Well, this is an interesting turn of events. Melanie Chisholm, a.k.a., “Sporty Spice” of the Spice Girls, has climbed upon a virtual soapbox to complain about the oversexualization of young girls, a phenomenon which she claims has been willingly perpetuated by the likes of Rihanna. Never mind that the Spice Girls themselves have recently been, ironically or not, invoked by Shia LeBeouf as an example of faux-feminism and also previously bared their midriffs on an long-term and quite willing basis. That’s different, you see, because today is an altogether different matter and, conveniently, most of the Spice Girls themselves are now mothers of young, impressionable girls. That would necessarily include Mel C. herself, who has spoken out in protest of the unseemly example that today’s pop stars are setting for young girls:
She might be a big fan of the Barbadian singer but Melanie Christholm has spoken out about Rihanna’s ‘inappropriate’ overtly sexual behaviour.
The former Spice Girl believes that the singer has a responsibility to younger children to protect them, something which she has realised since becoming a mother.
Mel, 37, took to Twitter and posted: ‘For the record. I am a big fan of Rihanna, I am also a mother.’
She said: ‘People have to take some responsibility because we’ve got to a point where over-sexualisation of young children has gone too far,’ the Mirror reported.
‘I think music is a big part of that. Women in music, very successful women, are extremely sexual and they have young fans. It is inappropriate.
‘Rihanna has responsibility and although culture’s always changing, it’s changed too much. It needs to be dealt with. It’s reached saturation point, we owe it to our kids to protect them.
‘Rihanna’s free to do as she pleases, of course, but I think her take on the criticism she’s had is interesting.’
Mel, who found fame as Sporty Spice in the most successful girl group of all time, gave birth to her daughter Scarlet Starr in February 2009.
And since then her priorities, and views have changed and she accepts that Rihanna might not understand her viewpoint given that she doesn’t have children of her own.
She told the paper: ‘I love Rihanna, I think she’s a f****** brilliant artist, with great songs, a great record and she looks fantastic… but she’s not a mum. Maybe if she becomes one she’ll feel different. I hope so anyway.’
Mel was no stranger to strutting her stuff in skimpy outfits during her Spice days and were often seen backflipping her way across the stage in cropped tops and tracksuits bottoms.
She said: ‘It’s a long time ago since the Spice Girls were first together and we were criticised for being sexual. Yes, we wore crop tops, I mean look how much has changed.’
And it isn’t just the music industry that has changed since Melanie rose to fame with Geri Halliwel, Melanie Brown, Victoria Beckham and Emma Bunton.
The mother of one has made a furrow into acting enjoying s successful West End theatre debut in Blood Brothers, which she received a Laurence Olivier nomination for.
But like her fellow Spice Girl Geri, Mel C has also been back in the recording studio working on her latest album Sea.
Mel’s new single “Think About It” is out on September 5.
[From Daily Mail]
First off, I’d like to point out that a couple of Spice Girls tunes still reside within my iTunes collection. However, if Mel C. doesn’t think that she still monetarily benefits (royalty wise) from the fruits of the poisoned tree — that is, the bared midriffs of the entire group and the extremely short hemlines of Posh Spice — then she is sadly mistaken. In fact, much of the money with which she raises her little girl comes precisely from that source. With that said, yes, Rihanna is a bit too sexualized for today’s tween audience, but she’s not really any worse than, say, Katy Perry, who takes great pleasure in wearing cupcake bras and shooting whipped cream out of her boobs. Ultimately, it’s up to parents to decide whether or not their tweens listen to Rihanna, Katy Perry, or any of their contemporaries. As to Mel C, I do sympathize, but it’s also fairly apparent that she’s not only hypocritically expressing outrage but also promoting her own upcoming album. And yes, I do wish Mel C. much luck with her new prospective demographic.
Photos courtesy of WENN
Eh. I agree that kids are exposed to inappropriately over-sexualized imagery and concepts; creativity, originality and talent are too “difficult” to sell, apparently.
Mel C (or was it B, I never distinguish them) could have added a few words on how the Spice Girls contributed to this too, though, and how much she regrets it.
I don’t think the Spice Girls’ miniskirts and bare midriffs quite compare to today’s pop artists and their porn movie -approved poses and clothes (or lack thereof).
But yes I agree, it’s up to the parents to decide what kind of music their children are allowed to listen to and what kind of videos they’re allowed to see.
Yeah, having grown up with the Spice Girls (core demographic)…they really weren’t all that “sexy”. Yes, miniskirts and boots, but they weren’t dressed any worse than anyone else in the mid-late ’90s.
Plus the message was different– friendship over boys, stick together, etc. These days it wouldn’t be weird seing them on the Disney Channel.
