I thought that I might be able to stay away from mentioning Paris Hilton at all merely because of all the publicity she is already receiving. But, I thought wrong. This is an imperitive observation though so I will not berate myself too much for jumping on the band wagon. In the beginning of her jail sentence, Paris stated that she was no longer going to act dumb. Paris stated that, “I used to act dumb. It was an act. I am 26 years old, and that act is no longer cute. It is not who I am, nor do I want to be that person for the young girls who looked up to me.” Paris is not the only celebrity who has publicly admitted to “playing dumb” in order to gain and maintain sucess. Remember the “is this tuna or chicken” remark from another young pop icon? Recently Jessica Simpson stated that she too had been playing dumb when starring her reality show with then husband Nick Lachey.

This raises a frightening question: why are women playing dumb in order to gain success? More importantly, why is it working? When such public women (Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, Britney Spears) play dumb, they infest younger generations of women with the notion that acting like an airhead is not only acceptable but is key in order to gain popularity or fame. Is this truly the message that we as women want to send out to the younger girls?

As much as I would like to believe that every single female in this country is shaking their heads while silently thinking (most certainly not will I encourage this disgusting behavior) I know that is not the case. It’s tragic to think that everything women have accomplished in order to obtain equality is being laughed away each time Paris says “that’s hot” or Britney is caught driving with her infant sitting freely in her lap. This needs to stop. Instead of giving our attention to women who make it their job to look foolish, it is time to give our attention to the women who value intelligence and use it in order to be successful (i.e. Melinda Gates, Oprah, Angelina Jolie, Tyra Banks, and so many more).