In this aspect, the demise of Love's riot-grrl image is a step backwards for American women. There is no longer a viable image of American femininity in the media other than these pre-pubescent teen idols. Even popular women singers like Sarah McLaughlin have declined in the ratings as their teeny-bopper counterparts have topped the charts. Where have all the strong women gone? Many have gone the way of Love, and frankly, it's all of our loss.

Without a strong woman superstar, even should she be characterized as a lesbian or a slut, many girls and women are left with only one dress size to try to squeeze themselves into. Not only that, but in crafting their success, many women are learning that the rebellion is over, it is all about playing the game. Where Love once clamored for women to change the rules, she is now playing the perfect hand.

Granted, women will always choose their own paths to success, and Love is not the only star to undergo multiple transformations, (Love has obviously taken her cues from Madonna, the pioneer of tactical image changes). What media icons like Love do is not so much craft American culture but indicate its general state. It's just that the state we are in now is dangerously one-sided in its images of femininity.

The fluctuations of popular culture are too many and too frequent to chart any certain path with accuracy. And certainly a singular case, such as Love's, is not itself an indicator of any major cultural shift. But the subtleties of American culture cannot be measured on a chart or by using statistical analysis, all we have are these anecdotes and career choices to look at and judge with. Our cult figures, our bad boys, our outcasts and our idols all tell us important things about ourselves and the culture we live in.

Women today should look carefully at the Courtney Love career trajectory and decide whether the path of assimilation isn't merely the path of least resistance. They must decide whether it is better to embrace a plurality of femininities instead. After all, even those who were never riot grrls want to discard the out-dated Barbie Doll stereotypes, changing the rules of the game once and for all.

Meredith B. Osborn '02, a Crimson editor, is a social studies concentrator in Leverett House.