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The current concept of prom just seems so empty. Teenagers get dressed up to go to a dance at a fancy location. It encourages social inclusion or exclusion based on your ability or inability to snag a date.

Prom has all the elements of a popular story. It reeks of all-Americanness, tension, drama. It has romance. Pretty dresses. Dancing. Limos. High school. Coming of age.

I work with a charity called Donate My Dress. It's got chapters all over the country where you can donate special-occasion dresses. Prom is a big deal when you're 15 years old, and it enables girls who don't have the money to come in and choose something special.

Adolescence is when girls experience social pressure to put aside their authentic selves and to display only a small portion of their gifts.

Adolescence is a modern construct and very American in so many ways.

Adolescents are attracted to tragic heroes. That's why rock stars dress like homeless people. Adolescence is a fall. It's when every child becomes an orphan.

There can be a lot of pressure on girls to dress the way they wouldn't normally dress: on social media, at school, among friends.

Adolescence is a time in which you experience everything more intensely.

To be honest, I kind of dress like a 15-year-old boy. And I probably live like a 15-year-old boy, too.

I'm a big advocate for young girls dressing their age.