I am at a loss

Anyone who really knows me knows that I LOVE Ella and Sarah and Etta and Billie and Eartha.  And I mean no disrespect to you Ms. James, but sweetheart you should filter your comments to the press through your son.

I am not so interested in her recent comments as I am fascinated by the comments posted online about her comments.  My favorite one of all was someone ranting about how Beyonce behaved like a porn star on stage during the inauguration and that Etta is a better role model for our children.  WTF?  Decades of heroin addiction, multiple marriages, a tendency to run off a bit at the mouth, a legendary pain to work with...Etta James' past behavior rivals the Brittneys and Lindseys of our time.  And that Diva did it the old fashioned way without a MySpace page or video cameras peeking around every corner.

But it makes me think of the whole "role model" thing people get so freaked out about.  Like the whole thing with Michael Phelps right now.  Being a flawed person or making a poor choice makes you no less a talent.  How about we stop holding up strangers as examples for our children?  How about we decide to parent them by being the best examples we can be for them.  Phelps is a great opportunity to discuss drugs with our kids.  He is a model swimmer--not a role model.  We might even consider having a conversation with our children about the flawed moral reasoning involved in choosing a role model based on income, PR, and ad campaigns.  The only person who has a right to feel betrayed by Michael's behavior is his mother.  And maybe his publicist who will be loosing tons of money...but of course he made tons of money off of him already so that one kind of balances out don't you think?

My favorite is when each new Disney star is held up as the best thing ever and then eventually "falls" and everyone acts all shocked and betrayed.  Miley Cyrus is a child!  You don't get to be a role model by being on TV.  You are simply a TV star.  What put you in the position of being looked at as a role model are the parents who buy their kid everything with your name on it in the first place.

But I am still laughing out loud about Etta James serving as a role model in any capacity other than as a phenomenal vocal talent.  Now, Eartha Kitt, that Woman deserves to be looked at as a role model.  She suffered professionally and personally when she took an anti-war stance during the Vietnam War.  She had a very difficult childhood and rose up from it rather than being dragged down by it.  She was unapologetic for standing up for what she knew to be right.  She saw the issue of same-sex marriages as a matter of Civil Rights that should be afforded to everyone.  She also saw the arts as a way to help young people overcome a hard situation and looked to education and beauty as a means to both inspire children to be more and give them the tools to get there.  What a loss this past Christmas day when she passed.