Researcher: Girls need new role models

LONDON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A British researcher says that schoolgirls need new role models like the suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst and writer Virginia Woolf.

Jessica Ringrose of the Institute for Education in London suggested that Lisa Simpson, the feisty daughter on "The Simpsons," is a better role model than many current celebrities, The Daily Mail reported.

Ringrose said that she has found girls on social networking sites using names like "slut" and "whore." She believes that they are trying to model themselves on Paris Hilton and Britney Spears and believe that sexual attractiveness is a measure of their worth.

"If you look at the images and representations girls have to identify with, they are primarily defined through their bodies -- being thin, having fake boobs," Ringrose said.

Ringrose said that teachers should discuss feminism and feminist heroes like Pankhurst with their female students.