Huckleberries Online

Britney & Lindsay & Amy, Oh My

Posted by DFO

March 13, 2009 9:12 a.m. • 15 comments

During my freshman year, my roommate brought an 18-by-24-inch poster of Paris Hilton in our dorm, and despite my protest, it stayed propped up against the wall for the whole year. I absolutely despised it. How any college student can look up to her is beyond me. The celebrity craze has successfully managed to rid young women and girls of respectful and inspiring role models. And media with dollar signs in its eyes are only making it worse. A pantyless crotch shot of Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, a coked-out Amy Winehouse or one of the starving Olsen twins all make successful magazine covers, Web site hits and E! News shows. Meanwhile, a female astronaut only makes a People Magazine cover by going on a crazed rampage against her ex-lover. It seems role models for girls are drowned out by the rich, famous and stupid/Anne-Marije Rook, UI Argonaut.

Question: Who is a good role model for young women and girls?

15 comments on this post so far. Add yours!

Cabbage Boy on March 13 at 9:17 a.m.
Hopefully, their mothers.
Lizard_People on March 13 at 9:38 a.m.
I love that line “a female astronaut only makes a People Magazine cover by going on a crazed rampage against her ex-lover. ”

She’s got a great point.
scootermom on March 13 at 9:50 a.m.
For me it was my mom and my grandmothers. As I got older, I looked to women who were politically active - Gloria Steinem, Angela Davis and Shirley Chisholm.

I loved Janis Joplin, but certainly didn’t consider her to be a good role model.
Sisyphus on March 13 at 9:50 a.m.
Rosa Parks, Marie Curie, Molly Ivins, Harriet Tubman. Elizabeth I, Anne Frank, Florence Nightingale, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Mother Teresa, Maya Angelou, Rosy the riveter. And of course their maternal lineage.
Charlie on March 13 at 10:07 a.m.
Google “50 most powerful women” and you find women running companies like Pepsico, Kraft Foods,A.D.M.,Xerox,Hewlett-Packard and Avon. The list goes on and on. The MSM hones in on the “pop-tarts” and not the folks who have something to do with our lives that count.
Rosalind on March 13 at 11:09 a.m.
Agree with Cabbage Boy and ScooterMom: mother, grandmothers.

Aunts, Sister, Cousins, Teachers, Bosses, Athletes.

Tyra Banks is also awesome.

And I think it’s okay if young women identify with strong female characters - see CJ Craig on the West Wing.
cantyoureadthesigns on March 13 at 11:52 a.m.
Michele Obama.
Mother Theresa.
Queen Rania of Jordan.
Indira Gandhi

As far as current women celebs go, well, it seems that Reese Witherspoon is successful and inspiring in both her professional and personal life.
GaryIngram on March 13 at 3:03 p.m.
Any of the female contestants on Biggest Loser.

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About this blog

D.F. Oliveria is a columnist and blogger for The Spokesman-Review. Huckleberries Online was judged the best 2008 Idaho newspaper blog by the Idaho Press Club. And the best 2007 news blog in the Pacific Northwest by the Society for Professional Journalist. Print Huckleberries is a past winner of the Herb Caen Memorial Column contest by the National Association of Newspaper Columnists. The Readership Institute of Northwestern University cited this blog as a good example of online community journalism.