I love the good ol’ USA. Wouldn’t want to live anywhere else – not Paradise, Utopia, FantasyLand or Hollywood.
But there are problems in America (poverty, health care, violence, trans-fat, rubber crocs). America can do better. A lot better.
In my first podcast on this site I’m a tad snarky (no, really?) I questioned whether or not I wanted to go negative. I wondered if my Mom’s advice to me when I was a youngster: “It’s easier to catch flies with honey than vinegar” was the better approach to take. But same as back then as now I think, why would I want to catch flies?
I wondered three things about my podcast:
- What would happen if I ran into the person I’m bashing at the supermarket?
- Does America need more snark?
- Shouldn’t we all try to play together nicely in the sandbox?
Here are the answers I came up with:
- The chance of me running into said person at a supermarket anywhere in the world is less than me winning a gold medal in figure skating for Belarus. And not because I’m not Belarusian. I can’t skate. And if I had bumped into this person (Was that a ficus tree? Oh, no, it’s a person. Oops–so sorry.) I wouldn’t be embarrassed. I’d say, “Can I buy you an organic sandwich?” And this person couldn’t beat me up because I am way bigger. And hopefully can run faster than her thuggish security detail.
- Depends what the snark is about. There are topics worthy of expressing anger over—in either a snarky, indignant, righteous and/or sheer unadulterated red-hot rage form. (For instance, what’s an appropriate reaction to priests molesting children?)
- There is a bigger picture going on than just a sandbox. The bigger picture is society in general and America as a country—not the cyber world of my blog site.
Therefore, I decided to let my podcast rip.
Let me be more specific. The snark in Podcast #1 is directed toward Victoria Beckham, a celebrity famous for not a lot. I had previously watched a stupid TV show about her (and her hubby David Beckham the soccer guy) moving to California. (I cover the bases in my podcast.) I also read an article on The Daily Beast called “Beckham’s American Dream Dashed,” by Grant Wahl (Sports Illustrated writer) who said about this particular TV show: “….Victoria tried to send up her message (“I don’t want to be seen smiling, having fun, or eating!”)” Geez.
I don’t know Vicky personally. I know her celebrity image and I find it disgusting: the uber fashionista pouty diva elitist boring insecure vapid persona.
The reason I find this troublesome is that as a celebrity in the mainstream media, she will have an influence on impressionable people. As far as her influence on adults goes, don’t care.
But her influence on the youth of America frightens me. If there’s one girl out there who sees Vicky and thinks to get the cute clothes, cute haircut, cute hubby, cute mansion, etc. she needs to be ultra thin, surgically augment her bust line, act brainless, and take pains not to smile, then America is in for a world of hurt.
America is already in a world of hurt in this area, because American girls are hurting themselves at an alarming rate. I saw a segment on the Today Show (August 13, 2009) with Meredith Vierra interviewing Dr. Nancy Snyderman (medical editor) and Ann Shoket (editor of Seventeen Magazine). Ms. Shoket stated a statistic that made me ill:
51% of girls are cutting themselves.
I read another article that said (paraphrasing) “cutting is a secret epidemic of self- mutilation that is spreading among teens…more common than ADHD, eating disorders and steroid use.”
Dr. Snyderman said the reason for the cutting is girls feel they’re not perfect enough and that creates self loathing.
Incredibly sad. For the girls. Their families. For America. Made me want to hug the girls and tell them, “You’re fantastic just as you are!” America needs to do better. The emphasis on looks is destroying our girls, which is why we don’t need to see the Victoria Beckham celebrity image on TV.
America needs to do a better job in protecting, affirming, respecting, and accepting its girls. Or the American way of life we cherish is doomed.
I stand by my podcast. Don’t care about catching flies.
