Why is it that MOST teens find appearance more important than education?

Question

I'm focusing more on teenagers. Being a teen myself & not able to explain why most of them tend to think that being good-looking is the first goal they have to reach. I do prepare myself to look neat & decent, also but I limit myself all the time. So, it's easier to ask those who aren't teens looking from your point of view, why do you think they worry about things that aren't as important in life more than things that are. & I'm talking about teens in general, both male & female.

Isn't it better to be independent & earn money from your own success that you deserve rather than spending someone else's money & depend on that person. That only applies to those with self-esteem problems.

Why would acceptance decides who you are? I mean it's OK to look pretty but often time, they go too far off the line

Answer 1

I think teens focus on there appearance for basically one main reason...acceptance. Teens feel that if they don't look a certain way, dress a certain way, and act a certain way people won't accept them. I think teens should stop focusing on there appearance and let people actually know them for who they are not for what they look like.

Answer 2

IMO education is simply programming to make you into a useful robot. So the first goal ought to be to realize that if you will need the certificate for your future, then get it in the most enjoyable and quick manner possible. Another thing that comes into this question is the fact that teenage time is often a time of being distracted by sex hormones and that is the reason that appearance takes on so much importance. Not that it has to be that way, it just is as a result of bad programming, which is difficult to avoid. I recommend as much self-education through reading as possible because that is the best way to find out what is out there in the world, the possibilities. You can get everything you want easy enough, but what happens if you don't know what exists out there to choose from?, and in my opinion the majority of people are and remain clueless about this. Decide now if that is what you want. It is your life to enjoy.

Answer 3

you are right, although you are a teenagers, and you deserved to be a life due concern, and I don't mean this in the bad way, but soon and if you decide that the problem you are trying to solve, is the maximum you can try, think again, its all about Hormones later in life and I'm afraid after you see how many knuckle heads are been left behind in the road, of such an interrogative, without an specific, perfectly legal and solid answer, you will be if not push, you will be exposed to such needs of more Hormones by the ghost of the first knuckle heads that we were talking about it????, just take it slowly, there is nothing wrong to wait for the answer the teacher, (asker), will need to answer for you, do me a favor Just don't look confuse is this continue going on, because isn't positive also if this question is left without answer. I'm not concern about my Hormones, I have then under control since I was 20, and I'm know let say Older. You explain your self well enough about dressing -up, and so forth, just wait, and keep dressing -up, pretty, or as you feel........,decent, try to find someone that knows good Spanish and ask that person to explain to you the word sencilles! although lol...., you has to be prepared.open minded, because is all about the way all societies begin to be corrupted?????, just wait for the answers!!!

Answer 4

That is because they look around them and the media and that seems to be the "in" thing to do and people seem to be happy on the outside when they look good.
What they don't know is...that there's an inner void in the teenagers mind.
When i was a teenager i wonder about who i am, why was i created? Why are my parents my parents, why not another couple? Why does my mind behave the way it does? If i can't control what i think, how can i gain control over it, or can i? What is the spirit? Am i the body with the spirit or the spirit with a body?When, i die, what happens to the body? the spirit?

Mind you, i did not get answers to these questions to my satisfaction, just half-truths. So. i thought while i have these unresolved questions, i will beautify myself so i will fit in in the meantime.I, in fact pretended to know life, pretended to be happy, pretended to know who i really am.

I can't even study well. I was wondering why i have to study geometry etc. when, what i really need to know is the answer to these basic questions. To me, it's like being in China for the first time and not having a map or know anyone not even a knowing how to speak chines and be expected to be the CEO of a Chinese speaking firm. So, life's basic questions remain unanswered.

Well, i feel better now that i know the answers. I come to love myself and life. That made me realize what things are for and why, what's more important and what's not that important, what the body is for and what is natural beauty and what the role of education is and other stuff in this universe and how i can co-create a life of happiness...infinite happiness!!!

June
www.onegoalinc.com

Answer 5

Teens are insecure. They need desperately to be accepted, to "fit in." Image is everything to them. They have to wear the right clothes, have the right hair, makeup etc. Education (being intelligent, doing well in school) normally isn't too high on a teen's list of priorities. In fact, other kids often hold it against them when a teen is exceptionally bright & does well in school (such was the case with me. I was called brown-noser etc because I was a straight A student and I didn't do cool things like smoking & drinking to fit in. I usually had my nose in a book...)

