Charlotte Giver - fashion events, articles, spontaneous trips, days at my internship

Globalisation, internationalism, americanisation, the ideology of western-style or whatever you want to call it. Either way, we can't deny the fact that our world is becoming more and more international. People travel abroad as soon as they finish high-school with big city dreams of becoming a lawyer driving that Range Rover along the east coast and we have been raised up watching Legally Blond, the OC and Sex and the City ever since we turned fifteeen. Of course we are being influenced! Just think about how many times you say the word "like", "totally" or "whatsup?". Traditional food and drinks are being kicked out of the market by coffee shops and numerous chains of fast food. The film industry is being dominated by big american media giants such as Warner Bros, Walt Disney, Universal, FOX, Sony and Paramouth Pictures and we do not only love the movies and shows, we want to be just like the main characters, dress just like them and live on Park Avenue in New York or by the beach in OC - just like them. Take a look at Hollywood for example and how the american government put an enormous amount of money in its filmindusty with the intention of selling the movies to the rest of the world, making the rest of the world want to live that perfect movie life, have that career and nice car; Just like they do in the movies, just what they sing about in the songs, how they fall in love and how they eat chocolate and ben and jerry's ice-cream in front of the TV after getting their hearts broken. What we see is a global media promote relations of dependency. You can discuss whether this is a good or a bad thing. The question is: How would our lives look like without those girlymovies, shows about relationships and news from the other side of the ocean? I think the 'occidents' (us in the west) would be quite isolated while the 'Rest of the world' (non-western countries) would struggle to afford creating their own movies, shows and other media. American media is cheaper to make and cheaper to buy in. Local producers of media texts simply cannot compete with american texts. And remember "Hollywood is not America". Even thought there is some rubbish in the movies and media, we can find a lot of happiness and motivation, visions and drive. After all, I should not be the one writing this article due to the fact that it turns out that I am not "totally" critical to globalisation. I am international and love America (the none-hollywood-kind-of-America). Obviously I still remain Swedish and I always will. Believe me when I say: I will never loose my accent! Neither will I loose my values, beliefs, childhood memories, the happiness of the summer in Sweden and opinions. Although I like listening to the Goo goo dolls, Steve Wonder and Augustana, having OC marathons while believing New York can be just as wonderful and happy as one of those 20th Century Fox movies during that sunny day in Apri, having drinks in Soho together with your friends.

By the age of 22 I should agree with Britney Spears early song "I am not a girl, not yet a woman" but before I can do so, I need to question the in between; what do we find between being a girl and being a woman? After giving it some thought I came up with the term "young lady", as I can't describe myself as a lady not really yet. When people are referring to me as a lady I get suprised, wondering "what, am I really a lady?" "No...I can't be yet, can I?". I am the kind of girl who loves my pink and white lace dresses. watching sex and the city marathons, having slumber-parties, painting my nails while talking about boys together with my friends past midnight. When I go out for a drink or presenting a project on the other hand, I feel like a lady, wearing a suit with red lipstick or one of my red dresses with high-heels. Besides that, I have to stick to the girl-file for a another year or two. So what is the difference between being a girl and being a lady? What is the different combinations that together makes a "young lady"? Is the difference physical or fysical? Is it that red lipstick or that red dress that makes the difference? And can you be a girl while having good manners and elegance? Of course you can! The word lady has its roots in British nobility as the female equivalent of "lord", carries a connotation of elegance and class. However, I believe the word lady has two different definitions; one physical and one fysical. And I also believe being only a lady, throwing away that girly side of you, will make you rather boring. Many of us have been raised up with good manners and we know how to act like a lady. With parents teaching us in the early stages of childhood about how to act "ladylike" and feminene we build up an early picture which separates us girls from the boys and their behaviour. One time at my University however, I decided to hang out with some guy friends, playing pool and drinking beer. This was a joke and so did they think. Playing pool and drinking beer was just not really my thing as I showed up in a pink shirt and hairband, got drunk on two beers and started to laugh at everything. The beers, pool and acting cool like a guy needed to go after only one night! But practising well manners does not mean we can't stick to being girls! We can do the both! I don't believe there is a time limit or rule telling us when it is time to trash that white lace dress, pink nailpolish or red-bowed hair band. The steps we take from being a girl t tinymce/themes/advanced/langs/sv.js" type="text/javascript"> o becoming a woman is a slow and successiv overlap which needs to take time. You don't wake up one morning knowing it is time to change that flowery bag to the black portfolio.. When it comes around I guess I can relate to Britney Spears song. I believe in the importance of keeping a girly side of you while maintaining the good manners of a lady.