A mad cool chick that I know is about to launch a mentoring
ministry that "cocoons," if you will, middle school girls until they
matriculate to high school. She's concerned that our girls are over-exposed,
"womanish" and chasing adulthood the way police tailed OJ's Bronco on the L.A.
freeway back in the day.
Although still in the strategic planning stages, this campaign will impart lessons on health/hygiene, self-efficacy, career & education, modest dressing and the like into girls who follow the current rude g'yal, countercultural trend with hypnotized devotion. Above all, the ambitious, competitive 10-month program will help steer girls from teen pregnancies, sexting and so forth. The project isn't intended to keep girls in a bubble, nor does it aim to rear Christian snobs. Instead, it hopes to pump personal pride... to propel girls to be relevant, energetic and edgy culture shapers who'll embrace virtuosity.
I'm convinced that tween and teen girls ought to be offered the gift of being allowed to mature softly. At the risk of sounding like an overzealous idealist, I really believe our society can raise modern-day princesses-girls who forego materialism, booty music, exhibitionism, mindless entertainment, drug or alcohol binges and more. Now, no one wants to groom perfect, robotic minions. Yet, it's time we encounter young ladies who are simply pure, baggage-free, and refreshing. Programs similar to the one my homegirl will soon launch (she's still praying on the name and slogan) and, indeed, like MRYS's Music Rocks Ya Soul effort are for such a time as this! Our girls are falling for all kinds of traps.
Case in point: Montana Fishburne. As much as I didn't want to feed into 19-year-old Montana's fame addiction, I'm afraid I have to. You see, the young daughter of mega-actor Lawrence Fishburne struck a loud cord with America when she recently debuted a sex tape. Just as she planned, she's being on media overload. Montana has trekked from CNN to BET and the entire blogosphere promoting her sex tape and, well, her budding Hollywood career. Now, we can stubbornly fake the funk as though we are oh-so-over the Montana debate but, honestly, I'm writing about her and you're reading about her. Now, let's glean lessons from her example, shall we?
FROM THE BAT, SHE ADMITS IT'S A PUBLICITY STUNT
There was a time when publicity stunts were ultra-secretive, hidden ploys.
Now, people are open about their fame hunger. With her porno entitled,
"Montana Fishburne: An A-List Daughter Makes her XXX Debut," clearly she's monopolizing on her famous last name. Montana and several other "stars" confess-even embrace-their strategies to get some shine. Reality shows have skyrocketed in number; viral video sensations are becoming household names; tell-all books instantly leap to the New York Times best-seller list. Ultimately, Montana Fishburne represents the obsession with not just celebrities, but also how they become celebrities. Sadly, Montana admits, perhaps with an air of entitlement, that she wants to become a part of Hollywood at whatever the cost. Montana and young ladies who share similar stories are byproducts of our egomaniac society.
SHE WENT FROM PROMISCUITY TO ALLEGED PROSTITUTION TO PORN STAR
There is something to be said about how desensitized we have become to sex and exposure. Since the scandal, Montana's friends and lovers have stepped forward to explain that her path to destruction began long ago, when she was an oversexed tween. Many have tried to coach her and, by all accounts, her sexual life was no secret to her dad. Rumors are circulating that in November 2009, Montana was arrested for prostitution. I won't oversimplify by blaming rebellion, her being spoiled or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, that she was victimized. After all, I don't personally know Montana. I will say, however, that her story demonstrates how a demonic, sexual stronghold can wildly progress.
SHE CITES KIM KARDASHIAN AS A ROLE MODEL
It's unfair to blame Kim
Kardashian. The problem is not a specific person as much as it is a particular attitude that being a sex kitten is a
viable, even a laudable, career. This isn't new, for I recall my days back in
elementary school when many of my classmates aspired to dance in a 2 Live Crew
video. Today, female sexpreneurs have taken television, radio and music by
storm. Karrine "Superhead" Stephans, Jamie Jameson and countless more are re-
enforcing the attitude that our bodies -not our spirits, hearts or minds-are
the best thing that women have to offer. Everyday women are starting to wear
sex and sexuality like heavy, papal cloaks. Some have even argued that, to some
extent, we are witnessing a new-age feminist revolution. As Dr. Leon Kass
states, the original and new sexual revolutions have led to:
the general erosion of shame and awe regarding sexual matters, exemplified most vividly in the ubiquitous and voyeuristic presentation of sexual activity in movies and on television...a popular culture that celebrates youth and independence not as a transient stage en route to adulthood but as "the time of our lives," imitable at all ages, and an ethos that lacks transcendent aspirations and asks of us no devotion to family, God, or country, encouraging us simply to soak up the pleasures of the present.
It seems, then, that until we change our cultural mores through effective mentoring and behavior modeling we will continue to see an explosive number of cases of young ladies like Montana Fishburne who aspire to be sexpreneurs. We must teach them that being known for your sex appeal may gain you notoriety, but it hardly earns you respect.
Ana
Guthrie is a super cool chick with a heart for God and love for youth
culture. She doubles as a not-so-naughty librarian and instructor at
Florida Memorial University in Miami, Florida.
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