Why am I not surprised that Bindi Irwin, the now 15-year-old daughter of the late Steve Irwin, also known as the Crocodile Hunter, is a bit of a slut shamer? Sure, she’s still young and stupid, but she’s got a cause other than saving the animals, and that’s encouraging young girls to wear “appropriate” (however she defines that) clothing and not showing too much skin.
Here’s what she told News Corp Australia (via US Weekly):
“I’m a big advocate for young girls dressing their age,” Irwin, 15, said. “I mean, for me, I look around at a lot of young girls that are my age and they’re always trying to dress older. Whether it’s wearing revealing clothes or hardly wearing any clothes at all, I feel really bad for them. It kind of has the opposite effect in some ways … it kind of does the opposite where it makes you look younger and like you’re trying too hard.”
The precocious star, who last starred in 2013 movie, Return to Nim’s Island, went on to say, “I almost wish I could tell young girls, ‘Look, in 10 years when you look back at yourself, you’ll cringe, honey, honestly.'” In fact, Irwin pleaded with her fellow teenage girls to “dress like you are,” while adding: “Don’t try so hard. A pair of jeans and a T-shirt is just as gorgeous and even makes you look classier.”
“To be able to have that outlook on life is such a blessing,” Bindi said of her role model. “I’ve gotten that from my mum especially. The way I choose to dress, I want to influence other people around me, I suppose.” The animal rights advocate said it probably helps because she’s well beyond her years.
“My mum and I, we were playing this game, how old would you be if you didn’t know how old you really are?” she said. “Like how old is your soul? And I said ‘I’d be 86.'”
She mused, “I love a cup of tea and a good book and none of that [other stuff] really interests me… I guess growing up at [the] Australia Zoo and getting to travel all over the world, I have this great outlook on life and that’s what I hope I inspire other kids to have.”
Oh, Christ. Okay, first things first. Do I believe that kids should be kids and stop trying to grow up so quickly? Of course. Enjoy being young, man. It sucks when you actually ARE an adult and you have to get a job and pay bills and run a house and stuff. No need to rush that shit.
However, I am not here for some 15-year-old who is pretentious as hell – clearly, since she feels comfortable saying she’s an old soul just because she likes tea and books – telling other teenagers that they’re not “classy” unless they dress the way she does. Hell no. All young people do shit that they look back on in 20 years and say, “Man, what was I thinking?” It’s a rite of passage! You can’t tell me she’s not going to look back at this interview in 20 years, see how far her head was up her own ass, and have the same cringe-y reaction.
How about this, kids: dress “appropriately”, whatever that means to you. If you want to wear something slutty, knock yourself out. If you want to cover yourself up like a nun, more power to you. Just don’t let some obnoxious goody two-shoes like Bindi Irwin tell you you’re doing it wrong.
are you serious right now?? obnoxious goody two shoes??? how about for ONCE a young celebrity FINALLY is doing it RIGHT and has the CORRECT message! how can you rake her AND miley over the coals all on the same page??? what kind of message are YOU sending??? she is 100% right…good for her!!! THAT is a WAY more empowering message than miley splashing her vagina all over the internet.
Preach!!! Couldn’t agree more. That’s the most sensible thing a celeb had said in ages.
Jennifer is so stupid it hurts. The writing here is terrible, and there’s absolutely no point of this website except for fooling people into clicking though ads. Fuck off, evil beet.
Yep, totally agree with everything you said.
And yet here you continue to be. I do love some good old fashioned trolls, though, so please kick back and relax! I’ll give you plenty of material to work with, promise!
My point is, Bindi Irwin can dress however she would like (obviously within reason – I don’t know what kind of rules her mother puts in place for her). Do I think certain things are inappropriate for young girls to be wearing/doing? Of course, but that is for an actual adult – generally that teenager’s caretaker – to determine, not for someone of that age group to be judgmental about. She’s certainly entitled to her opinion – as is everyone – but when you rant on about how girls need to dress “classy” (by which she very clearly means conservative, aka “not slutty” in her eyes), that’s a problem to me and I am not here for that.
Amen to your opinion. Thank you so much for having the same one that I do. All over these articles there are only people praising her like she’s the new messiah or something, and it’s rare I come across words like yours.
