Nicole Kidman Becomes UN Goodwill Ambassador--No Joke!

According to AP:

Nicole Kidman has a new role - working to advance women's rights around the globe as a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. The Oscar-winning actress will work with the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM, on critical gender concerns such as ending violence against women.

Some years ago everyone wanted to have a pot bellied pig for a pet. Today, in Hollywood at least, everyone wants to be a United Nation's Goodwill Ambassador.

It appears that one of the qualifications for this position is that you must, 1. Be female; 2. Be a beautiful female; 3. Be a famous and wealthy actress, and; 4. Be willing to take all your clothes off and be seen totally naked by millions of people around the world.

Thus we have had Angelina Jolie and, as of yesterday, Nicole Kidman chosen for the honor.

Kidman, of course, has stripped to full-frontalhood in such films as "Birthday Girl," "Eyes Wide Shut" and, most recently, "Cold Mountain."

This experience, of course, has given her exemplary credibility on "Women's issues" and "gender concerns" around the world, particularly in Muslim countries and in most Third World countries, which are notoriously conservative and purient when it comes to public exhibition of female flesh.

Personally, I do not quite see how running around naked on movie screens around the world and playing a starring role as a tabloid sex symbol helps Nicole in being taken seriously as she presents her concerns over "violence against women."

I'm sure that she is a nice, sincere person who has a certain amount of passion for the needs of women. As a UN Ambassador I also have no doubt that she will be given many free trips to exotic places and be feted and wined and dined at embassies and government offices and noted five-star restaurants around the world.

There will also be, of course, the mandatory photo ops with victimized women in South-East Asia and Africa. How this will help these women is not exactly clear. Perhaps shaking hands or being hugged by Nicole will lift their spirits and inspire them to enter movie careers. Perhaps the blue jeans and pre-washed white shirts covered with a pre-worn light denim jacket will convince those who exploit these women to have a change of heart and become film directors in Hollywood.

Dearest Nicole: If you really want to address the issues of violence against women and honestly desire to raise their status in the eyes of world culture (and of men, in particular), the very best thing you could do would be to begin by addressing the debased, degrading and stereotypical image of women as sex objects in the Hollywood movie industry.

Say what you will....but until you renounce your own career and take on the industry that made you a celebrity, there will not be one man in the entire world who will take you seriously. Indeed, in many places you will need to be protected from men would would otherwise spit on you for your indecency. To much of the world you are a poster girl for the immoral depravity of so-called Western civilization. For you to go anywhere outside of the United States or your home country of Australia and point your finger in accusation of the abuse of women or the suppression of their "human rights" will generate nothing but disdain.

Your selection as a United Nation's Goodwill Ambassador for women's issues mocks the very subject for which you were chosen as a spokesperson.

The fact that the United Nations chose you also mocks what little sincerity, integrity and reputation remains in that thoroughly discredited institution of international corruption and self-service.

Where is Shirley Temple Black when we need her!