American youth culture doesn\u2019t get much safer than Britney Spears.<\/p>\n\n
The former \u201cMickey Mouse Club\u201d diva has sold about 20 million copies of \u201c\u2026Baby One More Time\u201d and \u201cOops \u2026 I Did It Again,\u201d mostly to pre-teen girls. The music is upbeat and the lyrics are flirty. The music videos are rather slinky and, come to think of it, Spears is being marketed as a PG-13 fantasy doll.<\/p>\n\n
Surely nobody out there in Culture Wars territory is worried about Britney Spears? After all, she\u2019s a born-again Bible Belt Baptist and she sang \u201cJesus Loves Me\u201d at the audition that landed her a recording contract. But she also seems to be a normal, All-American girl who grew up loving Madonna, \u201cDirty Dancing,\u201d MTV, \u201cDawson\u2019s Creek,\u201d Cosmopolitan, Jackie Collins novels and Abercrombie & Fitch.<\/p>\n\n
Who is Britney Spears? All of the above.<\/p>\n\n
She is a \u201cconfusing postmodern mix of spirituality and teasing schoolgirl sexuality\u201d and that\u2019s one big reason why she is important, according to the Center for Parent-Youth Understanding in Elizabethtown, Pa. Most of all, stresses a research paper on the group\u2019s Web site (www.cpyu.org), her music urges children to follow their feelings.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cSpears pulls no punches when it comes to talking about her Baptist faith. She speaks of praying nightly and her love for God,\u201d argues this report. \u201cBut in true postmodern fashion, her verbalized commitment doesn\u2019t mesh with the sexual messages of her visual image. Granted, none of (her music\u2019s) lyrical content is overtly sexual \u2014 one reason Spears is a darling of so many parents. But Spears\u2019 does put forth a subtle and seductive image of female adolescent sexuality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
However, some critics believe the writers and producers who shape Spears\u2019 songs have slipped in a few naughty images. Her early song \u201cSoda Pop\u201d sounds innocent. But the singer tells a boy, \u201cWe might start riding to the music tonight\u2026 A wicked time to the end. \u2026 We\u2019ll flex tonight until they break down the door \u2026 And we\u2019ll go on and on until the break of dawn.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Spears told Rolling Stone that she did ask Swedish pop maestro Max Martin to edit \u201cBorn to Make You Happy,\u201d because it \u201cwas a sexual song. \u2026 Because of the image thing, I don\u2019t want to go over the top.\u201d And in a British interview, she told her critics: \u201cIf I have on a short skirt, it doesn\u2019t mean that I have low morals. I have very high morals. I don\u2019t believe in sex before marriage. I don\u2019t believe in drugs or even smoking. I believe in God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Meanwhile, rumors keep circulating. There are reports about who she is dating, what Christian college she may attend, what movie she will make, where she goes to church and what surgical steps she has or has not taken to improve her figure. All of this is vitally important for untold millions of consumers \u2014 literally around the world \u2014 between the ages of 8 and 14. How long will Spears be this hot? Does it matter?<\/p>\n\n
\u201cBritney\u2019s no monster, that\u2019s for sure. \u2026 But bare midriffs and almost-sensual lyrics can leave the young confused,\u201d said Richard Ross, who teaches youth ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He is best known as a strategist behind the True Love Waits movement, which urges young people to save sex until marriage.<\/p>\n\n
The key, said Ross, is that parents must strive to stay informed about what is happening in youth culture, especially when it comes to knowing about the worldviews of the superstars who serve as today\u2019s mass-media role models.<\/p>\n\n
The fact that Britney is a Baptist is interesting. But that seems to have little to do with her music. Meet the new Barbie, same as the old Barbie.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cParents shouldn\u2019t trust a used car salesman \u2026 just because he says he\u2019s religious and he sits in a pew near them at church. Right? I think the same thing is true with the media,\u201d said Ross. \u201cParents may be pleased when artists who are idolized by their children seem to hold values that are higher than the cesspool of today\u2019s culture. But that doesn\u2019t mean they should let those artists shape their children\u2019s values and lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
American youth culture doesn\u2019t get much safer than Britney Spears. The former \u201cMickey Mouse Club\u201d diva has sold about 20 million copies of \u201c\u2026Baby One More Time\u201d and \u201cOops \u2026 I Did It Again,\u201d mostly to pre-teen girls. The music is upbeat and the lyrics are flirty. The music videos are rather slinky and, come […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n