Normally I enjoy Perez Hilton at night,in my room,where no one can see me. And only rarely do I admit in public that I subscribe to his Daily Juice. But last night he actually made a valid point,concerning Taylor Momsen,the 17 year old Gossip Girl cast member. Momsen has a pretty good band called The Pretty Reckless and has her own...distinct style.The problem is her “style” consists mostly of lingerie.
As you can see Momsen is hitting Xtina/Courtney Love territory before she even has a drivers permit!I'm not saying she doesn't have the right to do with her body what she pleases,I'm saying that at 16 it is highly unlikey that she really understands that sex may be power,but she isn't the one wielding it.On top of her risque outfits,she is a chain smoker,a wild partier and seems to never have any supervision.She is again16,not 18 0r 21,16.At 16 I was trying to be trashy too,we all do it.But I had limits on where I could go and what I could do.Momsen ,being a celebrity has few,if any, limits.At this point I'm honestly less worried about her looks than about her well being.
Now,at this point you're probably going “OK,what does this have to do with Perez?”. Well,Perez posted this video last night:
Now I consider this a bit melodramatic. OK a lot melodramatic.And he is a total mean girl who contributes to the erosion of the self esteem of many women and needs to be reprogrammed.
That said, the man has a point. She is very clearly following a path that is littered with the self esteem and good judgments of ingenues past.And no one else seems to be saying anything. I feel like,even if she were 18 there is reason to worry about her behavior ,some of her sound bites are down right creepy
"I don't really think that much about it. I kind of just dress in whatever makes me feel comfortable. I like a lot of leather, I like a lot of dresses. I guess it's been known to be provocative. But it's not for any other purpose than I dress for myself, and I do myself up kind of like a doll. I have a doll collection and I look at their outfits and kind of imitate them."
Taylor Momsen Fashion News and Gossip | CocoPerez.com http://cocoperez.com/category/taylor-momsen/#ixzz0v8i
I was with her at first,dressing for herself and all.But when provocative and imitation of children's toys come up in the same sentence,I start worrying.Kids,especially young girls,are sexualized so much in our culture that it seems normal to a 16 year old for childish things and sexuality to go hand in hand?She doesn't even realize that there is something wrong with this mode of thinking.And that's the point of this whole post,a 16 year old girl is slowly succumbing to a mix of parental neglect (because really,what kind of parent would let this go on?) and patriarchal shaping.And no one is saying a word.
I Googled and Yahooed and found sites that razzed her about outfits and called her behavior trashy and her slutty.But not a single site mentions being worried about her until you get to Perez.That may be what frightens me most.When the only person who is outwardly worried about a starlet is Hollyweirds resident gossip monger,we,as a collective society have a problem.Think about it.
As always,
Hugs and Glitter!
