Mel C, Rihanna and the responsibility of celebrity

Mel C, Rihanna and the responsibility of celebrity

By Catherine Walker

This week the Daily Mail has reported on the criticism of Rihanna by Mel C and looking at some of the clips of her, it is clear to see that perhaps Rihanna has gone too far. 

Like Mel C, I too, am a fan of Rihanna.  Her talents are inarguable and she looks great too.  Although she seems to show a great deal of her body this alone should not necessarily be a cause of concern.  At least she is shaped like a well-rounded woman and not a skinny, bony and emaciated twig as is so common in the world of celebrity.

The problem comes when we look at the sexual content of her stage shows and her video images.  Inappropriate touching of her body, both by herself and others, is concerning especially when you think about the age of her fans.  Her costumes all to often leave nothing to the imagination as seen in the cut of her shorts in this picture.

Many in the pop-industry have a following of very young people and children and celebrities should be responsible about the image that they portray.  Yes, sex sells, but not to children who are prone to mimic their idols. 

Mel C 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.’

Mel, 37, also wrote about her feeling on Twitter and posted ‘For the record – I am a big fan of Rihanna, I am also a mother.’

During her time as a Spice Girl, Mel C and the rest of the group were no strangers to the same sort of criticism.  They were all seen in skimpy outfits and were reported to be poor role models for their child following.  How things change, their images now seem tame in comparison to the images which we, and our children, are exposed to today.

We could wag fingers at many other singers, actors and celebrities.  Rihanna is by no means alone when it comes to cavorting around in an unacceptably sexual manner.  But surely it is time that this was reigned in.

We only have to look at the images of little Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau whose images in Vogue Paris caused uproar to see what could happen to our children if this trend towards over-sexualisation continues.  Mental Healthy featured the story of this 10-year-old ‘supermodel’, you can read it here: Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau Vogue images labelled ‘obscene’ by mental health advocates  

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