Wider Context: Shep

•‘Kidulthood’ released 3rd March 2006, raised question on our modern society, and the direction/ambition of the youths of today
•Director: Menhaj Huda
•‘Kidulthood’ received major media attention, and was both criticised and praised for its depiction on reality.
The Sun: ‘The ‘Happy Slap’ movie’
The Evening Standard: ‘Everyone should see this film and afterwards, go on, and give a hoodie a hug.’

‘ How are teenage girls represented in the 21st century?’

Change In Behaviour
The representations of teenage girls within ‘Kidulthood’ dramatically stray from past representations of female youths before the 21st century.
•‘Kidulthood’ effectively portrays teenage girls to be equal if not worse, compared to male youths.
•equally sexually experienced, as well as rebellious,
and aggressive. The once more innocently reflected gender now disregard sex as much as males.
• Alisa: ‘orite, but only a hand job.’
•-Female peer pressure to have sex- changed, same as boys.
•The masculine role is also fulfilled on behalf of the female gender, as the first major fight of the movie is between teenage girls.
•extreme abuse revealed from the opposing gender, a new breed of stereotype is created.

‘ England has the worst record for teenage pregnancies in Europe - the teenage birth rates are twice as high as Germany, three times as high as France and six times as high as the Netherlands.’

‘ One in every ten babies born in England is to a teenage mum’
Source: Teenage Pregnancy : a Social Exclusion Unit Report June 1999

Links to our society:

•‘Kidulthood’ links into our own society, with recent schemes such as ‘Hug A Hoodie’ a poor attempt to understand and change the behaviour of the youths of today.
• "The biggest single root cause to most of this is the massive levels - highest in most of the western world - of family breakdown."
•Recent articles such as the - the three teenage sisters who all fell pregnant around the same time

•Articles suchas these represent the changing behaviour of girls within our modern society, this therefore reflects the situations represented within ‘Kidulthood’ as more of a reality, and in turn a true representation of teenage females.