Keris Stainton's search for a young female role model...
Coleen McLoughlin. Coleen McLoughlin. What can I say about her? She came 10th in the list of the Top 10 role models I've mentioned before and she's certainly loved by the tabloids and chav mags alike, but why? What does she do? What's the point of her?
Obviously she's only become known in relation to a man (Manchester United and England footballer Wayne Rooney, in case you've been living under a rock), but even in 2007 the same can be said for a lot of women, unfortunately, so I can't really hold that against her.
But, in all fairness, Coleen doesn't actually work. She's a professional WAG, isn't she?
Well, no. She has agreed an exclusive two-year deal to host several programmes for ITV1 and ITV2. Her first project, Coleen's Real Women, will see her searching for amateur models to take part in high-profile photo shoots and fashion shows. Plus she's got her column in Closer (for which she apparently gets paid £100,000). Thanks also to a fitness DVD, a book, and various sponsorship deals, she's said to be worth over £6million in her own right.
Funnily enough, I do actually like her. She seems like a very sweet girl. I love how she's transformed herself from chavvy schoolgirl to fashion icon and apparently she does a lot of work for charity and is actively involved with caring for her younger sister who has a neurological disorder called Rett Syndrome.
One of the things that endears her to me is that she was with Wayne when he was just a bit of a thick Shrek-alike from Liverpool. Unlike most WAGs, Coleen couldn't be asked, "What first attracted you to the millionaire Wayne Rooney?" Although by the time she forgave him for sleeping with a prostitute, his star had risen and that may have been involved in her decision, but who knows?
So this leads me to a dilemma. Has Coleen made the best of what she's got (a boyfriend who's a footballer) and run with it to create a career for herself? Or is she just a waste of space who has only made the money and got the profile by virtue of having a boyfriend who's a footballer. Oh. That's actually the same question.
But then, as Rachel Cooke put it in a Guardian piece on the ubiquity of WAGs during last year's World Cup, "If feminism is about anything, it's about women making the most of whatever opportunities happen to come their way - and the Wags are nothing if not opportunist."
So is Coleen a feminist icon? I'd say no. But is she a harbinger of the end of civilisation? I'd say no to that too.
Keris co-edits Shiny Media’s fabulous women’s fiction blog, Trashionista and contributes to TV Scoop, The Bag Lady and Bridalwave. She spent a stupid amount of time laughing at Coleen's 21st birthday cakes on ebay.
