Celebrity Role
Models
Junk food for your brain?
by Ann-Margret Hovsepian
TWEENS & TEENS News March
2008
In her song “Not Like That,”
Ashley Tisdale complains that girls put her
down because of jealousy when, really, she’s
“just the girl next door” and
“just like you.”
I don’t know about you, but the girls
who live next door to me and my nieces, ages
16 and 10, don’t have their photos splashed
all over the Internet, magazines and television.
They don’t make hundreds of thousands
of dollars, and they don’t have their
pick of male teen stars to date and break
up with! Sure, Ashley says she’s “not
that girl,” but do her words match her
actions?
Flip through teen magazines at your local
newsstand and you’ll get the scoop on
celebs’ latest crushes, what shoes they’re
wearing, how they pluck their eyebrows, who
looks better in that wild dress, which up-and-comer
is trying to look like so-and-so, and who
was spotted holding hands at the beach. The
articles that don’t gossip about young
stars tell you how to copy their haircuts,
fashion styles and boy-snagging techniques.
Do celebrities make good role models? Not
really. There are probably more vitamins in
a piece of chocolate cake than there are truly
positive role models among today’s stars.
You can easily spot the bad role models—
the ones who pose nude, drive drunk, get caught
using drugs and have babies they neglect.
Bad role models send wrong messages about
modesty, sexual purity, body image, alcohol,
smoking, drugs, suicide, crime, violence,
greed, eating disorders, relationships and
rebelling against authority and parents.
However, with tons of bad celebrity role models
making headlines, you may look at stars who
don’t seem overtly wild and consider
them good role models. That’s like saying
a bag of corn chips is good for you, because
it’s not as bad as having a double bacon
cheeseburger with supersized fries.
But, how do you relate to someone you don’t
even talk to or hang out with? How can you
look up to someone who’s all about glamour,
fashion and fame? The message most celebrities
send is that life is great when you think
only about yourself, buy everything you want,
spend a lot of time trying to look hot and
have fun, fun, fun. These things don’t
sound harmful, do they? The thing is, if you’re
trying to have a celebrity-inspired life,
you’re opening yourself up to three
dangers.
First, you’re going to end up frustrated
and unhappy when life continues as normal—
when you’re still what you might think
of as “average” compared to your
teen idols. You can actually miss out on much
happiness if you’re perpetually focused
on being glamorous, trendy or wealthy. It’s
easy to miss out on, or ruin, meaningful relationships
with your family and friends if you’re
expecting life to constantly bring you excitement
and entertainment.
Second, if you crave the posh life, your priorities
and values can get mixed up, something hard
to change when you’re older. You may
grow up to become a selfish and uncaring person
if you always think of yourself and your own
happiness first. And, while bad habits are
easy to develop, they are hard to break. If
you take two hours every morning trying to
look like Beyonce or Rihanna, chances are
you’ll grow up to spend two hours in
front of the mirror trying to look like a
mature version of the next best thing in music
or fashion. If you’re already blowing
your allowance on the latest must-have accessories,
CDs and movies, it’s not going to get
easier to save your money when you have a
job and more important expenses to consider.
Finally, by yearning to have everything celebrities
have access to, you may be tempted to adopt
illicit behaviors, such as experimenting with
drugs, shoplifting, bullying and having sex
before marriage. If Miley can’t choose
between crushes, or if Mitchel had a different
girlfriend in every grade, you may feel encouraged
to get romantically involved before you’re
older and more mature.
And when Mary-Kate, who has struggled with
anorexia, appears on the cover of Bazaar magazine
as an example of beauty, what message does
that send to girls like you about the consequences
of poor body image and eating disorders? When
most female celebrities go out in public wearing
sexy outfits, how can schoolgirls find the
courage to cover up and believe they still
look beautiful?
If celebrities don’t make good role
models, who can you turn to for inspiration?
Some of the best role models may be “un-famous”
people who live with you, work at your school,
go to your place of worship, or are involved
in your community. Parisa, a 16-year-old girl
who has lived in England, Australia, Malaysia,
Vietnam, Canada and now Dubai, says: “If
I had to choose a role model, I would definitely
choose my Mum because she teaches me a lot
of cool new things and also because she is
a good friend. My Dad is my second role model…he
is the one person I really learn from. I look
at my role models and think of ways I can
be like them: willing, kind and so much more!”
Look for women and men— and even other
teens— who have qualities you admire.
Look past their physical appearance, how popular
they are, what designer clothes they wear,
where they live, what they eat or how much
money they have. Instead, ask yourself if
they encourage you to be your best, if they
make you feel loved and accepted, if they
tell the truth and keep their promises, if
they put others first and share easily. Can
you trust them, be yourself around them, share
your fears and dreams with them, and learn
from them? Do they respect others, dress properly,
study hard, play fairly, spend their money
wisely, obey rules and show a sense of spirituality?
Celebrities may give you ideas about trends,
but there’s not a whole lot more they
can offer you. I’m not saying that celebrities
are bad people or that they all have a negative
influence. However, counting on celebrities
to be good role models instead of looking
up to the people in your life who truly care
and can make a positive difference in your
upbringing is like drinking chocolate milkshakes
three times a day instead of eating nutritious,
balanced meals. Junk food may taste and feel
good for a while, but eventually it’s
going to make you really sick!
Ann-Margret Hovsepian is the author of
The One-Year Designer Genes Devo (Tyndale
Kids), a book that helps girls discover how
incredibly special they are— not because
of what they wear or how popular they are,
but because they are beautiful in their own
ways. Hovsepian lives in Montreal, Canada.
Visit her at www.designergenesdevo.wordpress.com.
