Why Cher Should Be Our Role Model - Opinion

Cher's handling of age

'Happy 113th birthday!' scoffs one of the photos of the pop icon. 'Imagine you're so lonely that you let a guy half your age buy you a ring,' blasphemed another. 'It's just weird.' To many, Cher seems to be just that: an old woman struggling with aging, with nothing real about her anymore. Cher stands by cosmetic procedures. Why not?! And anyone who has seen Cher live in action knows that she is more than plastic: a lot of work goes into Cher's body.

In 2019 I was with a friend at a concert by the singer in Cologne and we were both really amazed at the energy the 73-year-old showed at the time, or rather the evening. 'She's got better legs than me,' my girlfriend exclaimed. Incidentally, she was 28 at the time. Grabbed by the drive of the extraordinary concert, we danced the night away. 'I've worked my whole life to keep my body strong. There are 20-year-old girls who can't do what I can,' Cher said confidently two years ago in an interview with the British 'Guardian.' There's probably something to it.

I remember well how Cher was at 2013 Markus Lanz (53) on the 'Wetten dass ..?!' couch openly stated what she thinks of aging: nothing. A refreshingly open approach to the subject, which is linked to the concern of losing control over one's own body and one's own life.

To live long is great happiness; being able to do it on your own terms is priceless. Self-determination is the magic word and this is exactly where we should see the artist as the icon she is.

Cher revolutionized fashion

The 76-year-old has always been ahead of her time, decades before one Lady Gaga (36) with bizarre ham outfits or Rihanna (36) could shock with bare breasts on the red carpet. before Madonna (64)! Her see-through dress from the red carpet at the 1974 MET Gala in New York City is unforgettable. Or the touch of nothing, in which she received her Oscar for best actress in 1988. Her outfit in the 1989 music video for 'If I Could Turn Back Time' caused MTV to ban the clip to its evening schedule after protests.

If she could turn back time again, I'm sure Cher would do it in a heartbeat. When she in 2017 - at least 71 years! – recreated her signature look from that music video, fans and press were amazed again. Cher set new standards, ultimately paving the way for generations to come—and making old age look old.

Cher's music has moved so much

Since her first song almost sixty years ago ('I Got You Babe' with her then-husband Sonny Bono, 1965), Cher has changed the style of her work as well as her outfits. From folkloric pop ('Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down', 1966) to disco sounds ('Take Me Home', 1979) and rock ('Just Like Jessie James', 1989), everything was there. My tip: listen to 'Hell On Wheels' from 1979 and get a self-confidence boost.

Long before #MeToo and open dealings with discrimination, it was Cher who sang with 'Half-Breed' in 1973 about the marginalization she experienced as the daughter of a white father and a mother with Cherokee roots. Translated, she sings in the number 1 hit: 'Half-Blood, that was all I ever heard // Half-Blood, how I learned to hate the word // Both sides have been against me since the day I was born'.

In 1998 she set another milestone in music history with her world hit 'Believe'. Not only was she voted the most played artist in discos and clubs at the age of 52. There was much gossip about their use of the then new 'Auto-Tune'. In retrospect, she was a pioneer, and numerous artists used the effect in the years that followed – to this day.

your confidence

The 76-year-old is often described as the 'Goddess of Pop'. Her actions are credited with the beginning of female independence and self-realization in showbiz. Her answer to her statement is famous Mutter Georgia Holt († 96), she should marry a rich man: 'Mother, I am a rich man.'

Of course, even an icon is not perfect. But is it really a mistake to share the happiness of a new love ? 'Are you still desperate in your old age?' Asked a follower on Twitter spitefully about the couple photos. Another writes of 'spoiled, selfish and childish attention grabbing' and accuses the 76-year-old of mourning 'her lost youth'. Cher doesn't care for such comments . In November, she brushed them off with a simple comment on The Kelly Clarkson Show. 'It looks kinda ridiculous on paper,' she joked. 'But in real life, we get along great.' And that's what it's all about, isn't it?

role model for everyone

Want more arguments why we should all learn from Cher? In any case, I begrudge her her success and her new love. You go girl!