She is the face of country music. She is the face of pop music.  Best of all, she is the face of teen celebrity and that is a sigh of relief for many moms of young girls right now.  She is a great role model.   She is a talented artist who writes her own music, plays the guitar, and sings.  (She doesn’t just dance and lip sync around the stage in tight clothes.) She twitters and really appreciates her young fans.   She likes her parents and has a great relationship with her mom who is always with her at press events and appearances.  She is not drinking underage or hanging out all night at dance clubs.  She  also showed us that she has a wicked sense of humor with this fun opening monologue on Saturday Night Live.

I opened the mailbox today to find her staring at me (in 3-D!) as the cover girl on InStyle Magazine.  She looks gorgeous and glamorous and, might I add, age appropriate.  I especially love that she is super tall (5’11″) and has curly hair (“I love it when girls rock curly hair!” she says in InStyle)  just like my baby girl Annabel.  The article confirms again that she doesn’t drink or smoke and that her answers to questions “come out in long, perfectly formed sentences mostly free of ‘ums,’ ‘likes,’ or slang.”  I pray she understands how important it is to be a great role model.  I hope she remains untainted by all her fame and fortune.

Taylor will also make an appearance in the new romantic comedy “Valentine’s Day” which opens nationwide February 12th. It’s from the director of “Pretty Woman” and stars a megawatt cast of A-listers including Julia Roberts, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, and Jessica Biel.  But the only buzz I’ve read about this movie so far is that Taylor Swift kisses that boy from the “Twilight” movie. (!) 

This truly is the Year of Taylor Swift.,

This toddler girl T-shirt was featured on the front page of ParentDish today:

The creator of this tot nipple tassel T-shirt is trying to be “ironic.”  But are people actually buying these shirts for their little girls because they think it’s cute or funny? There are so many young girls who try to dress ”sexy” because they think it’s “cool” or because they want to look like one of their pop idols. (Yes, I’m looking at you pole dancing Miley Cyrus).

So do we really need to start this madness at 2 years old?  Why even throw something like this T-shirt out into the world even if you are just trying to prove a point about society?  Most people probably won’t get it.

On a positive note, back in 2005, this T-shirt was pulled from the shelves of popular teen retailer Abercrombie & Fitch after a group of teen girls organized a boycott against them.

Thank goodness, right? There were a bunch of other really offensive versions as well. 

And don’t even get me started about the terrifying reality show, Toddlers & Tiaras.  I caught a few minutes of it on TLC the other day and was horrified by the parade of  innocent little girls on display.  They were flaunting big hair weaves, fake nails, fake eyelashes, tons of spray tan, adult makeup, and expensive designer dresses.  They also wore bikinis! These toddler girls are basically being taught that being pretty, smiley, and polite will get you money and a sparkly crown.  It really is disturbing.  I heart you, TLC, but this show has GOT TO GO. 

Then, there is Tyra Banks.  She has always created publicity for her talk show by doing something extreme which also seems to promote a healthy self image message to teen girls.   A couple years ago, Tyra started a “So What?” campaign to empower young girls.  During one show, her entire audience of young women, and Tyra included, wore red bathing suits with their weight printed on their chests.  For this year’s The Tyra Banks Show season premiere on September 8th, Tyra is going to reveal to the world her natural hair by taking out her weave on national television. She wants to encourage women to “own and rock what they’ve got and be proud.” Crazy publicity stunt?  Sure.  But if her target audience of teen girls gets the message that being strong, fearless, and comfortable in your own skin is important, then props to her.

We need more of that.