Fifteen-year-olds DON’T need to be dressing slutty.
Ugh, don’t mind those unnecessary hyphens.
Nope, nevermind. I think I was right the first time. Hyphenation is tricky sometimes!
Finally, a celebrity with something worth listening to. SHE’S RIGHT. Sure, tell the fifteen-year olds they should dress slutty if they want to – then they can appear here as the next star of Sixteen and Pregnant. Yep.
The kid is right. She’s seen the world, dealt with the very public and sudden death of her dad, and probably lived thru things 20 something year old adults cannot imagine. She has a brain, and eyes, just like the rest of us. Sounds like she is pretty mature for her age. It’s about time this site featured a young person with a brain.
Couldn’t agree more with Jennifer. If you are sexualities a teens body you are the fcking problem.
*sexualizing
(This got long, lol!)
When you’re a young girl, you see how other young girls act and dress, and the results of these actions. They compare and contrast. If one young girl notices the attention another girl who wears tighter/more revealing outfits is getting, she may determine that this is an acceptable, even popular choice, because it garners results. Many young girls are impressionable and unsure of themselves, and many of them subconciously follow perceived strength/dominance. For some women, this can come in the form of sexual power, i.e. the ability to get what you want by presenting a part of yourself for the other’s desire. If you don’t have strong role models in your life when you’re growing up, it’s easy to get sucked into a million bad and avoidable situations. And when you’re young, you’d rather listen to someone closer to your age anyway! You think they’re more relevant… So I say this girl should keep on keepin’ on and continue trying to set a good example. Lord knows we have enough misguided little hoes blacking out everywhere.
So although you agree with what she is saying you have a problem with her (a peer) having the gall to express her opinion on the subject? How dare she it is for an adult to tell people of her age group what to do, wear, say and act when they speak their own thought and views it is “slut shaming”. wow
Wow what a long way you have come evilbeet. When I first started reading this website years ago it was funny as hell with incredibly smart and witty observations made by the bloggers. It was a nice alternative to shitty sites like Perez, but bloggers left and were replaced with angry, bitter, crabby writers all hiding their inability to be funny and intelligent behind the guise of poorly executed sarcasm and “feminism”. I think I’ve reached my max quota of articles about “slut shaming” or Jennifer’s “I’m never having children”. Sorry evilbeet you’ve lost another reader.
Well, Sasha doesn’t write for Evil Beet anymore (obviously). In fact, I don’t think she has much to do with it at all now. That’s a huge reason why this site has gone downhill.
the mentality of girls dressing modest and using words such as slut or decent shows the way the female body is so sexualized and objectified. never do we use these words to describe boys or men unless gay. a good example of how fucked up our outlook of sex still is. women have had the pill since the 60s. they don’t need to be the gate keeper of morals since can control unwanted pregnancies. sure there are sexualized clothes aimed at young girls, i wouldn’t buy padded bras for my 6 year old daughter, but haven’t seen anything else that hasn’t been in fashion before. it used to be shocking for women to show their ankle in victorian era, bikini in the 60s. some muslim women cover themselves head to toe. it is just control, control of womens bodies. plastic surgery is also another example and again its not men but women .
Dude, I totally agree. It’s some messed up shit out in the world.
Seriously, thank the heavens this article with this viewpoint exists!! Everyone seems to praise this opinion like it’s coming from the new messiah or something. It’s bad enough there are constant messages in society to teenage girls that their sexuality and beauty are all they’re worth, but if a girl feels confident and gorgeous and ready to take on the world wearing anything – whether it’s modest as hell or more revealing than usual – then fuck anyone who tries to tell her differently!
Yessssssssssss.
She’s the virginal (as far as we know) Aussie Kardashian – vacuous, self-absorbed, pointlessly pimped out. Why on earth does she have a media career? Because her idiot dad got killed by one of the animals he was abusing, and Australians are drunk-in-love with the idea of a Crocodile Dundee Daughter with a tragic cover story? She sounds like a dumb teenaged twat with an inflated sense of her own importance (and little to justify it) and a beady eye on the slutbucks… sadly, a typical development these days. Hope she goes swimming and gets waylayed by a sea wasp soon.