For me, Pink’s ‘Stupid Girls’ was a real eye opener. It is indeed unfortunate that most girls ignored the 2006 wake up call. In the song, Pink laments about how girls no longer look up to strong, determined women or consider their careers to be important because they are too busy trying to become a size zero, gossiping or idolizing the latest ‘It Girl’

In 1857, Laskshmibai, the Rani of Jhansi, dressed as a man and fought in the bloody battle for her homeland. In 1897, Millicent Fawcett founded the National Union of Woman’s Suffrage which eventually led to women obtaining the right to vote. In 1969, Maya Angelou wrote her famous autobiography, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and told the world she was proud to be six feet tall, African American and, most importantly, a woman.

Why are these woman not spoken of by the girls of today? The answer is saddening but simple. Apparently, courage, wit and talent are no longer required in modern female role models.
In 2005, American pop girl group, The Pussycat Dolls achieved worldwide fame with their first album, PCD. And all the hard work, suffering and bloodshed of so many women was forgotten forever. The Pussycat Dolls would never dream of dressing as men. After all, not a lot of men favor their choice of clothing (short shorts and pink bikinis seem to top the PCD list). Where Fawcett’s suffragettes marched and rioted for the vote, these girls dance on top of cars in high heels. And yes, we can safely judge that it’s been a while since they opened a book. Who needs books when you have a life time subscription to Vogue? These girls were a major hit with popular songs such as ‘Don’t Cha’ and ‘Buttons’. Girls loved their catchy lyrics and dance routines. The Pussycat Dolls became instant role models.
Don’t get me wrong, blonde hair and high heels are all very well but why are these glam dolls even famous? The Pussycat Dolls are not known for their amazing voice talent. In fact, their lead singer released a couple of songs last year that didn’t do as well as expected simply because her ‘bitches’ weren’t there to back her up and make her sound good. Yet, perhaps it is unfair to point fingers at the pop group when there are so many others just like them. Paris Hilton is one. Her only claim to fame is her family’s hotel. Oh, and a 2004 appearance in a video that we’ll just call infamous and leave at that. Poor, drugged up Lindsay Lohan who hasn’t starred in a movie worth watching in years, is another.
It is disturbing to see how hugely popular the Pussycat Dolls have become. Take the fame bit away and these girls are simply thin, talentless young women who nobody would ever take seriously. But along with fame comes responsibility. And this fact seems to have slipped their minds. Actually, scratch that last part. They seem to be completely unaware of the effects of their glamorous image. A prime example is their latest hit song ‘When I Grow Up’ from their second album ‘Doll Domination’ (Their second album cover, by the way, features the five ‘dolls’ on motorbikes they probably couldn’t ride to save their lives) The song is about how a younger Nicole (I assume it’s Nicole because she’s the only one doing the actual singing) wanted to be famous, drive nice cars and have boobies. In the video, the girls are driving (and dancing on) nice cars, flashing rings that shout out the word famous and, hell, as if its not enough to have ‘boobies’ they also like to flaunt them.

I ask these ‘dolls’, what if you don’t want the expensive cars and the fancy clothes? What if you don’t get the ‘perfect’ body? What happens if your crush does not call you up on Valentine’s Day and take you out and then eventually ask you to marry him? Then what? These girls do not sing about moving on or being strong. They sing because they want everyone to know how perfect their lives are, they dance because they want everyone to see how well they have kept themselves. And it is what Nicole sings in the next verse of her latest hit that makes the song hugely hypocritical. “Careful what you wish for coz you just might get it.� The song, therefore, comes off as a somewhat pathetic attempt to warn their fans that fame is bad. Sorry girls, it would look a lot worse if you didn’t make it look so perfect, albeit in a plastic, completely eye-roll worthy fashion. Needless to say, their attempt at becoming positive role models failed badly.

Perhaps the teenagers of today do not have a higher percentage of girls who simply refuse to think for themselves than any other generation. But then again, it’s easier for girls today. Especially in developed countries. We have the right to vote, it is illegal to discriminate against women in the workplace and women have even have equal divorce rights. The girls of today have experienced less gender bias than the girls of thirty years ago. And they take it for granted, thinking that no matter how they dress or what they say, they will never be discriminated against based on their sex. They are wrong. In the twentieth century society finally did change its view of women but if this keeps up, it can switch back to the old opinion of women being nothing but delicate, brainless…dolls.

Yet, all hope is not lost. A line from the infamous Pink song is “What happened to the dream of a girl president? She’s dancing in the video next to 50 Cent� What we need now is more people to say that out loud so that women all over the world realize that they are destroying what took the women before them an eternity to gain.