Where Did Our Role Models Go?

These days, our media is not driven by honesty, righteousness and integrity. It is driven by what sells. Magazines, newspapers, television screens and the internet are plastered with teenage superstars clad in attire their mothers should not have let them out of the house wearing. They are doing what prostitutes do, in a more abstract sense, they are selling their bodies.

Why is it that we as a society continue to feed into this adolescent exploitation? The blame cannot be placed all on the likes of Britney and Lindsay. We, the consumers, must take some of it. We are purchasing these magazines. We are addicted to the TV shows. We click on the links and we peruse the tabloids while we’re on line at the supermarket.

What can we do? We can demand better role models- older, wiser role models for young women. Instead of incriminating Hilary and Condoleezza (and the Dixie Chicks…) for being powerful women, we should be showing our daughters that it is these women who are paving the way for a better future. No, they may not be young and gorgeous, but they have brains. They have gumption and they are educated and successful.

Why do our role models keep getting younger? The Blonde Philosopher can only ponder that it is due to the fear of aging and death in our society. The more modern medicine can do, there is still no magical Tuck Everlasting well. Would we really want one? Instead of running away from the grave, let us face age and the wisdom and wrinkles that it brings.