This YouTuber expertly shut down the media’s mistreatment of teen girls
Sabrina Cruz is our new hero. The 17-year-old vlogger who goes by NerdyAndQuirky on YouTube noticed an atrocious trend in the condescending way the media reports on teenage girls — particularly this article on Tech Insider that described VidCon as “a 3-day scream fest where teenage girls chase YouTube stars through the halls.” Sabina made an awesome video, aptly called “Stop Being Sh!tty to Teenage Girls,” outlining not just the problematic ways teen girls are represented, but also ways people can fix it.
She starts by explaining her anger. “The media has this really degrading way of using teenage girls as a scapegoat for stupidity, and quite frankly it’s insulting,” she says. Sabina is so on point. When a journalist paints a picture of crowds of young women chasing YouTubers around a convention, she is misrepresenting the vast majority of teenage girls. That’s not right.
Instead of mocking “fandoms,” Sabina reminds viewers to celebrate teenage girls’ ability to be “whole-heartedly enthusiastic” about whatever they love. “It. Is. Beautiful,” she says, and we completely agree. Sabina describes the escape that fan culture provides to teens:
Um, no. That’s not ridiculous in the least. It’s absolutely amazing that loving Chris Evans’ abs (or a band, or a comic book, or a Youtuber) can bring girls together with no need to feel self-conscious.
After all, Sabina continues, teenage girls are tastemakers. They decide what’s cool, what’s popular, what’s #trending.
Sabina ends her “rant” video with some advice for those who still might want to talk down to the most powerful demographic in the world’s population. “What you need is to embrace your inner teenage girl, and do something you love doing without caring how stupid you look while doing it.” Yasss!!! Uncontrollable about of YASSSS!
Not only is this advice fitting for pretty much every single person on the planet, Sabina’s video is a fantastic reminder that if you see something wrong in society, you can use your voice to change it.
Who run the world? Teen girls.