I don’t recall the Spice Girls ever singing about whips and chains exciting them…my daughter and I listened to Rihanna when she was a new artist. I thought her music was catchy. Now we turn off the radio when her stuff comes on. That’s the choice made in our house.
Well, I do see Mel’s point. Sure, the Spice Girls ‘bared their midriffs on an long-term and quite willing basis’, but they were incredibly cutesy and innocent compared to what’s going on in music videos nowadays. (That’s what Mel says, too. ‘Yes, we wore crop tops, I mean look how much has changed.’) ‘Bared midriffs’ and ‘short hemlines’ is not the same as singing about sex in an explicit way, as Rihanna does in ‘Rude boy’ and ‘S&M’ for example. IMO, that’s also why she IS worse than Katy Perry, although I agree that she (Katy) dresses just as inappropriately.
Having said that, I do agree that it’s ultimately up to parents to decide whether or not their tweens listen to Rihanna/Katy Perry or whoever. Katy and Rihanna are adult women, they can exploit themselves in any way they please. It’s naive to say that singers should tone it down because there are children in the audience- those children should be there, then. I mean, singers have always used sex to sell records, in that sense nothing has really changed. Mel C should know that, as a mom and a singer.
Final thing: I really don’t get what Shia LeBeoufs comments (‘an example of faux-feminism’) have to do with anything. Shia’s an idiot. And this whole discussion has nothing to do with feminism.
Ahhh…seeing the old spice girls pics takes me back to my childhood in the 90’s.
Miss those days and the fashion.
Off the top of my head, I can think of:
tank dresses with tees under them, Platform sneakers, cardigans, and Doc Martens.
Good times 🙂
Bare midriffs and short hemlines are hardly comparable with the porn-like music videos and stage acts performed by the likes of Rihanna and Katy Perry….I’m pretty broadminded but I find them quite disturbing and if I had daughters I wouldn’t want them to be exposed to them.
As for Mel C, I personally don’t like her singing voice but whenever I hear her in a interview she’s comes across as a down to earth and lovely.
There is a huge difference:
“Every-boy and every-girl spice up your life!” to
“Sticks and stones may break my bones
But chains and whips excite me”
I was in my early teens when the Spice Girls came out. There was a bit of a ruckus as to the bare bellys and tattoos the Spice Girls were sporting. But now like it’s been mentioned there is a shift to the pornification of young women. Rhianna has no talent simple as that- all she and most of her female peers in the music biz have nothing to sell but sex, cause that’s all they got.
I have not seen Katie Perry or Rihanna in concert, but I feel fairly safe in saying that the outfits that they or the Spice Girls wore is not the problem.
It is the “acting” that Rihanna and others do on stage during their shows of a very graphic and sexualized nature. The still photos are offensive enough, I can’t imagine the whole sequence.
Katie Perry seems just goofy, but the whole “Sex is the Power we possess over men” crap these pop stars exude is alarming and has been addressed by mothers since the early days of Madonna and Britney.
I agree with Mel C and she makes valid points. Compare the Spice Girls to Britney, Rihanna, Katy Perry and the Spice Girls look like a church choir. And at least with they Spice Girls they were promoting individuality within girls Rihanna and the likes promote soft core porn.
I agree with Scary Spice and most of the comments.. there is a huge difference with a lot of the music today and the exaggerated over sexualization of music and popstars than of yesteryear. My hypothetical future children won’t be listening or watching Riri until they’re old enough.. whenever that may be.
Rhianna is a singer and it is not her responsibility to be a role model, as she never packaged herself as such, nor is she responsible to raise other people’s kids.
Ugh why can’t parents take care of their own kids and leave the rest us of alone…goodness gracious. Rhianna and me are the same age. I get her music and I get her sex appeal. Its about having fun and Rhianna is very sexually empowered and I like that about her. If parents don’t want their kids to do certain things, have a talk with them…you know PARENT THEM…help your children establish themselves.
My mom made sure I was strong in me and I behaved like a lady when it called for it. I know when to have a good time and I know when to be serious. This is not a hard lesson to teach to your children. Its not about how others act its about how you choose to behave.
Mel C just wants some publicity.
But I have to say, I was 10 when the Spice Girls came out and I still think they had a great message about girls supporting each other and at the same time being strong individuals.
Girl Power! LOL
I absolutely loved the Spice Girls. Had all the barbies, the posters, the movie, the music, etc.
The only time the Spice Girls ever did anything risque, was when the performed the song Naked on stage, but even still, they were covered up with blankets.
And even though the Spice Girls wore crop tops and short skirts, they were still covered up more than today’s popstars. Plus, they actually had fun with their music, unlike today.
Its not about Rihanna being a role model and it’s definitely not about her raising my kids its about her promoting a overly sexualized image to impressionable young teens. Who do you think is really buying that image a 25 year old or a 15 year old??? What message does it send to young men who lustfully desire these singers that promote raunch. The fact is that males turned on by the likes of Rihanna, Britney, Katey will in turn objectify and sexualize these singers and this will only increase the chances of these males sexualizing young females AND that is what i have a problem with!!!
