Dr Helen Wright is expected to
say that photos of scantily clad celebrities such as Kim Kardashian sum
up “almost everything that is wrong with Western society.”
Dr Wright will say that young
people are bombarded with messages about physical appearance being more
important than character.
She argues that premature
sexualization and the objectification of women is rife on TV, the internet and
in magazines.
Success should not mean being
rated “the hottest woman in the world”, she says.
In a speech to the Institute
of Development Professionals in Education (IDPE) this week, Dr Wright,
headmistress of St Mary’s Calne, private girls boarding school in Wiltshire,
will say:
I have spoken out a lot over
the past two years about the increasing dangers of the premature sexualisation
of young people, and the objectification of women which accompanies this. And
this is what our young people see around them all the time: online, in
magazines, on TV.
It is not too strong a statement, I venture to suggest, to
say that almost everything that is wrong with Western society today can be
summed up in that one symbolic photo of Miss Kim Kardashian on the front of Zoo
magazine. The descent of Western civilization can practically be read into
every curve (of which, you will note, there are indeed many). Officially the
hottest woman in the world? Really? Is this what we want our young people to
aim for? Is this what success should mean to them?
According to Dr Wright, Miss
Kardashian is famous for “the reality TV series, Keeping Up With The
Kardashians, for hanging out with the rich and famous, for a sex tape, a 72-day
marriage, and a rather ample backside.”
The star was also rated one of
this year’s most influential celebrities by men’s magazine ‘Zoo’.
Schools must lead the way in
helping young people understand who they are and instil good values, she says.
What is she telling our young
people about life? As a society, we have clearly attached a value to her, and
there may be some messages about hard work buried in there somewhere – I expect
she has to slave in the gym to keep that posterior in shape – but these are
very hidden messages, buried under the other messages surrounded by glitz and
sparkle.
Messages about physical appearance being more important than character
or substance, for instance, or messages about financial rewards coming with
meanness, scandal and boundary-less living. The pupils in our schools really
are soaking up a diet of empty celebrity and superficiality. They are under a
huge amount of pressure, buffeted by these images and messages.
