Good article. The more I learn about this woman the more she makes me angry. Firstly, although my politics are usually left-libertarian, I turn into a law-and-order conservative when it comes to driving offences - especially drink driving offences. I was disgusted when Hilton got a derisory sentence. I should have got up a petition to extend her time in the big house.

Secondly, isn't it interesting when Hilton or Jessica Simpson or the Pussycat Dolls "sing", they are usually half naked and making sexual poses in their film clips. Justin Timberlake or any number of male Black American Hip-Hop artists are fully clothed. No pouting or stripping off for them. Or to put it another way, if Timberlake acted like the Pussycat Dolls on screen he would be assumed to be gay ie: not a "real" man. But if Jessica Simpson acts like, well, Jessica Simpson then that's regarded as normal for a young woman. Age-old double standards.

Great article, but a couple of small corrections:
a. this person hardly EARNS $10m pa!
B. I understand she went to some joke "end poverty now" concert and was widely photographed with all the other "celebrity" attendees, so she is ipso facto a leading authority on the issue.
Cheers
RodC

Melinda,

I really think that you and those who share your views of Paris Hilton are completely missing the point.

Paris Hilton is actually a parody of consumerism. Weather by design or accident (or a bit of both) she is actually taking the micky out of her shallow contemporaries and their seemingly meaningless existences.

The fact that people like you bite just adds to the fact that she has hit on a real winner with her approach. She has millions of adoring fans and millions of others talking about her - she wins either way. To me this is actually the geneous of the Paris phenomenon!

The fact is Paris Hilton (Pty Ltd) is one of the most successful marketing icons on the planet. I for one whould love to earn $10m a year (especially if it was by sleeping with goodlooking people and partying - a dream job by my standards)

I think its great that she shows girls the truth that most recreational drug users, sexually liberated and fun-loving people are actually not messed up losers with nothing in life - but many of us are highly successful individuals who contribute a lot to society. I love the way she gives 2 big fingers to the puritanical anti-fun brigade and shows that most headonists are harmless, normal people.

People should just accept that liberated, attractive, young people will have a lot of sex and probably love partying - Its been the same story since the dawn of time.

The trouble is Paris Hilton will be a loser when she gets old. All the millions in the world and regular cosmetic surgery will not alter that. Anyone seen pictures of Farrah Fawcett lately? Case in point. Nobody likes old women. Men can get away with ageing much more so (except in cases where they traded on their looks when younger and then pathetically try to preserve their looks when they were 20 at age 60).

Anyhow, it's so great to see her in the slammer. A friend of my parents had a son who was killed by a drunken driver. So I'm not exactly sympathetic to privileged parasites who think that laws most of us have to obey don't apply to them.

Melinda: Another article which echoes most of my thoughts and concerns. You say: " The American Psychological Association has found the sexual objectification of girls leads to academic failure, depression, eating disorders and poor self-image."

Yes that’s reasonable. And also the possible swaying and consequent early introduction of young girls to drugs can also cause most of these problems too. Hilton‘s association with drugs more or less advocates such self- destructive behaviour. Her behaviour suggests that the reliance on addictive drugs for pleasure is a positive lifestyle. She has a gullible and often easily influenced audience and for the media to wrap her foolishness in a positive light reflects poorly on their adherence to any code of ethics.

It is also true that the most influential people in a girl’s life are her parents? Why don't we hear more about the parenting methods of the Hiltons? This is something that a lot of poorer families must wonder about. We always hear about wealthy parents getting their kids off from crimes that poorer kids go to jail for. Moreover, if they were indigenous or the flannel-shirt brigade, we'd hear all about their lack of parenting skills.

I think this question goes a lot deeper than Paris Hilton’s behaviour influencing young girls; it goes to why aren’t young girls more resilient to such nonsense and others’ opinions? While feminists are “kicking against the pricks” so to speak and doing their bit, it seems to me that young men need to show their distaste for inauthentic and pretentious girls like Hilton. The alternative music and media are making some inroads into transforming society by helping develop more resilient and self-assured youngsters who see the Hiltons of this world for the weak drug-dependant false fools that they are, but the mainstream media is holding back progress.

