14 DAY TRIAL // British singer Rebecca Ferguson is joining the list of celebrities speaking out against Rihanna's extremely racy public persona, mostly manifest in her live shows. She wouldn't let her daughter see her in concert, Rebecca says.
While the Barbadian beauty insists that her aim is not to be a role model but to “make art,” the X Factor singing sensation stresses that Rihanna can't do away with the responsibility.
She has one towards young girls for the simple fact that she's in the spotlight, Rebecca says in a new interview cited by MTV News.
“I wouldn't let my daughter watch her. As a woman, I want to teach my daughter that a man should love you for who you are,” Rebecca says.
With her outrageous and explicit public persona, Rihanna is basically telling her younger fans they have to become mere objects to be worthy of a man's attention, Rebecca believes.
Obviously, that's not right. “They should love you for you as a person, not for how you dress,” she says.
However, that's not to say that Rebecca has something against Rihanna. On the contrary, she's a fan of her music but she simply believes that she's not right for the younger audience.
“[Rihanna] can say 'I've got no kids,' but if you want that lifestyle and you want that money, ultimately you are influencing generations and you have to remember that. They will copy you. Popstars should think of their audience,” she says.
“I like Rihanna, I’d be lying if I said my iPod wasn’t filled with Rihanna’s music. But as a mummy of two babies, I do think sometimes it pushes it too far. Not for people my age but for young children watching. I think for kids no, for us adults yes,” Rebecca explains.
As noted above, until just recently, Rihanna was fending off criticism by saying she was making “art,” not turning herself into a role model for young girls and boys because their education was their parents' job.
In an interview of a few weeks ago, though, the “Umbrella” hitmaker hinted she planned on toning down her image a bit since she was afraid she might become just a “gimmick.”