It's part of our culture unfortunately to put an emphasis on looks more so than brains. The media (tv, magazines etc) inundates us with images of so-called perfect people. Teens are impressionable & want to emulate the stars that they admire. It can be pretty tough to live up to. A lot of girls will starve themselves & become bulimic trying to look thin or go out & get plastic surgery trying to look like the caricaturesque women they see with 10 inch waists & large fake boobs. It's sad. The message that you're beautiful the way you are & that you don't have to change to try to be some unattainable ideal doesn't always come across...

Yes it's what's inside that counts but as a teen when first impressions count so much, this is forgotten. They just want to be beautiful, to be accepted, to be popular.

The best thing to do is get a good education. Sure you can take pride in your appearance but it shouldn't be an all-consuming obsession. It shouldn't take precedence over learning & being successful and preparing for your chosen career. Teenage years don't last and as you move into adulthood, your education will do you far more good than that pricey pair of designer shoes & lipgloss and hanging out at the mall with the "cool" crowd...

Answer 6

Teens are sexually mature and start to feel the need to date and develop, shall we say "romantic" relastionships. However, they are emotionally immature and still living in a fairly sheltered world. Although we find out later that looks aren't the most important thing, in the life of a teen they are far more relevant than Dickens or advanced math. Once you get out of school and out of your parent's house, making money and having a good education and things like that are very important but at 13, 14, 15 when the hormones start flowing, it is much more important to be popular (even if it is for the wrong reasons). It is more important that they boy/girl in your history class likes you than history is. As time goes on, the hormones calm down, or at least we learn to deal with the and then we focus on what is truly important.

Answer 7

Most teens or people like the outward appearance of people, because people in general don't really care what someone think, just how they look, and if they have self-esteem that is a little bonus with the looks. It's not just teens, it's all people in general; though the attitude turns some off from a person. Like me, I do have a boyfriend that I find adorable, most people wouldn't. He is a play writer and he is brilliant, but people don't see that when they look at him, they just see another man that is a little slow. Or take me, I'm cute and have blonde hair, but I want people to see my mind when they look at me; but I have an attitude for the both of us. So, people get turned off by that rather quickly.

Answer 8

You are asking the right questions...
I believe the media is very responsible for US teens being so self focused on their appearance. I do not believe years ago this was as prevalent. Of course you want to be attractive to the opposite sex, it's built into you, but given four 16 years old from:
USA
Africa
Peru
Haiti

Do you think they are all concerned about the same thing?
The US teens worry about looks because they have nothing else to worry about and the media has brain washed them.

Answer 9

Social structures are the reason that anyone group, holds to any belief or social norm. Those who will tell you that appearance is more important than education, will have a belief that to fit into their social structure you require a certain "in look". The "in look" becomes the pre-requisite to belong to that social structure.

There are of course teenagers who believe that education is more important than looks. As a result, their pre-requistite for you to belong to their group is academic acheivement.

Both groups are acting under a social structure often referred to as the pecking order. There are those who are in and there are therefore those who are out. Everyone does it. if they (whoever they are) tell you they don't do it they are lying.

If you belong to any social structure, whether it be family, age, gender, religious, social group, you are seperating yourself from everybody else, to simply say you are in and they are out.

I am not saying this is bad, it just is. So to answer the question Most teens find appearance more important than education because their peers say it is. Those who don't value appearance belong to a different social structure snd they laugh at "the pretty people.

Answer 10

I think from an evolutionary perspective as teenagers, there are certain changes that take place. 1)teenagers are biologically capable of reproduction and therefore carry through with many of the rituals associated with mating. Not that you have to act on this basic drive, but I think it is there. 2) Teenagers seek control of their life. Education has been mandatory since a young age and as teens grow more independent they begin to become annoyed by other people having power over them, so they may go to school, but it becomes less important because they are made to do it. These are just my thoughts.

Answer 11

It's quite simple, I think... appearance is easier than education. Either you are attractive or you aren't. Of course, there are certain things you can do to become more attractive, and these are FAR easier than studying. The payoff is more immediate as well. You are looking for a mate first, then a career (if things work out well, the career might not even be that important in many cases).