Celebrities are NOT role models

Would you like your daughter to be like Britney?

Would you like your daughter to be like Britney?

I know I've said it before, but I'm going to rant again. Celebrities aren't role models! And it looks like the media is beginning to agree with me.

The tide of public opinion is finally beginning to turn against celebrities? Yes, we are obsessed with them (and before you get on your high horse and talk loudly about how you don’t give a damn about celebrities, let me just remind you that you’re reading THIS blog), but it seems as though we’re finally coming to the realisation that celebrities are not generally people that we should admire or strive to be like.

Cleo Magazine has come out and said that they will not be featuring celebrities on the cover of their magazine anymore. Cleo Editor, Nadahl Stelio says of celebrities, “their lifestyle is not one to aspire to at all and I just thought we shouldn’t have them on our cover.” That’s a big call when you consider that in the last 7 years, Cleo has only featured celebrities on it’s front cover. Cleo are instead looking to bring back models on their covers.

While you can make the argument that models are no better than celebrities, when it comes to being a role model, Kate Moss being one example, Cleo claims that celebrities are too overexposed. Models are seen as more mysterious.

Remember the days when Vogue, Cleo, Cosmo, Vanity Fair and the rest only ever had models on the cover? The day of the supermodel may be coming back.

But before you all let out a sigh of relief and think ‘well now, there’s some good role models for my kids’, remember one thing. Models, generally speaking, are paid to look good. Not to think. Not to have an opinion. But to look good. Their good looks sell products. Is that really the kind of person you want your kids to look up to? Someone with no opinions or thoughts, but who looks good in a bikini. Of course, both Lindsay Lohan’s and Britney Spears’ mothers’ answered yes to that question!

It’s fine to admire a celebrity, model or sports stars talent. But should their talents automatically make them role models? Hell no! Shane Warne is an amazing cricket player. But he’s a bloody ordinary human being. Admire him for his sporting skills, but don’t try to emulate how he acts.

Britney Spears was a global phenomenon at the age of 16. Can we admire the way she was catapulted to the top of a very difficult industry? Absolutely. Do you want to be like Britney? Lets see, constant partying, rehab, very public breakdowns, a loser ex-husband who now looks like a better parent than you because you’re so mental. Hmmm….sounds like fun to be Britney, but I think I’ll pass on that one.

Being really good at something does not automatically make you a good person, someone to be admired. I’m from Melbourne, the land of AFL. Where we treat football players as though they’re gods and then lament the fact that they’re not good role models. People, they’re football players. They’re real good at running fast and kicking and catching an odd shaped leather ball. I know that there are a lot of very intelligent footballers. But lets face it, they’re famous for their sporting prowess, not their brain power. So am I surprised when they do dumb stuff? Uh….that would be a no.

So, am I a bit hypocritical for being a self-confessed celebrity gossip addict and yet telling you not to use celebrities as role models? Eh, maybe. But I personally look at celeb’s and think to myself, they work a couple months a year, make mountains of cash, always look glamourous and can get just about anything they want. Sure, it’d be fun to have their life for a few days or weeks. But do I want to have paparazzi constantly following me around? Do I want to live knowing that I’m wide-open to criticism at every turn? My every move discussed and dissected by people I don’t know and will never meet.

Yeah, I’ll just stick to my own life thanks. It may not be as glam as some, but you know, I’m happy with it.

So, if celeb’s are out as role models, then who do we have? Who are some of the people that you admire or see as role model potential?

Okay, I'm going to go now and give you more celebrity gossip a little later on. See who wants to be a celebrity when it means you have people like me writing about you!

*Link source: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=285158

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