No one should listen to over sexualized music until they are mature enough to not take it at face value.
But thing is, once they are that age/level, they would know better than to listen to that crap at all.
Once they are mature enough, they would seek out more mature and meaningful music to begin with- which 98% of whats played on the radio nowadays, ISN’T.
I grew up in a lucky time where the music was moderate and the talent was still real, on teh radio. There wasnt much need for parental censorship. But still I was most influenced by the available cassettes that my parents had bought and kept in the living room– studio recorded music from real singers and real bands, from many different decades and tastes. Records, too.
I hope that if I have children, the story will be the same with them, because I certainly wont have any pop garbage available in my living room.
Edit: Stacey I agree– singers are playing the same role as photoshopped models and victorias angels, who give men the false ideals and expectations of what a woman is, or what sexy is, for that matter, which is very unrealistic and extreme. It is a pity, but luckily there are many men who are grounded and think realistically. Whoever it is, one just has to be aware of the social pressures and influence that they have, male, female, young, old, and things cant be much of a danger to you anymore.
The difference is that the Spice Girls’ targeted audience was without a doubt young girls. Rihanna does not specifically target prepubescent girls. It’s not her responsibility to educate young girls on sexuality.
In any case, there are so very few female artists today who have enough talent to not have to resort to sex to get their albums to sell.
Honestly, the real question here is not if Rihanna is too oversexed(she is), the question is “Why do young girls like it so much?”. Let’s not blame it all on the music industry; if there was such a huge demand for women who get by with their talent and don’t expose themselves, then there would be more. The fact is, mostly the girls dressed up like hookers simulating sexual acts to a lame techno beat just sell better.(Adele being the exception) So maybe it’s not just Rihanna’s fault, maybe these girls weren’t taught the kind of self-esteem that would enable them not to fall into the typical women’s trap of using sex as a source of power and equaling male attention with self worth. I’m not denying that the music industry plays its part, but a lot of other factors including especially the parents should be considered too. Even if Rihanna decided never to wear a slutty outfit again, some record label would quickly pop out a slutty successor and Rihanna’s career would probably be over in the long run.
-_- all of a sudden because Mel C said Rihanna needs to realize she’s a role model people are defending Rihanna saying she does not need to be a role model. When the incident with Chris Brown happened, she was a role model for young girls? Come on. Didn’t she say that in her interview after the incident as well…that she WANTED to be a role model to her fans.
I loved the Spice girls as a child but I’m grown now and even when I look at Rihanna, some things are just too much for me. We get it, you love sex, you like to show your ass and drink and act crazy when you’re out. It’s a little unnecessary at times almost as if she’s trying to force feed us this image that’s not really there.
Um Britney came out a couple of years after the Spice Girls did. nothing stays the same forever it’s called evolution of tastes
Seriously? There is a HUGE difference between the Spice Girls of 1997 and Rihanna.
Yes, they “bared their mid-drifts” but they kept pretty much everything else well covered, especially Sporty. They also had very PG music. Compare “2 become 1” to “Like the Way you Lie” in terms of content. Compare Rihanna’s dance moves in S&M with the dancing in “Spice Up Your Life” or “Stop”.
To say that their success came from their sexual image is totally misguided.It came precisely because their music and images were clean, and appealed to young people and their parents. 10 year olds still do the “Stop” dance with their Grandparents at weddings!
Rihanna makes pop for adults. It can be racy or disturbing. She shouldn’t be responsible for the sexualisation of kids, parents should.
I am definitely not a prude, and I think Rihanna can do whatever the hell she wants on stage as she owes nothing to anyone in that regard. However, I was at her concert this summer (won free tickets in a draw!) and have to say that the simulated masturbation and oral sex in nearly every song but the slow ballads got tiresome. And, it also appeared to make the dad of the 10 year-old sitting next to me very uncomfortable… awkward!
In a momentary break of my “too cool for bubblegum Top 40 crap” facade: I love Sporty Spice!!! She was my favorite one, with Posh a close second. I actually caught a few minutes of Spice World the other day. Girl power! LOL They might as well have been wearing nuns’ habits compared to Rihanna. They didn’t even have low-rise jeans when the Spice Girls came out. If you wanted your pants low, you had to wear them big, raver-style.
I think comparing the Spice Girls to Rhianna is a little bit much. I do not think she is being hypocritical. I grew up with the Spice Girls, and with the exception of 2become1 which I had a good giggle over I didn’t find them too”sexy”. There is a huge difference between sexy and raunchy. Sexy being mini skirts and crop tops and songs about love (and thily disguised lyrics about sex). Raunchy being dry humping on stage, see through outfits, lyrics about violent sex and consant talk about her sexual preferenes. Everything out of Rhianna’s mouth is a comment about sex, almost as if she wants to excusively associate herself with sex. HUGE DIFFERENCE!! I agree with Mel C.
