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Barbie has always been a role model to me.
Not only does the girl have a wardrobe to die for, endless pairs of way-cute shoes and accessories to match everything, but she also is one fiercely career-oriented lady.
Barbie has been everything from an astronaut to a veterinarian to an ice skater. Seriously, what little girl wouldn't grow up to be like her?
Apparently it's the little girls that are growing up in our society today.
Barbie, along with many other good role models like female athletes and politicians, has been replaced by Bratz dolls and silly pop stars.
And what is the outcome of all of this? Young girls with no more ambition than to become the next Paris Hilton in clothes that even strippers would find too provocative.
The days of young girls wanting to become the first female president or finding a cure for AIDS seem to be long gone in a society that is obsessed with looking good and being rich.
The youth of America is growing up way too fast, and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.
Young girls should be watching shows like Disney Channel's "Hannah Montana," which by the way, is an excellent show that even I can appreciate. Hannah has normal preteen problems like boys and best friends, and she dresses appropriately for her age, despite leading a double life as a pop star.
Young girls should not watch shows like "Pussycat Dolls Present the Search for the Next Doll."
Because it's just so adorable, and not to mention totally appropriate, when an 8-year-old sings, "Loosen up my buttons, baby," while getting down and getting her eagle on.
We need to stop teaching little girls that in order to be accepted in this society you have to be sexy and stupid.
However, it's hard to do that when their role models, like Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, are out there sans panties, partying it up and getting wasted every night, and showing up on every tabloid and entertainment show.
While these media outlets may not be targeting young girls, you think the girls don't see them when they're in the checkout line at the grocery store with Mom? You bet they do.
Not only that, but you better believe that they are taking notes as well.
As a little girl, I never remember wanting to be like any celebrity.
I do, however, remember looking up to female athletes such as Mia Hamm. She was one cool chick that dominated in her sport and was a positive influence off the soccer field, too.
It doesn't really matter who my role models were. The point is that I had them, and they made me want to be a better person for me, not for some boy that I had a crush on.
The way I see it is that you only get to be a kid once, and it goes by way too fast anyway, so what's the point in speeding up the process of being an adult? Little girls should be playing house, not pretending that they're going to the hottest club to dance on the stripper pole.
Tacky celebrities like Lohan and Hilton should clean up their act, because like it or not, little girls look up to them. Bratz dolls should wear clothes that don't make them look like hoochies, and Barbie should totally make a comeback as the next president.
Barbie 2008? I can see it.
Caitlin White can be reached at cwhite@theorion.com
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