I was watching the show the View this morning, and one of the opening topics for discussion was Miley Cyrus and how she was the number 1 "bad role model" for girl empowerment. And at one point they brought up Hannah Montana. The four hosts were Whoopi Goldberg-who I think is just made of complete awesomeness, Sherri Shepard another made of complete awesomeness, and two guest hosts. The context of the discussion revolved around whether Miley was encouraging the sexualization of young girls and that her current adult behavior was encouraging young girls to be more sexual. And Whoopi made the comment, and I had to agree with it. Miley Cyrus is an adult and if she wants to act a certain way that is her choice, if you are still connecting her real life behavior with that of a fictional character that she portrayed as a child then you are the one at fault and you need to stop. She is an adult. One of the guest hosts who is a black male comedian pointed out- that parents should be the role models for their kids and that by pushing that responsibility off on celebrities and then penalizing them for acting as they wish is your fault. Hannah Montana was a character on a show and not a real person. Miley Cyrus is a real person, but she is also an adult and by the way, if you as a parent are letting your kids watch Miley now then you need your head examined. She is writing her music for an adult female audience not young girls. I don't care if she was portraying a character that young girls wanted to emulate, the character was fiction not real. If society can't make the distinction between what is fiction and what is real then people need to seek psychiatric help. I agree with most of what some of the hosts said about how we as parents let our kids watch shows that show young girls characters in different ways and that our young daughters want to emulate in real life, but I make it a point to explain to my daughter that these are not real people; the real people playing them are just that. They are acting out a role of a character in a fictional universe. I also explain that the behavior that these actors are doing is not who they are. We need to reevaluate how we as a society promote role models to our children. Role models need to be someone that our kids can say 'I would like to be LIKE that person....' not 'I WANT to BE that person...' Role Models also should not be held to an unrealistic standard, after all they are not any different from you or I, they are humans like the rest of us. Role Models also should not be entertainers. They should be people like President Obama and First lady Michelle Obama, or on this day of remembrance Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., or the great Eleanor Roosevelt, or Jackie Kennedy, or Robin Roberts, or and this is going to sound pretentious but Princess Diana, or the Duchess of Cambridge Princess Kate. These are people would should want our kids looking up to for their great works and the powers for change that they started or have made. Role Models by the very name should make a person want to take on that role: President, first lady, etc. If the role model is someone that is an entertainer let it be because they used their fame for change like Angelina Jolie, she is a member of the United Nations humanitarian effort. That is a good person to want to be like. Making a splash to make a difference. Finally on the topic of role models I have one last thing to say and it was something that one of the hosts said and I agree: if you want a role model for your child or children, then let it be you. You be the role model and make for them a person that they want to emulate and strive to be like. For me my role models were my mother and my grandmother. My mother has strived to uphold the law for more than 25 years, and my grandmother was a great educator for our county till she passed away. They have in stilled in my a drive to uphold the law and make a difference, and that is what I hope my daughter will remember about me when asked who her role model was or is.
Words from the mom cops.
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