However, I do feel parents have a responsibility to raise their own children. Despite what is on TV and what music is on the radio, a parent can use it as an opportunity to talk to their kids about sex. Although, our culture makes it extremely difficult to stear kids away from this, when it is everywhere.
While I think Melanie is being a bit hypocritical, but I do think Rihanna is oversexualized and raunchy. She is on MTV, and has bee to the Kid’s Choice Awards. HER audience is young teens, she has performed on that awards therefore she is VERY aware of her target audience.
I love it when pop stars progress in their career and then want to act like their audience was ‘never meant to be’ young teens yet that is the majority which listens to pop music. Its hypocritical because they do not want to take responsibility for their raunchy behavior and call it art or more mature. Mature doesn’t mean grabbing your crotch and bragging about how much you like this or that sexual position.
Rihanna is just that, tasteless.
I was in high school when the Spice Girls became big, I knew the Stop dance, I made it with my friends, to say there can’t be comparison between them and Rhianna because they were cartoonish not oversexualized.I believe the one who really changed things was Britney.
Melanie Who?
Katy Perry doesn’t call fans onstage to give them lap dances. Rihanna’s done that twice now.
ugh i kind of hate this whole “you’ll nevaarrr understand until you have kids” thing.
As for taking responsibility, that is up to the parents.
And btw, *some* women are sexual in music, not all. Someone needs to expand her horizons.
first off: i really dig the “celebitchy comment community.” Especially after this post. I love that we can all rip on LeAnn Rimes and the Kardashians for being nip-tucked nitwits, oogle hot guy dong, then spin around and be SO REFRESHINGLY logical about the oversexualization of pop stars…….good crowd here 🙂
It’s like the old “frog in a pot of boiling water” analogy about desensitization…..drop a frog in a pot that’s already boiling and the frog hops right back out, but stick a frog in a cold pot and gradually warm it up and the frog boils.
Similarly, if we were to be assaulted by an act like Rihanna in the New Kids on the Block/Spice Girl era, parents would probably cover their kids’ eyes and turn off her music. But gradually turn up the vulgar volume, and ease our tweens and teens into the grossly overt sexualization of pop stars hardly older than a high school kid and we start to think it’s the new normal.
Crop tops and mini skirts and a tattoo here and there certainly didn’t make my parents bat an eye back in the day, but if I’d been caught watching a rihanna video back when I was 14, she’d have been banned…..
And I think it’s true that becoming a mother just heightened Mel C’s awareness of the imagery we’re feeding our girls (and boys).
First of all it’s up to the parents to determine, who or what their kids listen to. I say that as a mother of a baby girl. You don’t have to let your kids listen or watch these videos you can block certain tv channels and Internet access. My biggest issue is that Rihanna is a grown woman and shouldn’t be your young daughter’s biggest role model. People need to explain to their kids that this stuff is an act to make money. Also why are we only calling out Rihanna? There’s Katy Perry, Lady CaCa, Britney Spears & Xtina ( not so much now because they aren’t really doing music) Beyonce, hell even Kelly Rowland ( just had a nip slip wearing a leather bondage type outfit), Nikki Minaj, Nicole from the Pussycat dolls. Yeah Rihanna is a big star but so are a lot of these artists.
Oh yeah Madonna as well. I agree with whoever said Britney Spears started this, it’s unfortunately just gotten worse.
Ehh Rihanna can do whatever she wants.
I’ll admit it was a little shocking to hear my 3 year old singing, “Oh na na. What’s my name Oh na na. What’s my name?”
Gonna have to start being careful with what I’m listening to while she’s in the car. I need some new cds the radio plays the same crap over and over again.
Rihanna songs are catchy and fun, but I despise her lyrics. I live in a big city. The long-running mainstream pop station that is on everywhere in town – swimming pools, stores, restaurants plays Rihanna every 30 minutes at all times during the day. The station used to be geared more toward tweens, early teens – but no more.
I sometimes watch 9 and 11 year old girls and when Rihanna comes off, the radio goes off. I wish there was station for them to listen to, but there is not.
You forgot NIkki Minaj wandering around the stage holding a dildo.
Melanie’s right. You don’t see men posing and posturing the way women do. Rihanna/Minaj/Perry are all packages. They aren’t “artists”, they’re a product. And it’s all about selling the product, not artistic integrity.
Crop tops and track pants and mini dresses.
That’s not sexualized! These chicks today just wear underwear and tape across their boobs!!
Ever since seeing pics of Rihanna in Barbados, I am disgusted with her! She was acting like a tramp bending over for random people in some bra and under wear thing with a drink in her hand. Trampy!!!
