Re: Please Try Harder
Lately, entertainment news is all about women. There’s Fergie and Katy, Kendra and some housewife from Orange County, Lindsay, Elin and Oksana.
Here’s a quick recap: In interviews with Cosmopolitan UK and Esquire respectively, Fergie says she falls into both the “madonna” and “whore” categories while Katy Perry claims that she is a “f*cking strong elephant of a woman” and a diva. Kendra Wilkinson, former Playboy “girl next door” releases her autobiography and surprises no one by admitting that she wasn’t physically attracted to Hugh Hefner. Alexis Bellino, a real housewife from the Orange County series, almost drowns her daughters after leaving them unattended in a stroller which rolls into a pool. Lindsay Lohan’s tearful apology fails to persuade a judge to spare her jail time for violating her probation. Elin Nordegren gets $100 million from Tiger to nurse her broken heart and Oksana Grigorieva gets something entirely different from racist and misogynist baby daddy Mel Gibson.
It’s sluts, divas, opportunists, bad mommies and victims.
I don’t need a female celebrity as a role model but can I have just one who represents women as more than generic and simplistic stereotypes?
Angelina Jolie might help me out. She’s on the cover of this month’s Vanity Fair. Since she’s discovered
adoption, birth, the United Nations and another woman’s husband, she’s all about joy, love, kids and charitable work. She is actor, mother and humanitarian. The problem is that despite these roles, she is most often defined by her beauty and her seduction skills. So again, not so much a well-rounded representation of womankind.
There’s Lady Gaga. She’s creative and talented but really she’s just a less-clothed and more coarse version of the Material Girl. She’s Madonna version 2.0. Once upon a time, Christina Aguilera made a statement with empowering anthems like Beautiful but now that it’s been relegated to ‘lesson’ episodes of Glee and end of class cool downs at the gym, she feels compelled to revive her career by wearing flashing symbols over her lady parts. Sandra Bullock’s speedy divorce and triumphant single parent statement seemed promising but again, the adulation she currently enjoys is based upon her role as victim and her rise as mother. Not particularly original.
Surprisingly, it’s come down to Brittany Spears. She tells this month’s Cosmopolitan that she would rather lock her sons in their rooms until they’re 30 than let them have careers in entertainment. Just when I thought she pretty much owned the victim category, she shocks me with empowering self-awareness.
Now all she needs to do is employ a decent stylist and I can get behind her.
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