“Be what you are
Don’t let heroes get your kicks for you
It’s up to you and no one else
Everyone is someone”

Why don’t the mainstream play more positive, albeit alternative, lyrics like these? No money in young girls wearing the same black tee shirt all week?

Paris had an accident, reverted back to age sixteen. And it was - all in all, safe and warm.

She went into the slammer and in a mirror looked and started to scream. A similar thing happened to me when I was of the age thirteen. The reflection held a picture of a man Of two hundred and three.

Reading a book I had no teeth to talk about on that day. The Badly Boy Drawn had confiscated them and put them in a mouldy old accoustic case, safe and warm for a Saturday.

We the consumer are the underclass here, if we are inspired by media rubbish to wear Louis Vuitton or Gucci etc. when they create a “celebrity” we have been junked. Hopefully one day we will be able to be a little more discerning in what we chose to read or wear.

This article is full of envious rot.

“Celebrity” has merely replaced the older social heirarchies of monarchy and social authority.

Celebrities, as role models are no different to those they have succeeded. The debauchery of Queen Victoria’s heir was nothing to suggest any “worthiness”, so would Melinda have condemned the behaviour of Edward VII at the time of would she have followed the convention of silent hypocrisy?

As for dear Paris, she looks good but all looks are fleeting. However, better to be good looking than something who needs to wear a paper bag on dates. I was looking for some point to Melindas article, is she suggesting that Paris should be banned from the social pages?

Let is get this straight, Melinda, despite her high held views, is not some authority which has right to tell anyone who they or their children should use as role-models.

So, hey girls, if you don’t eat your greens you will grow up to look like Melinda but if you do, you will grow up to look like Paris… I bet the little ones would come back for seconds of cabbage if armed with that knowledge.

Did I seriously hear someone saying that contemporary "emo" alternative youth culture is more positive than the brand of entrepreneurial, fashionista clubber that Paris Hilton promotes?

Black T-shirt wearing, wrist cutting, daddy-bashed me claiming, Marilyn Manson fan, kids are categorically not my idea of positive people.

I would hardly call the Paris Hilton'esk weekend clubber a depressed, sexually abused loser - particularly when compared to the other "alternative" youth cultures which have being a depressed loser as the pinnacle of their social heirarchy.

Paris Hilton promotes ambition, drive and success. Somehow I don't see Marilyn Manson promoting anything remotely as positive.

Hey Daniel, you forgot to mention that Ms Paree 'ilton also promotes pooches on Prozac!!

When did Paris ever nominate herself as a role model?
The article says “somebody did”.
The media in its characteristic mercenary style, have first portrayed her as supranormal, then sort to pull her down.
It has hung drawn & quartered ever aspect of her life on, primetime

It's criminal to drive under the influence -gotya they shout!
We now have solid grounds for our indignation.
But it's not a crime to dislike fat, it's not a crime to pose & play up to paparazzi who pursue & record your every breath.
A thousand young girls would have done the same, everytime

Now the media feigns to play the role of protector of young girls.
And now Paris is culpable for all the woes which afflict young women.
Frankly the media doesn’t give a damn so long as it gets its headlines & the media is hardly in the position to cast the first stone.
Ok Paris has made mistakes and now she’s, serving time

But Paris has an amiable natural style.
A deliberate impropriety.
A lovable larrikinism.

And, I love Paris,
in the springtime,
In the fall,
In the summer,
I love Paris evry moment.

Because, nothing compares to you (her)…

"Many young women today are in crisis. And the Parisification of the culture is much to blame. Drug taking, binge drinking, chronic dieting"

This is really stretching the truth, in fact the bread and butter of women's magazines has been publishing the latest diet fad. In fact these magazines were publishing diets long before Paris was ever born, so blaming Paris for chronic dieting is a load of ,,,,!

Rock and Roll was blamed for drug taking, binge drinking and promiscuity. I suppose if I looked hard enough I could find all sorts of things that were used as an excuse to blame on human behaviour.

Melinda engages in what is known as 'Sophistry'and she use a technique which Daphne Patai identified as 'inflammatory analogies'.

"The American Psychological Association has found the sexual objectification of girls leads to academic failure, depression, eating disorders and poor self-image. Girls are at risk of premature sexual activity which causes depression."

perhaps it might be more correct to say that girls with depression are more likely to engage in premature sexual activity! However research shows that girls who have absent fathers are much more likely to engage in premature sexual activity than girls who have a father in their lives! But Shhhhh because dads are promoted as being dangerous.