I’m glad Mel C. made this statement and I wish more women in the music industry would speak up about the over-sexualization of women in the music industry. It was bad enough when men had overly-sexualized ‘women’ dancing provocatively in their videos. Now, female singers themselves are performing even raunchier acts than the tasteless video productions of male rap and rock n’ roll ‘artists’.
What does it say when ‘artists’ who are at the top of their careers (and presumably in control of their own image) choose to dress and behave as if their making a porn video?
I’m the mother of two sons, 10 and 5. They don’t even know what an MTV is and have only seen videos that are integrated into SpongeBob Square Pants and Phineas and Ferb cartoons. I can’t imagine what it must be like to raise young girls in today’s environment. Children are always soaking up almost everything that is in their environment, and even with a responsible parent, unless you’re raising them in a cave with no TV and no internet and limited access to the outside world, they are going to be exposed to a lot of crap, especially from huge money-making industries like pop music. I don’t care for Rihanna’s music, but, as it is pop music, it is attractive to young kids (they like all music with a catchy beat and with words that they can easily understand and repeat). When Rihanna, Katy Perry, etc. come on the radio, I instantly turn the channel. But, I don’t have that luxury when their music is blasted in the grocery store and/or mall. Also, many malls have TVs that show music videos, etc.
I also hate the pushback that parents should be the only role models for their kids. That’s BS and I’ll tell you why through a comparison. If it’s lazy and/or wrong for parents to complain about the unhealthy images portrayed by pop stars (who aim their products at young kids/adults), why is it OK for grown women to complain about the photoshopping of women’s images in magazines, etc. People say that parents either shouldn’t let their kids see/hear raunchy music/images, but the magazine covers/ads are mainly aimed at adults. Shouldn’t the adult community know enough to not be influenced by false imagery? If adults can’t always ignore the not-so-subtle influences of the magazine industry, kids certainly can’t be expected to or be trained to ignore the overly sexy images of pop music.
Sorry for long rant.
Rhianna is no different from any other artist out there. Look at Gaga, she talks about sex and has very sexual dances and messages in some of her material. Beyonce too. Britney runs around, scantily clad and promotes sexuality.
Seriously, you don’t hear anyone railing on male musicians for the lyrics in their songs and the messages they send. Such a one way street and such a nothing issue to pick on a young woman about.
She owes no one anything, and if people want to dog her for the way she is, they should dog the rest of the men and women in the music world for the same thing.
Such a non issue. IFyou are raising your kids right then you do not have to worry if they are emulating Rhianna. Simple as that.
@JustBe your kids, at that age, shouldn’t be watching MTV, thats very good you don’t let them. There is no kid approved programing for them on those channels. You know everything is rated. Movies are rated, music is rated, and TV is rated. Its not at all hard for parents to see what is kid approved and whats not. Someone has already done the parents job and told you what is acceptable for a kid and whats not.
If parents are to busy with their own lives to do a little research on rating systems, or have talks with their kids, have parental locks on their internet and TV…all these things provided for you to better guide your children…then thats their problem. You can’t blame a grown ass woman for making grown up music, which is NOT marketed to anyone below the age of 15…despite what people say. Its your job to monitor your kids and teach them whats appropriate for them. Stop putting the blame on other people.
Oh and this make this absolutely crappy music called Kidz Bop where they take really popular music and tone it down for kids. My stepmother places it for my stepsister, so this is how I know its possible to control what your children hear.
Ah, the younger Posh. Hey she actually ate and that extra meat on her bones makes her look a lot better, even though much younger but still what guy wants Olive Oil, ah-gagagaga. Oh wait, Becks, that’s right.
@Love Angelina,
I know that my post was long, but did you even read it past the mention of MTV?
My main point was that it’s easy to control what your kids are exposed to when they’re at home, but it becomes a lot more difficult once you travel to the mall, grocery stores, wherever. I think that most parents are doing their best to raise responsible and respectful children, but they’re not perfect either and being a parent is the hardest thing that the average person will ever do. and, with our popular culture veering ever closer to rauchy hedonism (with explicit sexual imagery being the norm), that job becomes much more difficult.
And let’s not pretend that pop music isn’t marketed to kids. If not, then what are so many of these pop stars doing at teen choice awards, etc. There aren’t too many self-respecting 18+ y.o. people watching Nickelodeon.
I’m not just ragging on Rihanna, I’m speaking out against the sexualization of women (particularly young women) in the music/entertainment industry in general.
