Tweens versus college girls

They decorated their hair in pink streaks, wore glitter around their eyes and lost their voice by the end of the concert. They are referred to as the hundreds of tweens that I encountered at the Avril Lavigne concert. Yes, I went to the Avril Lavigne concert this past Sunday night, and yes, she rocked.

Tweens, according to the freedictionary.com, are defined as a child between middle childhood and adolescence, usually between eight and 12 years old. At the Avril Lavigne concert, they were the dominant part of the audience. For a moment I wasn’t sure if I was at a Brace Face Convention or actually at the Avril Lavigne concert.

As me and my other two girlfriends, ages 23-25, were people watching at the concert as if it was literally our jobs, we couldn’t help but notice the over-stroking of hairs, the under-use of clothing and the extensive dental work on these little innocent–looking girls. The whole time, not only did we feel old, but it was a sigh of relief that we are not in that strange stage of life anymore.

I thought about what a difference a few years makes and how things have changed for me in the past 10 years. I thought about the difference between these adorable little young souls and the cynical, stressed people also known as college students.

Rite of Passage

“This next song is for anyone who wants to do better and be STRONG!” said Lavigne before singing her next song, titled "I Can Do Better."

“I don’t really care what you think of me,” are the beginning lyrics and the chorus goes, “I found myself again/ That’s why you’re gone/ I can do better, I can do better.” These young girls were jumping up and down so hard that I thought the ground was going to start shaking. Wow, the closest thing to this kind of mainstream girl power was the angry Alanis Morisette and flower-infused Spice Girls — via 1995.

The self-confidence roller coaster has no height limit and these girls are constantly riding the wave. Thanks to Avril, their confidence-boosting role model, going through this rite of passage seems to be a bit smoother. Avril reminded me of what a blend of Alanis Morissette and the Spice Girls would be, minus the cheesiness, plus the hot pink punk rocker. Every tween and tween parent should thank Avril for making their lives at least 1 percent easier.

Image, Image, Image

Targeting a tween market is not something only Avril Lavigne does.

Orthodontists must be making millions of dollars off of these straight-teeth-challenged girls (and boys, too). The whole idea of having to wear braces is never positive in anyone's eyes (or mouths), but it’s a must for most teens.

Let’s not forget about the changing bodies of these young women. I couldn’t help but watch these little girls go from hiding in their homemade "I heart Avril" Hanes T-shirts to jumping up and down, completely forgetting their insecurities. As a late bloomer myself, I used to envy my “grown-up” classmates and hate life for making me a little girl for a few years longer.

Image is everything in America. It’s hard enough keeping up with the latest iPod and iPhone craves, and I can’t image how these little girls deal with image on top of that. Ironically, they seem to be dealing with it a lot better than the Alanis-meets-Spice-Girls generation did. Remember the super-skinny, super-flat Calista Flockhart, or the perfect-bodied Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera era?

Boys Like Girls……really?

The concert opened up with an *NSYNC-meets-Green-Day band: Boys Like Girls. Wow. They played like they were Bon Jovi and sang like they were about to pass around a note reading, “Do you like me? Circle yes, no or maybe.” These girls must have all left the concert looking for a boy wearing skinny jeans, a white V-neck and sporting an over-gelled mohawk. I’m sure the parents were happy.

I couldn’t help but remember all of those awkward crushes that the “grown-up” girls snagged effortlessly from under me. Anyone who said college dating is difficult clearly never thought of how difficult dating must be when you’re still bringing lunch money to school.

At the end, no matter what concert you go to, it’s always the same. Everyone is trying to leave at the same time, and you’re one of a thousand caught in the middle of the mosh pit.

Looking around at all of the tweens, I realized that, while we all love Avril Lavigne — yes, I’ll admit it, don’t judge me — I’m so grateful that I made it out of my tween-stage somewhat normal. I’ll never have to worry if he likes me or not (because if he doesn’t, he’s a loser) and I’ll never be jealous of my “grown-up” best friend.

Did I mention we drove home in our own car with a valid driver’s license? Amen for being out of the tween-scene.