Poll: Female role models

[MeatMachine]

Female, and no role models period. Never seen the point, which is why I always roll my eyes at every "Who's YOUR role model?" or "Kids need a good role model to look up to!" It seems so mindless. Screw patterning yourself after others! Be your own damn person!

This. As a kid, I never understood hero worship. No one ever seemed cool or accomplished enough that I'd want to structure my own personality to reflect theirs, and in my opinion, no one should.

Sure, I'm fortunate to have several great people I look up to who have powerful traits I aspire to emulate, but a role model? Not so much. Many of the people who I'd almost consider role models are also a mixed bag of goodies, including strong traits of depression, alcoholism, and social isolation.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

Put me into the "don't really care about that stuff" camp. I don't see the benefit of trying to replicate someone's life with your own. Rather, recognize beneficial aspects from people you respect, and seek to replicate those.

If you put a gun to my head and forced me to mention one though, I'd probably say my mom.

 

[DANEgerous]

I do not know if I would call them role models, but are honestly I think if I was to make a list of people I admire it would be at least 50% females. I suppose it is the silver lining to gender roles in that breaking them adds a layer of interest.

 

[Aerevolt]

Sally Ride, the first American woman in space.
She broke the glass ceiling in a field that was male dominated to the extreme.

She was an apt role model for me, as I am doing the same (on a much, much smaller scale). I am the first female crew leader in the company I work for. This company has been around for over a hundred years. Currently 11% of employees are women, and most of them are office workers (clerks, HR, etc)

 

[Darth Rosenberg]

There's nothing wrong with admiring someone for having good qualities. I don't get why so many people equate 'looking up to someone' to 'stomping out one's identity to better resemble said person'. Though I guess the word model is a bit misleading. But the reality is you can appreciate and even imitate somebody without leaving your personality on the cutting room floor.

/

Any reasonable person understands that even the best people are critically flawed in some ways. I'm sure some people do expect perfection, but just because there are a few misguided people it's automatically a bad practice?

There's a reason they're call role models and not 'Paragons of Humanity'.

Agreed completely. I've never understood the apparent hostility to or rejection of the idea of greatly admiring individuals in various fields. For anyone remotely sensible, 'role models' (which I do think's an iffy term, btw) are not a replacement for an identity, nor are they to be viewed as flawless - quite the opposite, in fact, as being inspired by someone is as much about their own faults and failings as it is about their virtues.

For me, I suppose Germaine Greer would be my biggest 'role model' influence from my teens, but creatively, these days Sofia Coppola and Joanna Newsom are women to admire/look up to and be inspired by.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Your mum should be your role model. If your mum sucked or gave you away then you can look for that somewhere else. Off the top of my head i would say Lara Croft in the new game just because she fought against adversity....granted she isnt real but that shouldnt matter.

 

[otakon17]

My mom. She's tough, doesn't take shit from anyone but she's also jovial and pleasant to be around. I got the second parts down already but I'm still fairly passive and non-confrontational.

 

[Des-Esseintes]

Lotta people here have some pretty hard-line views of what a role model is - by my definition I'm sure most of you geezers would have had one.

For instance, I was a big Libertines fan when I was a little nipper. I didn't try to live my life like Pete Doherty, nor make any conscious decision to be like him, buuutttttt... Looking back my admiration did effect me, it changed what clothes I thought were cool, mannerisms and speech patterns of his started to infiltrate my every day language because I thought he was the totes coolleesssttt and watched any interview of his religiously. I don't think anyone actively tries to copy their role models, they just influence how you develop, what your interests are.

Didn't any of you fellas have a favourite character as a kid? Did you not act a little bit more roguish because Han Solo is dope? Not occasionally use some of their lines? Didn't grow your hair out like Kurt Cobain as a teenager?

 

[Fdzzaigl]

Don't have any role models.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Male, no, and to be blunt the concept of "Role Models" has always sort of bugged me.

There's obviously nothing wrong with admiring people who have accomplished something, especially something you are interested in, but the idea of a role model who you should attempt to emulate kinda has issues when you look at the fact that no two people (minus identical twins) are exactly the same.

I'll give an example: a lot of younger (American) Football players probably think of JJ Watt as a role model, and that's great. But in addition to his freakish athleticism (that he does work very hard for) Watt is also 6'5 and has hands the size of T-bone steaks. Likewise, although it is by no means determined entirely by genetics, a lot of an individual person's physical capabilities and limitations are controlled by their genetics.

So in other words, a kid who is 5'7 and naturally tiny can look up to and attempt to emulate JJ Watt all he wants, but even if he works just as hard (if not harder) than him, the chances of him going to the NFL and having the same level of success are extremely tiny.

My point being that I think it rings a little hollow to sell someone as a "role model", when part of their success is attributed to things that are beyond anyone's control, and that not everyone else can emulate.

 

[Phasmal]

Yeah, I have plenty.

I think some people struggle with the concept of role models. It doesn't mean you have to try and be that person, you can admire someone's positive traits while remaining yourself and separating that from their negative traits.

But, yeah, I've got several female role models, ones I know personally, ones I don't- real, fictional. Kind of strange you can't think of any women to look up to.

 

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

Nope, but I don't have any male role-models either, so I guess that's ok.

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

I don't have any role models. Male of female. I always thought that role models are for people who can't think for themselves. It's OK to have people that you admire and respect. But role models are a whole different league.

 

[Xan Krieger]

I used to be really into martial arts and my absolute favorite martial artist (and one of the main reasons why I got into martial arts) was Cynthia Rothrock:


Hot, badass and not a bad actress either.
Too bad she never got really popular, I really wanted to see her in some big budget stuff.

The thing that pissed me off was the fact that the character of Sonya Blade was based on her, yet they didn't cast her as Sonya Blade in the MK movie and instead went with someone who couldn't portray a convincing fighter to save her life (forgot her name and I don't care enough to look it up).

Over the years however, I became a cynical bastard and I don't have any role models anymore.
I do look at certain people as points of reference for where I am in life vs where I want to be but that's about it.

Despite her age (58) she still looks very beautiful. I guess when you're that active you age slower than most women.

OT: Not role models, just women I'd like to date (and it's a list so long it if you typed it in 12 point font it'd wrap around the world, yes I'm that lonely)