Sunday, June 10, 2007
Girls gone wild are no role models
Shanna Flowers
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"I think I am a good role model, and a lot of mothers come up to me and they're really happy."
Paris Hilton on the "Today" show, 2006
"Mom! Mom! It's not right."
Paris Hilton, sobbing in court Friday after a judge ordered her back to jail
Of course, those of us over 17 have known for some time that Paris, Britney and Lindsay are not people you want to emulate.
Now the recent, highly publicized woes of the sometimes pantyless, always overexposed celebs have made the statement more clearly than ever.
Despite their deluded declarations to the contrary, these women are nobody's role models.
Paris' legal troubles have intensified the harsh spotlight on the young, rich and famous women and the attention they get -- perhaps crave.
We expect the rich and famous to have lifestyles the rest of us can only imagine.
But when the "girls gone wild" antics of Paris, 26; Britney Spears, 25; Lindsay Lohan, 20; and brat-pack wannabe Nicole Richie, 25, cross the line into crass, bigoted, unhealthy, illegal and dangerous, it's time to break these women's sway over swarms of pre-adolescent girls.
According to a Newsweek poll earlier this year, 77 percent of Americans believe that Paris, Britney and Lindsay have too much influence on young girls.
"A lot of parents are wondering about the effect our racy popular culture may have on their kids and the women they would like their girls to become," Kathleen Deveney wrote in Newsweek. "The answers are likely to lie in yet another question: Where do our children learn values?"
One thing is clear: They shouldn't look to this triumvirate.
Between the two of them, Britney and Lindsay have been in rehab three times this year, with Lindsay making a repeat visit last month after crashing her Mercedes and being charged with drunken driving.
The cover of this week's People magazine features pictures of a young Lindsay and of her now. The headline shouts: "What Happened to Lindsay Lohan? From adorable child star to out-of-control party girl arrested for DUI. Can anyone save her?"
Even if you're like most people and don't care about Paris' current jail saga, you can't help but know she's in lockup for violating probation on an alcohol-related driving conviction.
And don't forget the video. Not that one. An online video released earlier this year captures the hard-partying socialite dancing and using racial and sexual slurs and mocking someone as a "hoodlum, broke, poor public school" expletive.
Maybe the judge can make an addendum to Paris' sentence. He could require her and each of her buddies to raise their right hands and swear by the oath of former NBA star Charles Barkley: "I'm not a role model."
