BellaOnline Forums Family Adolescence Role Models for Girls

Does anyone else find it disturbing that most TV shows and magazines aimed at young girls seem to focus on "celebrities" that don't seem to do much with their lives? In an interview with one of the "celebrities" she stated that she appreciated young girls looked up to her - like a role model.
I was flicking through a magazine at the airport (it was left on the seat next to me) aimed at the "teens and early 20s" market - Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Nicky Ritchie, Victoria Beckham....what exactly do they do? Have they studied? Do they have careers? No, then do they do charitable work? No
It seems to be partying non-stop, on-off relationships and marriages, out of control and excessive lifestyles, eating disorders, extreme vanity...
Role Models...are you kidding me?

I've also come to the conclusion that I don't actually like 90% (maybe more) of the celebrities "out there". Maybe I'm just growing up, but the A-list bores me.

I'm doing a series of articles on inspirational women, and your post has got me thinking about adding the angle of looking for real role models for girls to look up to.

You know, there are actually some good role models out there for yoiuong women, they just don't get the press time - because they are not "controversial" enough to sell tabloids.

BUt I think of young women like Raven Symone ("That's So Raven", "The Cheetah Girls") this young lady has been acting since a out the age of 3, can SING like crazy, is thinking about going to culinary school (when she can find time between all of her filming and concerts). She's got her own clothing line, and has made it OK for young women with fuller figures to feel good about themselves. She's just very inspiring - and I would love for girls to fashion themselves after her.

was flicking through a magazine at the airport (it was left on the seat next to me) aimed at the "teens and early 20s" market - Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Nicky Ritchie, Victoria Beckham....what exactly do they do? Have they studied? Do they have careers? No, then do they do charitable work? No
It seems to be partying non-stop, on-off relationships and marriages, out of control and excessive lifestyles, eating disorders, extreme vanity...
Role Models...are you kidding me?


yes they are joking and it is a very bad bad joke that falls flat and leaves a bad taste in your mouth!

Im 27 but do you know who my role model was growing up?
Reba MacEntire, Dolly Parden, Matina McBride, Faith Hill,
Tanya Tucker... Amanda Blake, Drew Berrymore,

and you dont know who this people are dont feel lonely no one my age did either!
Dolly Parden has been married for I forget how many years to the same man she married at 17 or 19 somewhere in there.
Reba sang and when her band died in a crash she picked up the pieces and honored them by doing the same thing they all loved.
Amanda Blake? well that is Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke who even though she ran a bar and was looked down on held her head high and also her morals and eithics!
most of the women have charities and other things they give to but you never saw them in the tabiolds or mags in a bad light.
well maybe Tanya Tucker in her comeing of age...but that was before my time....

also June Cater Cash, Minny Pearl, and Tammy Wynet!

those were the women I looked up to to be like and still do to some extent.

they blazed the way for other women, they had talent and worked for what they earned!
today its all about looks and youth! there is not much real talent out there with the computer inhansments and computer airbrushing and techology....

Miss Kitty was not thin or pretty by the set standerds today she was a real woman with out an eating disorder so are the others....mostly!

Robin Williams, Jim Carie, Tom Hanks, James Arness, and George Strait, Johnny Cash, Waylein Jennings these men have talent that you dont find these days and by todays standards for men they would not make the cut because they are not pretty thin or young! and there men!!!

When did men have to be pretty?

These are men that I looked up to for a role model of how a man should treat a woman! there is not a good role model for girls in the mens department either!

Did you know that George Strait's family was and is never in the media circus? He lost a daughter in a car crash back in the 80 she was with her friends and a drunk driver hit them and she died. the song Amarillo by morning was a song that he wrote because of that or so I am told. there has never been a scandle or a anything involving him or his family! he has the respect for his family to live a life without all the extra [censored] and his career is a long and lasting one!

they dont make them like they use too!!! but then again the focus is skewed to the point that that is not what matters.

Could scandal be the attempt to obtain fame or to stay in the spotlight by the less talented? Not that talented artists don't manage to get theirselves in well publicized jams from time to time, but they don't seem to work so hard as some to screw up simply to tickle the photographers.

I do think there are a lot of "good" role models out there but that they never get any publicity! They are too boring so the newspapers do not write about them. Instead the people who screw up keep getting all the press.

Newspapers should start to focus more on the encouraging things in life. I am actually encouraged that CNN is writing articles about women who have lost weight and become more healthy. Normally that wouldn't be newsworthy, but they are promoting good news rather than just bad news.

I think the news is designed to feed the masses [censored] to keep them from wanting anything substantial. If you destroy a child's mind and ambitions they are more likely to work at McDonald's or do other low level menial work, to fuel the monetary divide between the upper and lower classes.

You have to admit that Madeleine Albright and Margaret Thatcher are not nearly as exciting as Jennifer Lopez or Britney Spears to children. Even though I don't allow my babies to watch that much television (ok I'm a hypocrite, I watch what I want after they go to bed) they recognize the names of celebrities over successful, educated women.

When I was a little girl, my mom made sure that I read biographies of women like Clara Barton and Florence Nightingale. I want to do the same so that my girls know that women can make a huge difference and that they can do whatever they want with their lives.

There are also good books that profile "real world" teens doing amazing things that adolescent girls may find a bit more interesting and realistic...see Adventures and Challenges: Real Life Stories by Girls and Young Women (Paperback)
by Frances A. Karnes (Editor), Suzanne M. Bean (Editor)