It was not until around 1880 was the age of consent raised from 12 or 13 to 16 or 18 depending on what country you live in, so in relative recent times in human evolution have teenagers been deemed to young to partake in certain activities and teenage is only a creation from around 1920 on wards.

Much better female roles models are women like Jeane Kirkpatrick, Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice. They've played an important role in shaping today's political landscape and didn't get to where they are by being bubbleheads. Nor did they have their parents millions to give them a head start. I'd add actresses like Helen Mirren and Judy Dench who are talented and actually interesting - unlike the supremely boring Paris Hilton.

Ronnie,

I don't think that young men showing their distaste for women like Paris would make a jot of difference, unfortunately. I suspect that young women take their image cues from their magazines, television, and their peers - not from the guys around them. More's the pity, because I think men - even young men - find a far wider range of women attractive and interesting than to the fairly vacuous media outlets seem to.

No evidence at all to back up these thoughts, mind you, but that's how it seems to me.

Anthony

I don't think Hilton is the cause of any of the problems outlined. She is just another example of the dumbing down of female culture over the last 40 years or so. Whenever I'm waiting at a check-out I feel embarrassed for those women I see flicking through women's magazines looking for the lastest gossip. They seem to have that same look of wonder you might expect from a 13 year old boy looking through his first porno mag.

Daniel06. No I wasn't referring to Emo in relation to black T-shirts. Just another of your (a) needs to be (b) for me to slag (c), therefore (a) must be (b). Another silly assumption and failure to do anything but expose Daniel06’s own poor scholastic ability.

Daniel06 your poor reasoning skills have you thinking (a) wears black tee shirts; most (b's) wear black, so therefore all people who wear black T-shirts are (b's). Daniel06 has failed to understand and use sensible logical processes, it follows for him that all Emo's are whatever his prejudicial position demands.

These Stiff Little Fingers lyrics I posted are hardly Emo.

“…
your think it time you took me over
do what you can do yourself
but don't let hero get your kicks for you
it's up to you and no one else.

try to take control of it cause
what you see is what you get.
try to take control of it and you'll see

don't want to be nobody's hero
don't want to be nobody's star
don't want to be nobody's hero
get up getup be what you are.

you think you’re nobody
and i have all the fun
but no ones nobody
everyone is some one

…”
Correct this would be negative to someone like Daniel06 who thinks he/she is a hero and everyone else is rubbish.

Sham 69 lyrics remind me of the attitude youngsters need when confronted with negativity like Daniel06's.

Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
I don't need a flash car to take me around
I can get the bus to the other side of town

Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
I didn't get no GCE
It makes you think you can't talk to me

Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
Hey little rich boy
Take a good look at me
Why should I let it worry me
I'll never believe you’re better than me

Once upon a time 'self pleasuring' masturbation was blamed for causing blindenss, deafness and mental illness. Perhaps in some areas such beliefs still exist.

Melinda wrote; "The American Psychological Association has found the sexual objectification of girls leads to academic failure, depression, eating disorders and poor self-image. Girls are at risk of premature sexual activity which causes depression."

Obviously if a student spends too much time 'partying' and not enough time studying they may fail academically and being subjected to bullying can also lead to depression and a poor self image.

Many of these things can be multi-factural with no particular single cause to blame.

Come on people, guys and girls, admit it. If you had the chance, you'd nail Paris in a second...

Amazing!
Tankard Reist and I are in some sort of agreement- a singularity.
Not so surprising, actually. The one area of culture conservatives and lefties are likely to find a really imperative resonance is in their mutual detestation of consumerism, human commodification and the pointless trashing of material resources, including healthy minds.
Conservatives loath what is destroyed and detest the vulgar result of something once-beautiful wilfully trashed.
Progressives mourn progress held up. A healthy future and the hard work of generations is sacrificed for a reversion to and maintainance of, a millieu that has all of the defects of feudalism and none of its saving graces of heroic endeavour and creativity..
As Melinda said, remember the suffering, starving millions- the world is not yet such a good place that the party should start yesterday. You would not like to be left in misery; "how will you dance when your bed is burning"?