I thought we had evolved as a society beyond blaming celebrities for the faults of a child’s parents, yet here we are. It’s nothing new. Outdated? Definitely. Sexist? Most likely. How many times do we see men garner nearly the same amount of condemnation that women do?
The most recent starlet to bear the fire is Sabrina Carpenter, who has been criticized for the provocative nature of her performances, largely because children are in the audience. With that being said, Carpenter’s songs are not family-friendly, and they haven’t been for a while. It’s not a surprise her concert wouldn’t be either. When the “Guts” tour started, Olivia Rodrigo also dealt with parental backlash. Apparently, some parents don’t seem to realize these are young adults creating music for young adults, not children. It’s not the artist’s fault if no one is paying attention to what their kids are listening to.
Carpenter’s songs “Juno” and “Bed Chem” don’t hold back, featuring extremely suggestive lyrics. It’s not shocking her stage performance would follow suit, especially considering her explicit “Nonsense” outros from the “emails I can’t send” concerts.
As I said, this kind of criticism is nothing new. According to the infamous Diane Sawyer interview in 2003, a governor’s wife, Kendel Ehrlich, said she’d shoot Britney Spears if given the chance, simply because Spears wasn’t the role model she wanted for her kids.
Essentially, in Ehrlich’s opinion, it’s acceptable for her to express violent intentions because Spears didn’t fit the squeaky-clean pop star she wanted.
More than 20 years later, we’re still pointing fingers at the wrong people. Why do parents expect the entertainment media to parent their children? If a celebrity isn’t creating child-friendly content, then why criticize them for being too adult?
I can’t say for sure. I don’t know these parents personally, and I’m not one myself. I hope to never have the audacity to blame others for my shortcomings in parental responsibilities. One quick Google search could easily let someone know what content is too mature for a child. Advisory labels exist for this very reason.
There’s a layer of parasocial behavior at play here: a sense of obligation or entitlement to something that is not theirs. Artists do not owe anyone modesty or wholesomeness, especially if the artists aren’t branding themselves that way. If parents are so concerned with the way their kids will be influenced, they have access to the remote. Use it. Complaining that they didn’t know how “bad” it was is absolutely ridiculous, especially when the majority of us have easy access to the internet. It’s time to stop calling artists “disgusting and gross” for racy dances or revealing costumes.
There are several other problems with content aimed at children to focus on instead, perhaps the harsh dangers of family vlogging. But that’s a topic for another time. I think a part of society has become desensitized to this whole conversation, seeing it repeat year after year. You’d think we’d learn eventually.