And please know that I’m no prude, but I think that speaking out against inappropriate imagery slyly aimed at kids is another responsibility of a good parent. In my opinion, it’s the same as if I took my kids to the mall/playground and there were a group of teens/adults talking loudly and cursing, etc. It’s my responsibility to either leave that area or politely ask the adults to respect the fact that my kids are present and they can hear. Are the adults entitled to free speech and to live their lives as they see fit? sure. But, in a communal society, we’re each also responsible for the affect that are actions may have on those around us. This is especially true of someone profiting off of the kid demographic.
I completely agree with her. Many of todays pop artists aimed at teen genre sing totally age inappropraite lyrics for those ages.
Rude boy and S&M should not be songs 10 yr olds are listening to.
I wish celebs in every arena realized how blessed they are and took more responsibility of being role models BUT they dont and ultimately parents need to be the ones to say yes or no to certain music because there will always be Madonnas, Katie Perrys, Rhiannas, Lady Gagas who try and shock by singing about sex & drugs and dress sleazy etc.
When you dont have true talent you have to resort to slutty outfits and shocking lyrics to keep people interested. sad but true.
The new genre of feamle artists are terrible role models and have no self esteem. Beyonce, Lady gaga, Rhiana, Katy Perry, etc. They think parading around in sleazy outfits makes them powerful? UM who are they dressing for? Not themselves. They are dressing to attract attention and singing songs with “shocking” lyrics for attention.
Look at Christian singer Katy Perry who got no attention singing what she truly loved and believed so she put on a personna of bad girl singing i kissed a girl for money and fame. She sold her soul and that is a terrible thing for young girl to view as any sort of role model.
Thank goodness for some of the really talented women singers (Florence & the Machine etc) who dont feel need to sing shocking lyrics or dress like a street walker.
I didn’t even get the innuendo in 2 Become 1 when I was a child, until I heard it again on amusic channel just recently, it was that subtle.
Rihanna’s songs all just shout ‘Put your penis in my vagina’, I mean where’s the cheeky fun in that? Its not sexy, it’s just desperate and sad.
These women have fame, fans who worship them, enormous bank accounts, mansions, cars, and more clothes and shoes that you could possibly imagine. People keep hating on Rihanna for acting and dressing like a whore, but i don’t know anyone who wouldn’t trade places with her if given the opportunity. Let’s keep it real now!
Totally off-topic, it’s hilarious to see Posh’s 1997 face in that top photo. 🙂
The biggest thing here is for the mothers, grandmothers, aunts and every other woman in a young girl’s life to set an example of what a “good” female role-model is. Young girls and young women need to understand that sexuality is something that isn’t wrong or bad; that it is a healthy part of development. Being sexy is nothing to be ashamed of but there are times where “sexy” should not be the dominant message a woman wants to convey. Like applying for university or meeting a friend’s parents for the first time.
The men and women in a young girl’s life need to convey to her that how you dress, what you say, and how you act is your presentation of self to the world. They need to be encouraged to show other aspects of themselves that they are proud of. They need to understand that presenting yourself as only “sexy” is limiting. It is but one aspect of ourselves and showing only that facet is like thinking that you know someone after seeing only his/her picture.
Young girls need to be presented with examples of good female role-models and taught why these women should be admired. Examples of wonderful things that the women in their own family have done as well as the achievements of other women, like Marie Curie or Jane Austen.
Being sexy is a choice, and it needs to be understood that it’s not the ONLY choice. That comes from a Mom–not Rhianna.
Every single time I have seen a photo of Rhianna – she is sexualized to the max. I find this strange and disturbing – is that what she really wants to be to the world – a sex machine? If so, she should just start doing porno movies.
If I had a daughter, I would have to sit her down and have a serious talk about Rhianna’s approach to life, men and self esteem. Frankly, just another reason I am glad I do not have children.
I think Rihanna’s vulgarity offends across the board.
I read this site daily but between this ridiculous comparison between the Spice Girls and Rihanna, alleging that there is a similarity between the cheeky-pop messages espoused by SG (even if it is ‘faux-feminism’) and Rihanna’s brash, classless and over-sexualized persona, and the other post about Bar Rafaeli’s Dead Sea mud blackface, I am starting to turn away from this site.
I want to like this site, and for the most part I do, but sometimes I am astounded by the associations made on this site.
Spice Girls had great message for kids, a lot of fun, and their moms were so relieved to have their music with Madonna doing her Sex book pornographic art at the time.
They were not too sexed up at all. And they sold female empowerment without gyrating and lingerie.
Rihanna not only sells sex, she has the nerve to sell abuse in “I Love the Way you Lie” and that other strange song about killing a man instead of just leaving.
Go Sporty Spice. Someone needs to say it.
While the Spice Girls did wear too sexy clothes for that time what they wore then would be called fuddy-duddy these days. I think what Mel C was trying to get to the point about is there’s a huge difference between what they sang about compared to today’s female singers. When you have someone like Miley, GaGa, Britney or Rihanna going around simulating and singing about sexual activities how does that portray positive female models for today’s young gals? Why don’t Miley, GaGa, Britney, and Rihanna sing about other things than sex, abuse, whipping and whatever? That’s something I’d like to ask today’s female music artists.
