Stop the Inanity! continued…

Posted on October 14, 2008

But wait, it gets worse.

Check out the cool and creative stuff going on at Showbiz Tonight! (My excuse for watching? I was in a nitrous daze, my teeth and mouth hurt – really! And I couldn’t go to sleep.)

The anchor and two commentators were discussing Sarah Palin. Well, not actually Sarah herself, but Sarah’s hairdo. And the producer must have had a truly fantastic idea, incredible really!

Listen team – it’s our duty as broadcasters to clear up everything about Sarah’s up-do once and for all. Get it all out on the table. Let’s play the change the hairdo game!

To elucidate all these important hairdo points, they pulled out some photos of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. And yep, you guessed it! Oh, they’re brilliant over at Showbiz Tonight! They ingeniously stuck Sarah’s up-do on the lucky heads of Paris and Britney.

Did our unsuspecting models look fetching? Nope, not a chance. Time to play the next game called pile on the insults.

You may think the hairdo game is silly, but what strikes me as supremely silly is a grown man getting paid to insult Britney Spears. I think his name was Carlos Diaz. (The possibility exists that it was someone else).  He looks to be at least 40. He’s all grown up! A man! Is this a manly job? Insulting a young woman because she doesn’t look her best after the vice-presidential nominee’s up-do has been photo-shopped on her head? Imagine the courage, the skill, the manly qualities it must take to do this job.

If this were a comedy show, and if the commentary were actually funny, then I’d guess we’d have to give them some license. But this was just inane blather.

Did Britney deserve this? I don’t think so.  But here’s the real kicker: When was the last time the media took the hairdo of a male of significant stature – say for example, a vice presidential nominee — and stuck said hairdo on the head of a Backstreet Boy?

Misogynistic? You think? (Ashleigh Banfield, the show’s other hairdo commentator, wisely refused to comment. Ashleigh  – what’s a smart gal like you doing on a show like this?)

The media has become dumb and dumber and the rest of us will continue following suit if we don’t wake up.  Idiotic, mean-spirited blather is taking over. Yes, I know you can turn it off, change the channel, tune it out. But I don’t think you can deny that this superficial, unkind, dim-witted and crass way of relating to our fellow citizens has rubbed off on many Americans of all ages.  And that ultimately hinders our communication and progress as a people in a big way. And presenting superficialities as important, deserving-of-attention realities is harmful to our spirit, and especially damaging to our youth. That’s why it’s time for Wise Women to stop putting up with the baloney. Step up to plate – wield your power!  This is all-hands on deck moment on Planet Earth. We need you! We need your intelligence and experience! Get Real!

Thanks for reading this!
– JSK

Some wisdom from our Wise Women:

Tenzin Palmo:
The feminine quality is that of the nurturing, and this is something, which is desperately needed at this time in the world.

Sylvia Earle:
I think we’re finally beginning to understand that we are a part of nature, not apart from it, and that what we do to the natural world we do to ourselves.

Della Reese:
I’ve never been selling beauty. I’ve never been selling youth. I’ve been selling my talent, which will never grow old no matter how many years I walk on the planet.

Martha Jackson Jarvis:
Life happens in a flash, and what will you do?

Virginia Satir:
We must not allow other people’s limited perceptions to define us.