Rebecca Rosner: Rejecting standards at a young age

American Idol gives me hope for the future. Not because I have any dreams of belting out A Moment Like This to millions of television viewers. But consider this: Take a group of preteens, who, week after week, choose American Idol as their most-watched show, and try to predict whom they will worship as the new American superstar.

My guess would be a Britney Spears/Justin Timberlake lookalike. Someone blonde and airbrushed. Someone who never writes his or her own music and can't sing live. Someone whose name and face you will inevitably confuse with all the others and will likely forget about in five years.

It is not comforting to think that this is these preteens' image of perfection. Anyone who doesn't fit this idyllic mold must not be good enough. News reports suggest that there is more pressure than ever on today's youth to succeed.

Ten-year-olds are spending hours on homework and loading their schedules with extracurricular activities. They're getting an early start on preparing for college applications. No more summers of hanging out at the pool and waiting for the ice cream truck for these kids; they spend their time off at specialized camps and even doing homework assigned by next year's teachers.

As if that weren't enough, teen pop stars are promoting an image of sex appeal and preteens strive to be just like their idols. All of a sudden it's necessary to act ditzy and dress provocatively to fit in. It's frightening to think that my 12-year-old cousin shows more skin than I do.

However, two years in a row, millions of preteens have voted and said that their American Idol does not fit this description. Kelly Clarkson, last year's winner, is a sweet Southern girl who always wore enough clothing to cover herself and was continually criticized by the media for her weight (although anyone who has seen Kelly knows she can't be more than a size 10). She recently described her movie by saying that it was a lot like Grease but not as risqu‚. Not a thing like Britney, but boy can she sing.

The reigning champion is Ruben Studdard. Unlike so many of the black men in the music world, Ruben doesn't promote a hard-edge, gangster image. He sings gospel. He smiles. And he reportedly weighs 360 pounds. Not exactly boy band material, but his smooth voice won him the American Idol crown.

Could it be? Are these preteens rejecting societal standards of sex appeal and perfection? Are they creating a new ideal of friendliness and uniqueness? It certainly looks that way, and the music industry is changing accordingly. Kelly's CD is a huge hit, not to mention the successes of American Idol runners-up. Last year, Justin Guarini's fans had no problem looking past his biracial background, and this past year, geeky Clay Aiken had 10-year-olds singing along to Paul Simon's classic Bridge Over Troubled Water.

American Idol has shown these preteens what immense power they have if they band together. For kids who had always thought adults controlled their lives, the ability to vote and choose their own preferences is very empowering. But forget about what that means for the music industry -- just imagine the progress that could be made in other areas.

Maybe these preteens will continue to reject societal standards as they grow older. If they speak with a uniform voice, they could tell colleges to consider much more than SAT scores and lengthy activity lists for admission. They could make women's sports equally as popular as men's sports. They could boycott pricey DVDs and demand that they be sold for their production price. In theory, whatever they decide they want could actually happen. It's pretty amazing power for an 11-year-old to wield.

Or, what if they used this power for an even greater purpose? Just like they're saying there isn't only one formula to create an American Idol, they could find that there isn't only one formula for creating an American president. These kids know that they don't have to accept the status quo and they know voting together will accomplish that. Their open-mindedness and take-action behavior could be the start of real change for the future of politics and, hopefully, for the future of our country.

But then again, maybe their voting was simply a fluke these two times, and there's really no pattern to be deciphered. I guess I'll just have to tune in to American Idol's new season and find out. For research purposes, of course.

Rebecca Rosner is a senior English major from Lawrenceville, N.J.

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