RiRi is indeed too raunchy for young kids but she can do whatever the hell she wants. She is doing this crap because there is nothing else to her talent-wise. I agree that it’s up to the parents to censor what their children watch and listen to.
I was 11 years old when Christina Aguilera’s “Stripped” album came out and I was totally obsessed with her. A friend gave the CD to me and we made up our own choreography to “Dirty”. I bought a huge poster of her standing topless with just her hair covering her boobs and with tight jeans laced up at the crotch.
NOW. When my mother heard some of Xtina’s songs and inspected the pictures I had all over my wall, she made the decision to stand over me while I pulled them down and she threw out the CD. I was crying floods of tears at the time but now I’m older I’ve developed my own taste in music and gone completely the opposite way, mostly listening to indie bands and folk. Basically this is what has to be done. I babysit now and history repeated itself last Christmas as I was watching “family friendly” X Factor with the kids, when Rihanna and Christna started miming and gyrating I changed the channel.
Loved the Spice Girls, cannot see any comparsion between them and nasty Rihanna. It’s bad, but I wasn’t overly surprised when Rihanna was groped by some male fan as she arrived onto Good Morning America recently – then got on stage and started dry humping the floor. I don’t really listen to the radio with the kids in the car now. A little Katy Perry is ok, but most of her songs are only catchy for a couple of listens. I got alarmed when Lady Gaga’s song came on and she was going on about riding on your disco stick or some crap. Just decided maybe I didn’t want my daughter repeating it. Sounds prudish, but you are only young for a short time and that kinda needs to be treasured.
You can’t get much more 90s than her arm tats!
People want to lay the responsibility of parenting everywhere except where it belongs, at their own feet. Instead of trying to get pop stars to act like role models, take the time to explain to your kids what makes someone a worthwhile role model, and encourage them to form relationships with the worthy role models in their immediate lives, rather than to look up to strangers that can’t be held accountable when they disappoint them.
I never looked up to pop singers and athletes when I was growing up. Why would I, who the hell were they to me?
Why has nobody commented on the fact that Rihanna is wearing colorful DIAPERS on stage!!!?
That to me, is the most disturbing thing about the entire post!
(Btw, I think this woman peaked musically & visually at her “Umbrella” album. Ever since then, its all been downhill. I totally place much of the blame on Chris Brown, for knocking her brain cells loose.)
It was not just Britney, at the same time R&B was coming up. Usually with a guy singing/rapping and a couple of almost naked girls dancing around him.
I agree with Bedhead, pot meet kettle. but I also agree with the message,I really loathe how pop stars like Rihanna thumb their noses at the responsiblities as role models because they are “artists”, they’re just doing their thing, it’s the parents job to monitor what they watch, etc. it annoys me a great deal, they overlook the fact that most of their audience consists of young impressionable girls. you need to take your clothes off to “express yourself”? fine.put in the time, take the pay cut and make music for adults.
Mel C. is a smart cookie. No, it isn’t the job of a pop star to raise our children or impart morals and values, HOWEVER, these “artists” do not get a pass from me because they are part of a larger problem and help reinforce the sexualization of our youth.
We live in a middle class/upper middle class, ethnically diverse area in California and my kids range from 2-14 y.o. My kids have spent 9 years attending a private school where they had classmates who were sexually active (in middle school) and have been exposed to all sorts of drugs and are WAY too aware of concepts that I hadn’t a clue about at this age. (“What’s S&M, Mom?” Thanks, Rihanna!)
Last year at our local public middle school 6 students (3 boys and 3 girls) locked themselves in a classroom and had an orgy. They were suspended. My heart broke for all of these young people who haven’t a clue as to what they are doing and what the long term ramifications (physically, mentally and emotionally) of their actions. They are CHILDREN, after all! Blow jobs in the bathrooms are pretty common, too, I hear.
It’s obvious that these situations are failures on the part of the parents involved, but we really cannot ignore how desensitized our youth has become to sex, violence, etc. This type of music/entertainment is part of the problem and the larger problem is that we as a culture are supporting all of it with our $$ and our complacency. (And here I am on a gossip blog! *sigh*)
Oh, and hearing people talk about how Rihanna is empowered? Huh? Homegirl was in a relationship with Chris Brown! If *that*, along with her whole S&M/overtly sexual persona is considered empowering than we have really lost our way as a culture, haven’t we?
