Rihanna has one again been cussed out in the media, this time for being a "toxic role model for her army of young fans". Citing the Umbrella singer's use of drugs, the rekindling of her relationship with abuser Chris brown, and her dress sense, columnist Liz Jones took to her platform at the Daily Now, I'm not one to listen to Liz Jones at the best of times- I think she writes to troll- but this article was something else, even by her standards! When a supposedly educated individual can write the sentence, "She (Rihanna) promotes... the sort of fashion sense on stage that surely invites rape at worst, disrespect at least", you have to question if this individual is a sandwich short of a picnic. Since when did rape become the fault of the victim?
But what about some parity. Surely if women should be acting as role models for young girls, then their male counterparts should have the same consideration for the boys of today? Well, according to Liz, they needn't worry about it because, "young women are far more impressionable than young men". Really? That's not how I remember it! So being well behaved and "good" should only be practised by the female entertainers of this world? Sexist much? If these two statements alone don't make you question the sanity of this woman, I recommend you subscribe to her posts because you've found a (rare) friend in Liz!
But what really makes this whole piece obsolete from the outset is that Rihanna has never said she is a role model to anyone. Sure, the very fact that she is young, beautiful and successful is going to make people look up to her, but that doesn't automatically make it her responsibility to live her life to any standards but her own. It would be a totally different story if Rihanna was out there selling herself as a paragon of virtue, but she isn't. In fact she seems to try her darndest to rebel against that very idea. I for one am more concerned about the parents/guardians letting their child(ren) learn their values from someone in the entertainment world. Let's have an article about that Liz!
Update: And while I was writing this, Rihanna posted this to her Instagram :
LOL!!!! My money got a bad habit of pissing people off!! If you sincerely wanna help little girls more than their own parents do, here's a toxic tip: don't be amateur with your articles, you sound bitter! What's all this about hair and nails and costumes and tattoos?? ....That s**t ain't clever!!! That shit ain't journalism! That's a sad sloppy menopausal mess!!! Nobody over here acts like they're perfect! I don't pretend that I'm like you, i just live... My life!! And I don't know why y'all still act so surprised by any of it!! "Role Model" is not a position or title that I have ever campaigned for, so chill wit dat! I got my own fucked up shit to work on, I'll never portray that as perfect, but for right now it's ME!! Call it what ya want!! Toxic was cute, Poisonous Pop Princess had a nice ring to it, just a lil wordy! And P.S. my first American Vogue cover was in 2011...APRIL!!! #ElizabethAnnJonesSource:Instagram
Thoughts?
