Nuts, Sluts, and Role Models
The problem here is that the only model for success for young women seems to involve, at some point, acting like a dumb floozy with a drug or alcohol problem. The only way to be worthwhile is to be a celebrity of some kind. Talent is optional, a nice rack is not optional, and brains are a liability. And you must conform to the success story model, whereby you smash to the bottom on a debauched spiral with your privates splayed all over the camera.
The problem is this has become the only model, it's natural, and acceptable - and almost expected. Girls go wild, and every one of them fits the pattern of the E! True Hollywood story, where after the first rush of media prominence the demons arrive and take their toll.
Yes, we all want forgiveness. Yes, we all deserve a second chance. No, I'm not thunderously condemning Miss USA or Lindsay Lohan or whatever dumb bunny was caught by the cameras with her pants down and her tongue out. It's not a matter of saying these young women are wrong or wicked or filthy - although, in some cases, a handful of Cipro might not be a bad idea for any potential boyfriends.
It's a just frightening to think 13 year old girls see so few young women in the media pantheon that attained fame with a college degree, tough standards, intellect, or talent that they worked hard to develop. It's a shame that we have come to be filled with resentment and and a jonesing for hypocrisy when anyone is the same person before and after they "make it" as a celebrity, whenever they appear to have solid character.
It's not a matter of liberal or conservative either. Staunch religious people are the most obviously troubled by this media model, but why not the hardcore secularists and the people who value the intellectual life? And what about anyone who claims to have even the slightest amount of interest in feminism? Are Lohan and Spears and the latest drunk pageant queen headed off to rehab really the best we can do for our daughters?
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posted by Superfly @ 11:33 AM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
For that matter, famous men, even when their credentials are earned through hard work and education, are often portrayed as sex monkeys and pimps. Best thing for all to just throw away your T.V.
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