Feminism continues to be a big deal today. We are constantly demanding respect, equal rights, equal pay, equal opportunity, and to stop the objectification of our bodies. I am absolutely a part of the fight for these things. Not because I identify as a woman, but because I am a human. Human beings should automatically hold equal rights, respect, safety, opportunity, recognition, and pay for comparable jobs despite any differences with which we are born. Women’s rights are in a particularly hot spotlight at the moment, largely thanks to our country’s new leadership, the objectively crude language our president has used toward women, and the potential for new restrictions on female rights. Women are assertively speaking out against the objectification of our bodies. Now, perhaps more than ever, we need positive role models to support this fight for respect and decency.
I recently watched the beginnings of the 2017 Grammy Awards and, in turn, observed the people leading our cultural current. I was astonished. It’s no secret that the television we watch, the images we see, the words we hear, influence us. Maybe I've somehow managed to be out of touch with pop culture in my ripe old age of 27, but why are we not talking more about the examples being set forth by those in such influential positions? Watching these individuals gussied up in a seemingly parallel universe, I thought about the simple steps, intentional or not, one takes to becoming a powerful role model in our society.
1. Get famous, really famous.
Famous enough that people all over the world care what you’re wearing, what you look like without makeup on, what kind of juice you get at the fancy juice bar, who you’re dating. Those sorts of things.
2. Make a social media account and acquire millions of followers.
This should be easy if you’ve followed step one. Taylor Swift has 97.6 million followers.
3. Once you have a powerful voice in the world, produce a song that wildly demeans women.
Millions of people will watch your every move and anxiously await the words that come out of your mouth. A good example of this is Lady Gaga’s, “Do What You Want”, in which she says, “You can’t have my heart and you won’t use my mind, but do what you want with my body. Do what you want with my body.” (This song is also in collaboration with R. Kelly, who has had multiple accusations of sexual assault and child pornography. If you can team up with someone like this, you’re even further along the path to becoming a role model.)
4. Pout your lips. Whenever possible.
Very, very important.
5. When you inevitably end up attending all the big award shows like the Grammy’s and the Oscar’s, be sure to wear something that almost shows at least one of your private body parts.
A plunging neckline that stops just in time to show everyone exactly where your nipples start. Or maybe, if you want to discreetly reveal your body inappropriately, you can wear a dress that looks classy and modest on top but is short enough to see into your uterus. Carrie Underwood gave a nice example of the second method in her 2017 Grammy’s performance with Keith Urban.
6. Be outspoken about how important women’s rights are.
Don't neglect this while completing steps one through five. Be sure to focus on how much the objectification of our bodies needs to stop, and something about how beauty shines from within.
For some reason, we’ve accepted the hypocrisy that reigns in our society. As long as people are popular enough, or write a song with a beat that moves us enough, or are simply conventionally attractive enough for us to want to stare at 24/7, we pardon the confusing messages.
Which message speaks more loudly? The song that plays on repeat all over popular radio stations and television or the singular post inspiring us to love ourselves? The sexy photo that gets over a million likes on Instagram or the five-second thought about equality and respect we hear in a passing interview? It’s time for a new kind of role model.
A voice and a mind that speaks louder than legs or cleavage. If we want equality, we need new leadership in our country– and I’m not talking about the president. I am talking about the individuals that kids, teens, and young adults are looking up to as role models. The people shaping our culture and future generations. We need to ask more of them, or at least ask that more of them be worthy of being called role models while they remain in such powerful positions in our society.
