The problem is that Tiger Woods, and many other sports and Hollywood stars, have become role models for millions of children around the world. The US exports images of them as uber wundergods, children sleep in rooms plastered with posters of their images on their walls, and yet, as we now see, behind the scenes, these celebrities are damaged goods. When "success" professionally=failure as a human being, there is something seriously wrong with our definition of success!
Not every celebrity goes out of their way to fill an unending void with sex, drugs and gambling, those Vegas moments of pure superficial nothingness. And not every blond chick in a sequined skin tight dress attending sponsored events from LA to Manhattan is an escort girl...but the problem is that the culture has become one in which fashion and fame (and frankly really bad taste in clothes and silicone implants) hit us day and night via television, advertising, internet, etc etc etc.
Since when is it normal to have three ways and have it be a topic of conversation for high school kids (Gossip Girl anyone?) Since when is it cool to cheat on your girlfriend, fiancée, wife, with gals who probably have little formal education, and if they didn't make it as a Dallas cheerleader, have gone to seek fame (and a way to pay the bills) with their young bodies as long as they remain young? It isn't cool, it's sad. Every waitress in LA and Vegas was hoping to become an actress someday. But the reality is, they simply won't. They might get that one magazine cover or day of paid work as a "hostess" at a car show, but most will go back to Kansas or Oregon where someone once told them they were pretty, or worse, will end up stripping on Sunset or in some dark club with a mouth or two to feed. If they are very lucky, they figure it out and marry a nice dentist.
Some turn to porn. Forget all the liberal talk about women choosing to become "empowered" via porn. I worked with teen moms for five years, some of whom ended up as strippers, in clubs owned by biker gangs on the West Coast. And those were the "lucky" ones. Some ended up sent to Guam (sent on a paid one way ticket) to strip (lying about their age at 16 and 17) for US military guys with no way to every earn enough to pay their way back to the mainland on wages alone. They ended up as teen moms as a way to get out of that life. But first they usually ended up on the street. And later they ended up with kids to feed, once again a temptation to turn to quick money, porn and other sad tales of a lack of empowerment for women. Now imagine this scenario in the developing world where the poverty is even worse and women turn towards prostitution to survive and risk their lives (and AIDS and physical abuse) to feed themselves and their children. Ask them who they want to be? The answer would be more than likely an American actress. Ask a street kid in Brazil who he wants to be when he grows up, more than likely its a sports star.
Who raised these women who sell themselves as objects? And who raised these men to think they can abuse and objectify women? We all did. The US is responsible for helping to create the culture of porn, stardom and "success" and exporting it around the world. The sad thing is not only that Tiger Woods and the various sad blonds have ruined their lives (or even worse made their names for the next generation of reality shows)...the problem is that there are tens of millions of children in poor parts of the world who are buying these images we are selling. These marketed "products" are not heroes and are definitely not role models. But we all need to wake up and turn off the tv and disconnect the internet distraction towards a superficial life and help kids get a real education, not just using their physical bodies, (sports stars, models, etc etc) but their minds to succeed.
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The naked human form can be gorgeous, but when it's presented as little more than a hamburger to be eaten and tossed away, then it becomes something else. And that gobble-gobble trend infects everything eventually, and the way we treat each other.
We have Weather Porn ("Look at that tornado! It's killed two already! Look!")
News Porn ("We caution you these are graphic images, but first, a commercial!")
Spiritual Porn ("My message of prosperity is here for you! Send $19.95!).
and on and on
All has been degraded by the moneychangers.
I'd like to imagine my child wants to grow up to do something meaningful...and perhaps make this world a better place and be a role model for other young women!
I think that the culture their raised in at home and at school drives that more than anything.
To lay blame on something external to that tight circle is a cop out.
The article is about women lacking "empowerment."
The point is that for women to become empowered they must use their minds.
Read just the last paragraph:
Who raised these women [prostitutes, porn stars, dancers, fame-seeking Tiger-waitresses] who sell themselves as objects? And who raised these men to think they can abuse and objectify women? We all did. The US is responsible for helping to create the culture.......we all need to wake up and turn off the tv and disconnect the internet distraction towards a superficial life and help kids get a real education, not just using their physical bodies, (sports stars, models, etc etc) but their minds to succeed.
The author lives in France, in particular Paris, which makes the conclusion that men somehow have power to control women pretty amazing.
IMO
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Or perhaps is it a talent worth noting, let alone worth a billion dollars.
But I think the fantasy about being a model or a sports star is really about having the abundance to do whatever you want and getting paid to basically be yourself. In a capitalistic system like America where not even the basic human needs are provided, it becomes a struggle for survival in a world of manufactured lack. Fame comes with fortune, and fortune equals freedom. So why shouldn't someone do whatever profession they can to get ahead? Of course people will fantasize: they fantasize about being honored and lauded and able to follow their hearts' desires without worrying about foreclosure or bankruptcy from medical bills or the tedium and disrespect of minimum wage jobs. And some people like porn and don't have a problem with it and wouldn't mind getting paid to have sex with a hottie of their preferred sex. But this article isn't really about porn, it's about fame for fame's sake and elevating fallible humans to godlike status and then being dissapointed when they turn out to be just humans.
But these issues are too complicated and wide ranging to distill in one blog post. Perhaps a series or a book are in order here. Maybe both?
Though we know relatively little about their true personalities, given the lifestyles that appear to be common denominators among them (snarky singles night club gatekeeper/hostess, escorts, lingerie models, porn actresses, underemployed actess/model wannabees) I detect troubling psychological, ethical and socio-political common denominators at play.
These gals led lives primarily built around the perfection and commodification of (idealized/fetishized) female sexuality. It doesn't matter if they took up that role solely because of cultural conditioning, or if they landed there due to brutal life circumstances. In the end, they are still living lives heavily circumscribed by objectification and personal servitude. It's only elementary that they jumped at the chance to be validated (sexually) by Tiger, as he represented the epitome of personal and cultural potency (via his prodigious and unprecedented athletic prowess, scuttling of racial barriers, and tremendous financial wealth).
freedom means able to make mistakes. If you think porn is bad, well dont watch it. just dont tell me what to do.
And it has.
i totally agree. im tired of these pornographic sexual innuendos. driving home today from work and one of the crappy music radio stations i listen to is call "big 100" . of course they use a sexual innuendo when they advertise their radio station. i turned to another crappy music station and at 3pm they play 4 songs from the same artist and they promote this segment with a woman sexually saying "more is better". then they report the weather and they yuck it up that we are getting 9 inches of snow tonight. please, it so tiring. these are tired old classic rock stations saying the same tired old jokes. they have no imagination. i do not want my kids to hear this tripe and to think it is appropriate to act and talk like this. this country is ruined.
porn is not bad. not all people can work in burger joints and clerical office jobs.
you get good money in porn and if you like sex, nothing wrong with getting paid for it.