Mall confusion

When I was 13, the first mall was built in our community. Upon our visit, I browsed the overwhelming window displays and stopped to gaze upon a pair of high heel shoes. My grandmother just rolled her eyes and kept walking.

Today's teens have been practicing the mall's popularity maze since babyhood. Mothers are almost expected to buy heels for their daughters at younger ages as elementary girls dress to match their high school sisters. Gen Y has not known a day on the planet that did not include the mall concept.

School halls spotlight a daily fashion show where brand names dominate walking billboards.
Our distorted fashion sense leaves us with a mismatched reality. So many of our young girls miss their childhood creativity confused about their roles in an ever increasing complicated universe.

Has the concentration of personal style symbols jumbled the communication stimuli of our inner synapses to the point where we no longer realize the camouflage?

A Mall's Responsibility

If casinos advertise for gambling problems, should malls be responsible for fashion addictions?
Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty addresses our fear of non-perfection.

GCA offers a 12 step media literacy program to counter balance the constant bombardment of fashion advertisements and instant gratification we feel at purchasing and owning the next fad. How do we address and teach our teens to analyze brand power's influence on Girl Power?

Who teaches us to be ourselves?

How does media's fashion craze interfere with the process of self-discovery, and how do we teach this next generation to discover their true(inner) beauty when inundated with an overwhelming number of fashion products and advertisements?

Glam Council of America is looking for inspiring stories for our theme, "It's not what you wear, it's who you are!" Tell us how a mother, teacher, or influential woman helped you to focus and spotlight the real you.

Why are brand names so important?

In this current economy, it is no coincidence that we are getting a collective chance to rethink our inner glam so that we might shine a great light on our being (rather than our runway fashions). For too long now, we've relied on our couture to define us.

At Glam Council of America, I am wanting to strike a chord in women with our motto: "It's not what you wear, it's who you are!" Hopefully, women in the universe are wanting to discuss this issue, so that we can teach our teens to develop their true gifts and rethink why Prada, Gucci, and Chanel have been misguided pieces of baggage to carry.