Or at least not as strong an influence as we've assumed? Saw this post on another women's forum I subscribe to. Could we be overstating the influence Paris, Lindsey et. al. have on young women?
"Paris. Can we please unofficially put a ban on mentioning that name or anything to do with that name unless it is in reference to the French City. I've been asking young teens and tweens their opinion and none of them like her. Seems to me that it is the adults perpetuating the image. DON'T buy the gossip mags. I can truly say that I have bought only one of these magazines in the past 10 years."
Can we go AROUND Paris or do we have to go through her?
3 comments:
I think it's naive to say young women and tweens don't like her. They won't ADMIT to liking her. But her power is real. And I refuse to stop buying US and People every Friday. They're like my meditative beads. Ignoring the fact that the young heroines of our world do time in prison and rehab and use their sexuality proudly to wield influence seems like a missed opportunity for debate. This US vs. THEM stuff is boring.
WHAT DO WE HAVE IN COMMON WITH THEM?
When I was 20, ALL I THOUGHT about was how to be cuter and how to make more guys like me. Everything else, even hanging with my girls, was a chance to look for guys, stalk guys, crank call guys, make out with guys, figure out sex by gossiping about our experience.
Were any of us really all that different?
I propose the idea that a cohesive feminism would INCLUDE understanding how to use the power of your sexuality to TRANSLATE it into power in the world, instead of just more wesbite hits for Perez Hilton.
People want to look at Lindsey and Paris. Can't we get in on that action?
jill,
when I was 20 I didn't only look for guys. I had a world of fun but I didn't only hang out with my friends because of guys. I think some women have had different experiences and many can have different experiences in the future. In fact, I really dislike the friendships that revolve around boys. It makes you choose your friends very badly and in a superficial way. I'm still close with my best friend from high school. We had much to talk about other than boys back then and we still do.
I don't dislike Paris. I think the media makes her (and others like her) big and then smashes her back down. She is definitely smart enough to make money out of the whole deal.
I don't buy US and People magazines because they are growing like mushrooms. Even CNN is starting to look like US! If you haven't noticed US and People aren't that supportive of Paris or anyone like her. They are the first in line to tell us who is doing something that's supposed to be terrible and who has a flabbier belly. And Paris is on the downhill section now. That's why girls don't admit that they like her anymore.
Finally, there are other magazines that truly support women and girls. Girls that can be cooler and better role models, or even maybe have a more positive view of Paris. Sexiness is not bad, but it's good for a girl to know that the whole world doesn't revolve around whether or not she is sexy enough for a boy.
Girls can even think more about how sexy a boy should look rather than how sexy they should look.
People want to look at Lindsay and Paris for the same reason they look at car wrecks, they want to see how bad it is. We like to see the rich and thin heiress go to jail because she has everything and we feel she doesn't deserve it. In the case of Ms. Lohan, I really don't want to see it. She makes me sad. I see a victim there.
I think Paris has very little influence on our youth, they all think she's a joke just like we do but the joke isn't funny any more. I just think it will take the media a while to catch on that unless Tinkerbell mauls her and eats her alive, nobody cares. She's so YESTERDAY! (OK maybe this is just wishful thinking...please God please make her go away)
It is unfortunate that we have a media that is able to dictate to us how we feel about something. Millions of lemmings think they should care about Paris because they're supposed to. Just like the same millions who don't give a darn about certain political matters because the media hushes them up (or vise versa) I believe that the media does not respond to us. We respond to it.
I just hate turning on the NEWS and seeing Paris, Nicole, or some "piece" about the latest trends in clothing for your dog.
But back to the real topic, I think these girls are examples of the women who set us all back thrity years with their behavior. All the work women have done over the years to try to give us equality and we have a generation of females who aspire to be in the next "Girls Gone Wild".
It's frustrating.
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