one of the worst myths perpetuated in fiction i think is the idea that teenagers get angry and hate their parents for no real reason. it’s one of the endless ways older folks trivialize the real hurt and frustration and pain that teenagers experience - which, with no small amount of irony, can come from that very kind of trivialization.
when i was an angry and hormonal teenager, i was taught i was having a rebellious phase. my mother taught me i was being disrespectful to her. media taught me it was a product of being an irrational teenager. but when that shit didn’t fade as i grew up, when i grew even more bitter towards her, i started learning that it was actually a completely rational response to the literal years of abuse from her. i wasn’t just angry, i was traumatized. still am.
and to this day, I’ve never met a teenager who is “irrationally” hateful towards their parents. and maybe that’s a product of not knowing any entitled rich kids, but my point stands. teenagers are real people with real emotions, which don’t come out of nowhere or exist for no reason. teenage anger and pain may be harder for them to express or control, but its existence is not irrational. and i HATE every depiction of the irrational, parent hating teenager in media who opposes all adults just because they are teenagers, rather than because of any of the very real reasons teenagers have to be angry and hurt.
(via agentwidogast)