By Ben Ubiñas

Perfect skin, perfect teeth, perfect hair. Razor thin bodies, glamorous clothes. Is that what I’m supposed to expect from girls my age? Because that’s what Seventeen magazine shows on every page in every way.

I hadn’t even heard about Seventeen magazine until I saw on the news that some girls were protesting it. I wanted to see what the big deal was, so I found one. When I looked through the magazine, the girls looked sort of strange. They didn’t look like any real girls I know.

The proportions in their bodies aren’t right. Their waists are too skinny for their heads. Everything they’re wearing looks really expensive. They have so much makeup, it looks like they have a changed face. I’ve seen Leighton Meester in other places, and she looks different on the cover of the magazine from anywhere else.

The girls I know, real girls, don’t look anything like this. They look normal. Most of them aren’t covered in makeup, they wear the kind of clothes I wear, comfortable, everyday clothes, and they don’t look like Barbie dolls. They don’t consider themselves “sporty,” they consider themselves athletes. They don’t dress like they play sports, they just play sports.

I want all of the girls out there who read this blog — especially the ones who read Seventeen Magazine — to know that the Seventeen magazine look seems silly to boys. Boys like girls who look real, the kind of girls we see every day. The Seventeen look might look good on the cover, but in real life it’s uncanny and unattractive. All I can tell you is, say no to Seventeen.

This is Ben, signing off. I’m hoping to blog every once in a while. Let me know if you like my posts.