You sound as if you're looking at Paris like a hapless victim. Poor, poor Paris.
No, I don't feel sorry for Paris. I don't feel angry at her either, but she she does bore me out of my skull. Therefore I don't spend time thinking about her one way or another. But I do feel sorry for many young girls, who think that they "ought to" be somewhat
like Paris. As a teacher, I see that more teenage girls than before seem to be troubled and depressed. I think that young girls are under more pressure than before to be "right". Many of them feel that they are supposed to party and drink, otherwise other kids won't like them. Therefore some of them drink too much and end up in situations they don't like at all. Huge numbers of girls feel that they have to be beautiful and thin, but at the same time it's very hard for them to say no to junk food. Many feel that they must be really sexy, but they mustn't be too sexy, because then they will be seen as sluts and people will call them bad names, so they try to walk a fine line, sometimes ending up as "sluts" anyway. Many feel that they are not supposed to work at school, because then they will be seen as nerds and bores, but at the same time they know that it is important to graduate high school. Particularly for girls who are slightly uglier than average and/or aren't bright or gifted, trying to be "right" today and trying to make people like them seems very hard and frustrating. And the way I see it, the "top model" ideal had a lot to do with young girls' lack of self-esteem. Also, I don't think it does young girls any good to be made to feel that they ought to be as beautiful as top models, yet when a top model becomes a household name, that top model is ridiculed. It seems particularly hurtful to me if that top model is accused of things that are exaggerated or untrue. If a questionable story about Paris Hilton and drunken elephants are cirulating on the internet, what does that tell young girls? That Paris Hilton is off her rocker? That she is so drunk herself that she thinks that everybody else, including
animals, are alcoholics? That a young girl ought to have a bad conscience if she
isn't interested in helping drunken elephants? That beauty apparently destroys your brain, so if a girl ever manages to become even nearly as beautiful as Paris, then everybody is going to think that she's the dumbest bimbo within a hundred miles?
I feel sorry for young girls today, particularly for those who aren't beautiful or bright. And I don't think that the blond bimbo Paris jokes are helping these girls, even if they, too, may laugh at them. Because what do these jokes ultimately tell not-so-beautiful and not-so-smart girls? That no matter what you do, people aren't going to like you?
Ann
