Not a believer? Then read Popular: Vintage Wisdom for a Modern Geek<\/em><\/strong> by Maya Van Wagenen<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPopular\u201d originated as an experiment encouraged by teenager, Maya Van Wagenen\u2019s parents. They challenged their then non-social, eighth-grade daughter to follow the advice from \u201cBetty Cornell\u2019s Teen-Age Popularity Guide\u201d<\/em><\/a> written by teenage model, Betty Cornell in 1951, and used the book\u2019s advice in secret and journal the experience and responses.<\/p>\n \u201cIt didn\u2019t seem like a good idea at all,\u201d she commented in a recent interview. \u201cI was terrified because flipping through the pages you read about all teens must wear a girdle and wear pearls to school and wear pantyhose and red lipstick and stuff that I definitely wasn\u2019t comfortable doing.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI realized I did want friends and I did want to be liked and I did want to be accepted and while I didn\u2019t have a clear-cut definition of popularity, I knew that it wasn\u2019t what I was. More than anything, I didn\u2019t have anything to lose, so I said, \u2018You know what? I\u2019ll try it for a month.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n We are sure she is extremely glad she followed her parent\u2019s advice because 15-year-old, Maya Van Wagenen is not only social, but she also has a great book and a possible movie in the works with DreamWorks.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n In the beginning of Van Wagenen\u2019s experiment, she was 11-years-old and \u201cpretty much [on] the lowest level of people at school who aren\u2019t paid to be here\u201d and she realized as she began to follow the Teen-Age Popularity Guide\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> steps by spending more than five minutes on her hair, dressing up, wearing curlers, girdles, and even a strand of pearls. She noticed she was becoming more outgoing but she also noticed she was getting \u201cPopular\u201d.<\/p>\n She found that the real-life results were hilarious, painful, and filled with unexpected surprises but she decided to tell the story with humor and grace, along with how she has a better understanding of what it means to be popular.<\/p>\n This is absolutely amazing and inspiring! Sounds like a book definitely worth reading. What about you? Will you be reading?<\/p>\n Photo Credit:\u00a0shellyandzach.blogspot.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Some things never change and apparently that stands true for pearls and girdles. An interesting article by the Associated Press caught our attention. The story highlighted a teenage girl who discovered through experience that when you take a visit back … Continue reading ![\"81JHRMAkZIL\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pearlsonly.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/81JHRMAkZIL-241x300.jpg?resize=241%2C300&ssl=1\")
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