My Father's Contribution

Why does Paris Hilton make news? Who was Anna Nicole Smith? Why did we care who the father of Anna Nicole Smith’s baby was? I’m not attacking the lady, and what happened to her was a tragedy; she was too young to die. And admittedly, I thought she was hot, especially since she wasn’t the typical Caucasian ideal of emaciated beauty. But the real question is: What did she contribute to the greatness of America? So this kind of selective media coverage begs the question: Why does the media pick and choose certain stories above others to promote? My dad made a difference in American pop culture and I’m upset that my father’s death didn’t command the same kind of attention that two different blonde beauties did, who seemingly used their beauty, and no other apparent skills to garner attention. The American media has a fetish for female white blondes. But in their zealousness to cover the culturally defined norm of ideal beauty, they fail to step outside the box, and acknowledge the richness, diversity and beauty of a country of immigrants compromised of, well off the top of my head: Blacks, Asians, Polynesians, Mexicans, Indians etc. are ALL LOVELY, not just the White, blonde, blue-eyed women.

Edited and posted by Julie Swartzendruber