Facebook’s culture around fitness.

written by: Gabriella Guzzardo | Chief Editor

Facebook is one of those social media platforms that is extremely influential and holds so much information that it is intimidating. I remember when I first got Facebook when I was in middle school. I did not understand the need to post on my timeline, but as time went on I posted many (cringey) posts such as prom pictures, inspirational quotes, and life updates. Fast forward 9 years and I only have facebook as a formality for my family to see any major updates and recent pictures of my friends and I.

Facebook is a millennial and Gen X ‘s game. According to Oberlo, 30% of Facebook users are within the age range of 25 - 34 years old, which is about 596.8 million people. Another 19.3% of users fall in the age range of 35 - 44 years old. The audience that actively searches on Facebook and lives there daily are normally out of college in their adult life. That being said, you would think that the platform would be full of advertisements for things that adults need, such as kitchen appliances, life hacks, etc. Instead, the algorithm has also filtered in dieting content and fitness content that is clickbait, edited and completely unrealistic.

A lot of the videos that come onto my page are advertisements for products that will reduce bloating and belly fat such as a juice, or supplement, to entice me to want to lose weight via this product. There are also many videos with short and easy workouts to do to lose your “winter” weight, while having no correlation to overall physical wellness, dietary needs or a healthy lifestyle.

All this being said, it is extremely toxic to join a fitness plan or drink green juice to lose weight because society says so. These advertisements are not realistic, completely click bait and overall give false information to the consumer to sell their product. Having this mindset of “I have to be skinny in order to be pretty” is ridiculous. As long as you are a healthy human being, there is no product or service on this planet that is necessary for you to purchase.

The mindset of having to be ultrafit and eat cleanly all the time is unrealistic for most people. If you can, that is amazing, here is your gold star. But if you are like the rest of us that love to have chinese food every once and a while and cancel your workout class early in the morning some Fridays, it is okay. You do not have to follow a strict fitness plan or diet to be a healthy human being. You are still gorgeous and worthy of feeling your absolute best. Afterall, how much truth does Facebook hold anyways?

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It’s time to actually BeReal.

How Being Real is socially acceptable for the first time in decades.

written by: Gabriella Guzzardo | Chief Editor

bffr.

Everyday at a random time, everyone’s phone lights up with a notification that says “IT’S TIME TO BE REAL!” with yellow, cautionary exclamation points. Everyone anxiously pulls out their phones and looks around for the best background to feature in their BeReal picture of the day. But why does everyone care so much?

BeReal is the new social media platform that has taken over the spotlight, encouraging users to be unedited, candid and real for the first time on social media. At any given time during the day between 12 a.m. and 11:59 p.m., the app will alert you to post your BeReal at that time. As an incentive to post, you cannot see others’ until you post yours. The app gives you the option to post, even if it is hours late, and react, by emoji or picture to someone else’s post, allowing feedback to your friends’ posts. I can admit there is a level of excitement to post so that I can see what my friends are up to during the day. I feel very connected with my friends on BeReal because, even if we aren’t in the same city, it feels like a mid-day check-in and a look into their day virtually.

It is interesting to see how much social media functions as trends come and go. I have been on social media since I was 12 years old, so I have gone through many versions and functions of social media as I have grown up. The rise of influencers such as Emma Chamberlain and Davis Burleson have made society start to accept the uncut, unedited versions of people; the reality of being a young adult in today’s society. I like the fact that unrealistic beauty and societal standards are being torn down by influencers and celebrities. It makes the normal young adult feel worthy and encouraged to be their unedited self. It is empowering to share real moments with the ones you love, and BeReal becoming a mainstream app shows how our society is taking big leaps into acceptance of each other for who we are, not who society wants us to be.

My biggest criticism for society in using this app, is to use it as it is intended. No staging, no changing what you are actually doing to make it more interesting, and no retaking it. I find the app to be more fun and entertaining when you literally stop in your tracks, even if you are with a friend, and take the photo. Whether you are walking to class, at the gym, or at a doctor’s appointment, it is the daily errands we do in life that no one talks about. It can be really fun to document the random moments in life just as much as the spontaneous and exciting moments.

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**According to a survey conducted with a pool of 64 responders.

85.94% of women feel pressure from social media platforms to look a certain way in order to be considered “pretty” or “beautiful”.

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“GIRL”

Stay busy to ensure you don’t get sad or depressed; Showing your emotion can be hurtful to your reputation; stay distracted and busy so you cannot harp on your weaknesses; Young people do not have real problems to complain about, you know; Young people are naive, stupid, and immature; no young women can achieve their goals because they are just young girls; to be attractive to other men or women you have to be successful; wealth is attractive to men; confidence is what gravitates men towards you; young women must be under 130 pounds to be pretty; but I am a woman who weighs more than 130 pounds; toned stomachs, large breasts, and large butts are the normal; but my body doesn’t look like that; if you aren’t clear skinned, no man or woman will want you; if your eyebrows are bushy and grown out, they are unattractive; you can’t be taller than your significant other since the man is always taller than the woman; but I am a woman who is 5’9; wear conservative clothing so men do not ger aroused when they see you; you must look your best in public spaces so others want to meet you; wear colors that accentuate your hair color, skin tone, and eyes; wear makeup to make yourself look prettier; you cannot leave the house without makeup on because then you wont look pretty; but I don’t want wear makeup everyday; this is how you are supposed to post on social media so that people like you; this is the editing software that makes your teeth whiter and your waist skinnier; this is what your caption should say to make others like your post; make your social media accounts pretty so others follow you; be the mold society puts you in.

What is beauty? What is beautiful? Who is attractive? Who decides what or who is attractive? What defines success? What defines struggle?

Societal pressures of ways we should or shouldn’t act, look, and feel are important stigmas to end. As women, we are pressured to conform to these norms. It is 2023, do what makes you feel the most beautiful, happy, and alive.

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