| I found this article in my local newspaper, and thought it may be of some interest to everyone. I don't necessarily agree with the contents of this article, and it may not be in agreement with the general public (meaning all you guys). If you have beef with the writer, look up his addy and e-mail him (or her for that matter) about it. It used to be assumed that boys would be boys and girls would be nice. Not anymore. In today's teen pop-music scene, the boy bands are more likely to play nice while the girl singers come on naughty. So while the Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync and 98 Degrees deliver blushingly sincere declarations of love, Britny Spears, Christina Augilera and Jessica Simpson load their singles full of nudge-wink double entendres about "What A Girl Wants." Nor is the notion that these teen idols are good girls going bad confined to their music. The scandal sheets are full of naughty nuggets and tittering tidbits about these mimi-divas. Spears has been skewered by allegations that she had breast-augmentation surgery (a charge she denies), and scolded for playing house with her boyfriend, 'N Sync's Justin Timberlake. Augilera has had her knuckles slapped for spending time with rock and rap bad boys such as Eminem and Limp Bizkit's Fred Durst. (NOTE FROM ALI: AND ALSO FOR "GETTING DOWN" WITH ENRIQUE IGLESIAS AT THE MEN STRIKE BACK AFTER-PARTY IN APRIL OF '00) Simpson, eager to avoid such gossip, pubicly proclaims her intention to hold onto her virginity until she's married. (NOTE FROM ALI: WHICH MUST NOT PLEASE NICK TOO MUCH.) Meanwhile, the Backstreet Boys go on about how much they love their moms. Has the world gone mad? Not really. But notions of what counts as acceptable behavior for young men in the pop-music world is not only different from what it is for young women, but it's different from what it was a generation ago. "It's easier for young female artists to sing songs about, 'Oh that guy was such a jerk. I'm glad I dumped him,' " says Elysa Gardner, a New York pop correspondent for USA Today and the Los Angeles Times. "But that kind of sentiment, expressed by a male artist, can be percieved as misogynous," she adds. This would explain why nobody is rushing out to remake the Rolling Stones' "Stupid Girl." "On the other hand, women artists are more likely to be criticized for wearing certain clothes, for showing too much flesh," she adds. "The gender hang-ups we have in society as a whole gets reflected in music, because the sexuality of young people in general has become such a focus." Of course, "young" in this case is a relative term. Although many of their fans would be considered children, Spears at 18 and Augilera at 19 are both old enough to vote, to get married, and to take responsibility for their actions. Still, the mere fact that they're considered teen idols makes their youth somehow titillating. "There is definitely an element of taboo involved in sexualizing young girls," agrees Gardner. "Personally, I think it is more disturbing to see a 15-year-old girl sexualized than it is to see a 19-year-old girl sexualized. (NOTE FROM ALI: MANDY MOORE, ANYONE?) We look at somebody like Britney Spears, and sometimes we forget that 18 years old is hardly too young to be aware of your own sexuality, and to want to express your sexuality in ways that feel right to you." Trouble is, grown-ups donw't always understand just how innocent these expressions of sexuality may intended to be. Gardner, having interviewed nearly all of today's teen idols, often gets an earful as the young stars complain about being taken out of context. "Time and time again expressing frustration over what they percieve as people overreacting to them just being themselves as women," she says. A lot of the pressure those young stars feel stems from the fact that they have such young fans, and thus are called upon to act as role models. "Personally, I don't like the term 'role model,' " Spears says. (NOTE FROM ALI: AND SHE HAS ONE HELLUVA REASON NOT TO, I MEAN, LOOK AT HER!) |
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