When I was very young, I remember seeing a picture of Billy Joel with Christie Brinkley and thinking, "Hmmm......" A picture is truly worth a thousand words. It seems as a guy, you can have money or be a rock star and that makes you "cool". But as a girl, (sorry, feminists but it's true) our society places a lot more importance on looks. This is a hard message to hear when you're going through those awkward adolescent years. We watch beauty pageants, see airbrushed photo spreads, and watch TV shows and movies chocked full of hot and sexy perfection. Meanwhile, we're getting our periods, freaking out at the arrival of body hair, and dealing with raging hormones and puppy love.
Of course, to be fair, we are also taught that women can be as successful, or even more so, than men. We can be educated and go after any career path we choose. We can be astronauts or politicians or boxers or Supreme Court justices. However, with that said, how many Janet Reno or Hillary jokes have you heard? Women can be successful in every professional way, but our looks are still evaluated and critiqued. Bill Gates is butt-ugly, yet is hardly made fun of for his looks.
As hard as I thought it was to BE a young girl, I now feel it's harder to RAISE a young girl. If it were left completely up to me, I would fill my girls' minds with warm fuzzies about self-image, and I would convince them that they are beautiful, inside and out, no matter their waist size or bone structure. And I will certainly give it my best shot. But I have to be honest; it's a little intimidating when I think about all the evil, superficial influences lurking outside of these four walls.
Britney Spears can't either a) wear underwear OR b) keep her legs together. Women are auctioning off their virginity at The Bunny Ranch to pay for college. Jessica Simpson sings a horrible song while washing a car in a bikini, and it's called "musical entertainment". There are reality shows where you have a series of surgeries to look like your favorite celebrity. Almost every woman who makes it in music and Hollywood these days is a super-skinny, spray-tanned, fake-eyelashed, silicon enhanced, hair-extensioned, lip-injected, Botoxed, unrealistic idea of beauty. And half the time they're not even that talented, which reinforces the messed-up message that looks are all you need. Paris Hilton is famous, for doing nothing. She's a complete oxygen thief. Again, the message seems to be, "Act like a slut, make a sex tape (or two), and you'll be sexy, famous, and desirable."
Luckily, for now, my daughters are perfectly content with a programming line-up of Sprout and Disney Channel. But I'm terrified of the coming day when someone (from school, definitely, because it sure as hell won't be me) will tell them about VH1, E!, and MTV. It's horrifying! Have you watched it lately? In my day, which wasn't that long ago, those channels were fairly benign. The worst you would see was Axel Rose's ridiculously tight pants and Madonna rolling around on the floor in her lingerie "bride" outfit. Even the cast of The Real World was pretty normal. Remember Julie, Eric, and Heather? For heaven's sake, can we please have them back instead of these awful Jersey Shore people? And Paula Abdul may have danced a little nasty in Cold Hearted Snake, but she actually had quite a bit of clothes on while doing it.
Let me be clear. I'm no prude, and I certainly believe in the importance of staying fit and healthy and not just letting your looks go out of laziness. However, these days it just seems like anything goes. Chicks are making out with each other on award shows, a sex tape or scandal makes you more popular, and even the Disney "tweens" are engaging in promiscuous behavior. (i.e. Ms. Vanessa "sexting" Hudgens)
I saw a special on Shakira where a film crew followed her to her home country of Colombia, and she visited an elementary school to meet some local children. One of the girls, with great pride, went up to her and said, "I know some of your dance moves!" She proceeded to lie on the floor and seductively hump the floor while running her hands all over her body. I mean, come on. Really? And the worst part? Shakira seemed flattered.
Of course, our job as parents is to communicate openly with our girls. We have to make them realize that the photos in magazines are airbrushed and most of Miley's beautiful, wavy hair isn't really hers. It's all an illusion, and we have to teach them what real beauty is. I realize I can't control the things my daughters will see and hear, but it is a little daunting when you see everything out there just waiting to make them feel bad about themselves. I know they will work through their own self-image issues just like I did, err....am. I'd just really like to be able to put it off for a few more years; like, oh I don't know, til they're at least 10. So, please Disney Channel, would you be so kind as to make Selena Gomez' new music video (which you insist on playing during Playhouse Disney) a little less sexy? 'K, thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment