Teen and “tween” (that difficult, in-between age of 9-12) girls nowadays have it rough. Contrast this with the caveman era that I grew up in, that oh-so-long-ago decade known as the 1990s, in which girls could simply chillax and be themselves…kind of. But before we roll our eyes at the behavior of “kids these days,” we should at least consider how our adolescence was different.

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Within the last ten to fifteen years, shows like South Park, Family Guy, Futurama, and American Dad have been popping up, creating huge hordes of followers and dominating the airwaves. These shows are unique in that they are animated, which allows for extremely off-color, inappropriate, or even offensive stereotypes. The question is: Are these stereotypes positive or harmful?

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American media has a history of ignoring the marginalized in our society, including America’s poor. “But wait! I can think of an example!” Perhaps you can. But unfortunately, media representation isn’t enough; diverse and accurate media representation is essential. Here are four examples of cliche representations of poor people that don’t fit that bill.

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It’s okay to disagree with people. It’s even okay to hold disdain for other people’s politics. But when we cross over into personal attacks, we’ve gone too far. Not only are we being rude, we’re also being unfair. So the next time you find yourself criticizing conservatives, remind yourself that what you’re critical of is their belief system – not the people themselves.

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Growing up in the Midwest, I heard many things said about the Native American ethnicity. Some things were good, most were bad, but all had one thing in common: They were sweeping generalizations – overarching assumptions that ascribe a specific set of characteristics to all people of a certain culture. Otherwise known as stereotypes. And to move beyond them, first we have to understand them.

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