Although famous people are not responsible for raising this generation, as a celebrity you are expected to conduct yourself a certain way, just like most people are in their profession. And since stars make so much more money than the rest of us, it’s only fair that they’re held to the same standards. This girl is a singer who acts like a stripper, tweeting about being drunk and fondling woman. I now call her rihannoreah. She did not start off this raunchy, and considering the way her peers are talking about her, she needs to be careful. With twenty plus nieces, it saddens me to see young girls relating to the image this thing projects, referring to it as “having fun.” I guess it shows my age, because while I was growing up there was nothing fun about acting whorish. It was shunned, not accepted.
Two points here:
Popstars like Rihanna and Pink (let’s not just pick on Rihanna and K Perry here) are sometimes interviewed and asked if they don’t think they should tone it down for the kids, their response usually is, well the kids shouldn’t be at their concerts in that case and are not their target market. Such a cop out. The record companies and the star know damn well who the fans are, they see the sales, get the fan mail etc and they know the average age and sex of the typical fan, so stop pretending they don’t and innocently proclaim this is music only for adult audiences. The biggest fans of the Pussy Cat Dolls were little 6 year old girls for christs sakes.
I see people here saying, well if it bothers you, don’t let the kids hear or see it. You can maybe control what a 6 or 7 year old is listening to and seeing, but you certainly will have a harder time with a 10 or 12 year old. There is so much of this soft porn to see everywhere on every media. You can switch on tv in the afternoon at 2pm and watch Rihanna talking about her Rude Boy or see Shakira writhing around in a cage. The problem is, that this has now so saturated into the culture that a lot of kids think that this behaviour is the norm (just like pole dancing and shaving your pubes off also eventually became everyday but came originally from porn). People in a position like Rihanna etc should maybe sit back and say, how am I contributing to that? Everyone in the pop industry needs to ask themselves this question and i don’t think there are enough hard-hitting interviews, not just with stars, but with the boss men and women probably controlling the stars and their image, the Puff Daddys of the world, asking them exactly those questions – about the morality of what they are presenting to children and people generally. It is a bigger theme perhaps that needs to be discussed with the industry in general and not just the stars.
The Spice Girls were more like cartoon characters than sexy, sexualised artists. ITA with other posters who have said that bare midriffs, chunky platform sneakers and miniskirts absolutely do not compare with the fierce and fugly costumes Rihanna, Katy Perry and Gaga wear on and off stage.
This is ridiculous. The lengths some of you are going to to explain away the obvious is laughable. This includes you post writer.
From every show the pictures are posted on every blog. Every other day I am looking between Rihanna’s legs from a gynecologist perspective. You don’t even have to click on the “article” to be exposed to it.
It’s NOT ok regardless of how you spin it.
And I’m tired of seeing everyone wearing panties on stage. Cover up!
@ MMMMM – I have to follow up on hearing the radio everywhere from swimming pools to restaurants, because it’s one of the first things I thought of reading this.
It doesn’t seem like Mel C is making an argument for censorship or bans, especially when there are so many personal entertainment options and you can listen to anything you want with a pair of ear phones. But she is pointing out that we should be aware that our kids see what we put out in public too.
Shortly after Rihanna’s”S&M” song came out, a friend and I grabbed pizza slices at the mall and sat down at a super long counter several seats away from a girl that looked about 10 and her mother. I didn’t think much of it until this song came on the radio and my friend started cracking up at the lyrics and we both agreed we wouldn’t have heard this out in public when we were in high school less than 10 years ago – then I realized there was a kid sitting within earshot of both us and the music.
Yes, parents can control what their kids watch & listen to in the car or the house, they can choose whether or not to take them to concerts, etc.
But when explicit lyrics and images go mainstream from billboards to mall music, it gets a lot trickier.
Parenting is a huge responsibility and I’m just as annoyed as anyone by those who shrug when their kids are out of control in public.
But I also think it’s a cop out to put everything on parents. Even the best parents can’t be there all the time, but telling kids whose parents aren’t invested that they’re just out of luck is shortsighted.
Whether we realize it or not, we all have a stake in the kids in our community. Who else is going to be our doctors, nurses, air traffic controllers or law enforcement as we age? And the costs of getting it wrong are high – just look at the prison industry.
(:: softer voice :: I’m not a mom yet even, just a very concerned aunt to a rowdy group of young nieces & nephews, and someone who feels older than my age when I read about orgies in middle schools! – I’ll get off my soapbox now…)
I agree with the message. BUT . . . even though the Spice Girls are tame compared to today’s slut singers, they DID push the envelope in their time.
Each year there’s a new semi-talented singer/girl group who resorts to sex appeal rather than singing talent . . . it just goes further and further each time. So no, Spice Girls weren’t as bad as Rihanna, but they were definitely one in a chain of acts leading up to the point Rihanna’s at today.
who is she anyways.
Watch your own kids, and teach them how to grow up. it’s not my job, if you don’t like the way I act don’t let them go to my concerts, and stop blaming your family problems on me, its your job to raise your kids you should take some responsibility.