So 2014 has been touted as the “Year of the Booty”. I unfortunately
have to agree with that. Because of the likes of Kim Kardashian and Jennifer
Lopez, large backsides have been pretty much shoved in our faces for years with
it culminating in 2014 to some type of sexually explicit large booty
celebration. Have you seen Nicki Minaj’s video for Anaconda? Or how about Iggy
Azalea and Jennifer Lopez in Booty? And then there is what I though was the
innocent “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor. Mama says “Boys they like a
little more booty to hold at night”. Not exactly the message I want to pass
along to my children. This mama says “love your body because it’s what God gave
you, but value intelligence, integrity and morality. When you grow up and find
the man you want to marry after you go to college and have a good job, he will
love you for who you are, not the sum of your body parts”. But that probably doesn't fit well into a song...
I think about icons like Marilyn Monroe. I love her movies.
I think she was beautiful, funny and really a terrific actress. I am a fan of
her Facebook page, but I feel a little sad every time I see a post from her
page on my feed. It’s always a photo of her and nothing else. She was more than
just a pretty face and body. People who knew her say she was kind hearted and
very smart, but the majority of her fans remember and celebrate her for her
beauty alone. Will the big booty beauties of today be remembered for anything
else but their backsides when they are gone?
I’m all for celebrating our bodies. We are beautiful whether
we are fat, skinny, black, white, large assed or flat assed. I just wish we had
more pop culture icons who celebrated and valued intelligence. Yeah, yeah I
know we should be our children’s role models, but we cannot hide our kids from
these pop tarts. Our daughters need to know that being a smart, independent woman
doesn't mean gyrating, twerking and fish face selfies. Our sons can appreciate
the beauty of a woman’s body, but also need to know the importance of
cherishing her mind. We as moms, dads, grandparents, aunts, uncles or whatever
kind of mentor we are to children, need to make sure that the next generation
of adults understand that. Physical beauty can last only a short while, but
education, intelligence and integrity will last a life time.
