Paris Hilton is good for kids - not!

Role model is not a term that comes to mind when Paris Hilton’s name is mentioned. Vacuous. Narcissistic. Exhibitionist. Mobile phone addict. Too rich. Too skinny. Skanktron, even. But surely not a positive role model for young people?

Well, that’s the description being applied in efforts to get Hilton out of jail.

Earlier this month the socialite was sentenced to 45 days in jail (since halved) for violating her probation by driving on a suspended license following a drink-driving charge. An online petition calling for her pardon paints Hilton as a role model who "provides hope for young people all over the US and the world”.

Far from attracting social censure at a time when driving offences and binge drinking are responsible for a tragic number of teenage deaths, some commentators are espousing Hilton as a model for adolescent behaviour.

Only in America you may say. Well no, in Australia as well. “Paris is good for kids” declared the headline on The Australian’s opinion page May 18. Author Duncan Fine wasn’t talking about why kids should see Le Louvre, Mona Lisa, and La Tour Eiffel to develop a love for truth and beauty. Non. Fine was talking about Paris Hilton who, he says, represents the very essence of freedom and democracy.

She doesn’t care what people think; behaves like a playboy; probably does party drugs; forgets to wear underwear; and has lots of cool friends.

These include Nicole Ritchie - who appears to be preparing for a movie role as a stick-insect - and Britney Spears who has an intimate relationship with child protection.

No matter. It’s because of Paris that girls might become “Chief justice of the High Court” or “secretary-general of the UN”.

Yes, the same Paris who laughed as her then toy boy Stavros Niarchos tried to induce a homeless man to pour a drink over his head for money; the one who called two black friends "dumb niggers", relieved herself in a taxi, and is now facing jail, is “good for kids”.

Porno Paris, who features in a seedy video pleasuring another boyfriend orally, encourages girls to aspire to a higher calling. Giving good head apparently means you can be head of the UN.

Many young women today are in crisis. And the Parisification of the culture is much to blame. Drug taking, binge drinking, chronic dieting and self-harm mark the lives of increasing numbers of young women. Eight-years-olds are being treated for anorexia; one in eight Australian girls has bulimia.

Body image disorders are on the rise as girls try to attain unrealistic body types based on doctored images of models or starving celebrities.

Role model Hilton’s contempt for women who aren’t as skinny as she is revealed in a Howard Stern radio interview with Tina Fey, the former head writer of Saturday Night Live.

Asked if Hilton gave Fey ideas for sketches, Fey replied: “Yeah, she wanted to make fun of all the girls she hates. She was like "I want to play Jessica Simpson, I hate her … she's fat".

Young girls are being raised in a sexually violent culture. Yet there is often only contempt for those who question the sexual wallpapering of society. They are grumpy finger-wagging moralists who side with the Taliban in their desire to control women.

The sexualising of girls is not about freedom but repression. Girls are oppressed by a culture that tells them they are merely the sum of their sexual parts.

The American Psychological Association has found the sexual objectification of girls leads to academic failure, depression, eating disorders and poor self-image. Girls are at risk of premature sexual activity which causes depression.

Pre-teens are encouraged to develop sexy personas, wear G-strings with slogans like “Eye Candy”, and T-shirts that read “You’re at the top of my to-do list”. The Peek-a-boo pole-dancing kit, which comes with “sexy garter” and promises to “unleash the sex kitten inside”, is marketed to six-year-olds.

Liberation now means being free enough to strip like a porn star and hook up with multiple partners in cold soulless encounters - just like Hilton.

Hilton also represents the triumph of consumerism. She earns more than $10 million a year which she appears to spend on herself. Perhaps she hasn’t heard of a little thing called global poverty yet.

Young women making the world a better place aren’t doing so because of inspiration drawn from the cult of cheap celebrity. They have resisted materialism to live authentic lives in meaningful vocations, many working with the poor and marginalised.

These are good role models for our young women, not Paris Hilton whose Chihuahua wears designer doggie wear, is carried about in a Louis Vuitton case and needs puppy Prozac to cheer her up.