“HANNAH”

This piece is based upon a Caucasian girl, age 17

Her main quote: I have a strong commitment to living a life of respect and sustainability.

Some of her other quotes:

• You’re at a point where you’re wanting to be breaking some bounds that have been a part of your life before and moving towards a state that’s a little bit more independent, so that’s difficult, but it’s all part of the struggle.

• One of the things that I think about is the issue of respect...there are instances when I feel that there is a need for more mutual respect between adults and people of my age.  And I’ve mentioned this to some teachers and they’ve said, “Well, you have to realize a lot of kids your age are not respectful of older people because they’re at a point of their stereotypical ‘rebellion’.” But...I feel like people are organizing institutions in a way that is more of an end-of-pipe solution—similar to the way we treat a lot of environmental problems in this country.

• My mom is, to a great extent, totally unconcerned with societal norms and fitting them and that’s something that I’ve appreciated about her through all my growing-up years.   There were points, of course, when I was thinking, “Boy, there are some molds here that I need to be fitting into in order to survive in this world and my mom sure doesn’t fit into them and she’s embarrassing me because of that.”  So, of course, you can’t grow up in this society without that happening, I think. 

• I feel like most of my friends really are pretty strong in themselves and don’t judge their worth by whether they have a boyfriend or not.

• My sister will say, “You know, Hannah, I can’t be like you.  I just can’t not care about what I wear and I don’t know why, but I just can’t do it.”  It’s really hard to explain to her that it’s not that I don’t care.  It’s that I want to be someone different. 

• There’s no way you can possibly grow up in this country...and not think about your weight.  It’s not possible.

• I feel uncomfortable, actually, if I’m wearing something that is trendy or in style at that moment because I feel like I’m almost subjugating myself, oppressing myself in that way—allowing myself to be influenced by those ideas...

• My dad always had talks with me about make-up—first of all: what kind of an idea that was that you have to do something to yourself when you get up in the morning in order to make yourself look good and what kind of subconscious idea that puts into women’s head about who they are and how they appear to other people.  But he also would talk to me about how cosmetics are tested on animals and that just pushed me over the edge