Why do you think people are getting more vain?

Why do you think people are getting more vain than before? Kids now are all about how they look. I know I shouldn't really say much about this seeing as I'm 18, but I'm not that way. I like the way I look when I'm dressed up and when I'm in pajamas. I feel confortable with myself and I don't see why other people can't be comfortable with themselves like they say they are.

I know the media and celebrities are part of the cause, and the way some people have lived, but it doesn't make any sense. I've had a horrible life. I've never had a dad and I've almost lost my mother six times because of her suicide attempts, yet I'm one of the few people who can turn a bad thing into something to work with. I feel horrible for asking this question, but I feel it needs to be asked.

There's a famous quote from socrates / plato about how kids disobey their parents...funny, how they thought the same thing thousands of years ago

Generalization from a few kids behavior ultimately paints too general and non specific of a picture over all the kids in the world - or even the culture you're talking about. There will always be some good, some bad. Same with parents, and people.

Media, Hollywood, Disney. . . Thats what the TV teaches them.

it's because they're starting to loose what really matters...I totally agree with you

well honestly. I dont think its really all just the media, if you remember it all started in elementry school when some little punk would make a comment about what your wearing. I think its just how humans are... cause I bet 300 years ago people still made fun of people and had cliques and everything...

Many people, especially in their teens, need the security of fashion to feel that they belong and fit in. As others pointed out, this is nothing new. Good for you for making the best of your life and turning bad into good - it certainly is a great attitude!

Everyone's right when they say that people have always been vain - think of fairy tales about vain queens etc - those are really ancient stories.

But I think it used to be harder for ordinary people to be truly vain - people used to have to worry about staying alive!

Now we take staying alive for granted, because we have such good health care, education, jobs, a police force etc. So we have lots of leisure time to worry about ultimately pointless things, like looks, fashion etc.

It's no surprise that someone like you, who has faced up to real life and death issues, is less prone to vanity than the rest of us.

When you find out what really matters in life, fashion and trends can be seen for what they are - maybe a bit of fun, maybe an obsession - but not life and death at all!