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radioShell comments on teenage girls wanting to be WAGs
As many of you know, my husband Tim is a high school teacher. Most days, he comes home with stories of what the kids in his classes have been up to, and one particular day he came home with a story about one particular girl. At the time, she was a lovely 15 year old girl with a bubbly personality and a great sense of humour. During one of his classes, Tim asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up. She replied very quickly and confidently by saying, "A W.A.G! I want to be a W.A.G!" She then went on to say, "I want to marry a footballer and spend my life shopping and partying and having enough money to do whatever I want. I know he'll probably cheat on me at some point, and I might even cheat on him, but it's ok because we can just get divorced and at least I'll end up with loads of money." Tim and I were both saddened by the lack of aspiration in her life. She had so much going for her, yet she was prepared to live off someone else's talent and fortune for the sake of having money and being displayed on a worldwide stage. What upsets us even more is that she isn't the only one.
There have been pages and pages of media coverage about John Terry and his alleged affair and Cheryl and Ashley Cole's marital breakdown, and a recent article in the Daily Mail talked about the negative effect it's having on teenage girls. Here's what they had to say:
"There are those that argue that what footballers get up to behind closed doors doesn't matter. Sorry, but in a Britain where a recent survey found that one in four girls (that's a quarter!) aspire to be a WAG or a lap dancer, I believe it matters a lot."
I helped out at a pre-teen holiday camp in February and asked some of the 8-11 year old children what they wanted to be when they grew up and the majority replied by saying one word. "Nothing". They didn't say, "I don't know yet." They said, "I want to be nothing." But who or what is responsible for so many of our young people lacking a sense of vision and drive? Who does the book land with when young people don't seem to be encouraged or bothered about striving and living with a sense of passion and determination? Is it the Government?... Is it schools and varied upbringings?... Is it freedom of speech?... Is it the media?... Is it the standards of today's supposed role models? ... Is it society in general? Personally, I believe it's a mixture of all of those things.
I must admit it does baffle me a little because, I don't know about you, but I believe in and live for a God who is full of passion and vision and calling and destiny. I believe in divine purpose given by God and I believe that we have a responsibility under God to work out what our individual purpose is. I don't believe in the wishy-washy statement that says, "You can be whatever you want to be" because at the end of the day, you cannot be a singer if you can't sing! You can't be a teacher if you can't teach! You can't be a chef if you're rubbish with food! You can't be "whatever you want to be", but you can be whatever God wants you to be.
In Romans 12:2 it says this:
"Don't copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Later on in that chapter it goes along the line of saying that if God has called you to teach, then teach. If God has called you to sing, then sing. If God has called you to be a sailor then sail a boat. 'Sister Act 2' is one of my favourite films and there's a scene where Sister Mary Clarence says to Rita, "If you wake up in the morning and all you can think about is singing, then you're a singer, girl!"
You may not always think you can do it, but if God has called you to
do something he will equip you with everything you need to do it. So
learn to trust Him and get on with it! 
Shell Perris will do [almost!] anything to tell young people about God. In 2002, she began working in the schools of Liverpool and then became a member of the all-girl pop band, tbc. She is now setting up an exciting new organisation called 'Something to Shout About' with a mission to do relevant and effective youth evangelism through music, media, discipleship and training. She is married to Tim and lives in Stockport, England.
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Without being funny, Shell, the modern expression of Christianity in the UK at the moment is promoting women being WAGS, just as long as it's a Christian they marry, and they help out with the Sunday school. In churches I've been to recently, looking at Christian websites and what is advertised in the modern Christian world, women are to be a certain stereotype, and it's quite similar in a lot of ways to what society says women should be.
Without meaning to be horrible, but you keep very much to mainstream fashion and what is seen as 'pretty', and your pose for the photo puts you across as a giggly girly girl with self-doubt. That's what I see when I look at your photo. It's what I see when I look at any photo of a woman published by any Christian organisation. Where is the diversity?
I don't follow mainstream fashion. When I do look more mainstream, I'm told by other Christians how 'pretty' I look. I look 'pretty' because I chose different clothes. I'm still the same person with the same face and same body, but I'm 'pretty' when I look more like other people.
Christians are still buying their young daughters dolls houses, dolls, fairy costumes, pink clothes and little kitchens to play in and play with, again, reinforcing that women are there to cook, clean and look after baby while looking pretty.
I was frowned on by people in a church I went to, including the leadership, because I knew my Bible, and I said when I didn't agree with the teaching. That is the sort of church where it's taught that women are not allowed to teach, preach and prophesy because "It's Biblical".
From what I've seen over the last few years, Christians are as guilty as anyone, maybe more so because we are supposed to know better and lift each person and their giftings up, in creating a vacuum in aspiration, especially amongst girls and young women.