Remember this face?
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| Shaun Cassidy, heartthrob 1977 |
*sigh*
A huge Shaun Cassidy poster hung on my sister’s bedroom wall back in 1977. Even though I thought he was cute, my sister had claimed Shaun before me, so my adoration necessarily had to be suppressed. The job of a younger sister, after all, is make a separate, unique mark from her older siblings. So my crush was kept at bay. I’d also listened to the boys at school relentlessly tease girls who openly claimed an affinity for Shaun. It seemed safer just to keep quiet about my true feelings.
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| KC from KC and the Sunshine Band |
Around the same time, KC emerged on the scene. When my sister’s friend Susie went on vacation with us one summer, she bought the newest KC and the Sunshine band album, and to show our love for KC, Susie and I spent one evening taking turns kissing his album cover.
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| Justin Bieber, heartthrob 2011 |
These days, it’s Justin who makes the teen girls go wild. The sad thing about becoming wildly famous so early is that you’re sort of immortalized at that young age. My heart still goes pitter-patter when I see an old picture of Shaun Cassidy, but when I see a current-day picture of him, not so much. It’s the young Shaun whose image has been imprinted onto my brain.
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| O and M ready to leave for the Justin Bieber movie! |
This weekend, my daughter and her friends were fixated on Justin Bieber. Yes, it seems to be the beginning of love, though I’m not sure how they will divide him. Here, two of the girls (my daughter and her tall friend who is trying to even things out in this pose) were about ready to hop into a vehicle, driven by Daddy Troy, that would transport them to the theater to take in the newest Justin Bieber movie.
I asked my daughter in a text the next day what she thought of the movie. “Best two hours of my life!!!!!” she texted back, still expressing awe over the time she spent gazing at the big screen at the boy she most admires.
Recently, one of her teachers and I were talking about Bieber Fever. She brought something to my attention that I hadn’t considered before, noting that she views these teen crushes as “safe.” The girls get to express their adoration for a boy, but it’s a boy who is inaccessible. He’s real, but their chances of ever dating him are…well…fantasy.
Nevertheless, and despite the light teasing I’ve done with my daughter about her crush, I get it. Of course I do. I was 13 once, too. Besides, I see everything in its true light.
“Glad you had fun, but you’re more awesome than Justin Bieber any day,” I texted back.
“Impossible,” she texted back.
It’s true. Sure, he’s cute and famous and has a nice voice, but she’s my daughter, a precious jewel.
“There’s a Justin out there for you somewhere, waiting to meet you someday,” I wrote in another text. “Wait for him — it will be worth it.”
And I mean it. I really believe that if Justin Bieber were to meet my daughter, HE would be the lucky one.
So, I’m hoping someday her Justin will come into her life, at the right time. And not anytime too soon. For now, I suppose if dreaming about the real Justin Bieber keeps her distracted from looking for the wrong Justin too early, then there’s nothing wrong with a little innocent teen dreaming.
Q4U: What famous person made your heart go pitter-patter as a teen? What was it about him or her that made you melt?
Maybe I’m too old, but I don’t get the whole bieber thing. Actually maybe it’s just me, cause there has never been any rocks star of movie idol that I adored.
Should I try harder? :))
Tabitha, I didn’t get it at first either. I gave her a hard time for a while until I started getting into her head about it. And then a few things clicked in. But I was like you as a girl — never really totally ga-ga over the next coolest thing, except KC, perhaps, and I think that’s because it seemed like I should be. But later it sort of bothered me that I didn’t have huge affinities for famous people like others. Now, the people I most admire are those with a fervent passion for God 🙂
My 6-year-old calls him “Justin Beaver”! And she declared that she and Julia (the neighbor girl) no longer like him. Being the (too) easy to go with the flow kind of kid (peer pressure), I can tell you she’s never heard of him from me, but the influence of the older neighbor girls (sisters of Julia). See what happens when you let your children out! She’s never said anything about it again. Thank goodness! She’s not quite to the crush stage – in fact, she still thinks boys are yucky and refuses any interaction with them unless she has to in school. I’m okay with this of course. I was totally boy crazy by the 2nd grade with boys in my class and numerous celebrities, thanks to my older sister. She too loved Shaun Cassidy, but also Leif Garret, Donny Osmond, David Cassidy, I think I have a picture of her wearing Fonzie socks, and a few others I can’t remember. When I hit that phase, I had a huge crush on Tom Cruise – his posters lined my bedroom walls. And now, he’s kind of a nut job. There were a few others I recall some other posters I had, C.Thomas Howell for one, Rob Lowe, and if I dug deeper into the recessed crevices of my mind, I could think of more. Like you I harbored secret crushes on the ones my sister did, but she laid claim to them so I admired from afar. I don’t think my younger sisters, however, harbored similar crushes on my claims because they had their own set – New Kids on the Block started it all for them, I think.
LOL about you kissing the album cover. I think most girls go Ga-Ga because it’s fashionable. Once, Bobby asked if I had pics of rock stars in my bedroom when I was a girl. I said, “No, I wasn’t in love with rock stars. That was my sister, Nancy. Her room was wall-papered with all the stars of the 80’s.” He asked, “So, what did you have on your walls, Mom, horses?” I said, “Yes, how did you know?” He said, “There’s two kinds of girls, those who are in love with rock stars and those who love horses.” Guess I’m a horsey girl. I’d date a cowboy – as long as he brought his horse!
Lori, I love it! Great reflection. And Mary, yours too, and it rings true for us. Older sister is the one going crazy, little sister is going, Huh? And prefers, you got it, horses. So…we are sort of figuring this out — it seems to be the older sisters who need to attach themselves most fervently to a teen heartthrob. Interesting!
Oh, Roxane! I was totally in love with Shaun Cassidy as a girl. I had all of his albums and watched The Hardy Boys faithfully. However, if he ever kissed a girl on Hardy Boys I would cry myself to sleep. I had it pretty bad! 🙂
Oh Shaun Cassidy for sure- I even had the same poster I am sure! There also may have been a little Donny Osmond worship on my part, but I was a little young even then 🙂
My son gets referred to as Justin Bieber on occasion because of his hair cut 🙂
Such a fun post Roxane!
Horses..I really liked them much better than boys..I agree with Mary A. Horses cannot break your hearts..only your arm or your leg..and those are repairable.
There was a cowboy called Stoney Burke ( Jack Lord) who I drooled over..later he became famous in Hawaii 5-0..now he was a looker.
The “little” girls looks so cute..love the boots!:)
I found this page after doing a search for K.C. – who was cuuuuuuute! Now? Not so much. lol!
I actually met Shaun Cassidy in the 70s at a charity event. VERY nice guy while signing autographs. I had a t-shirt that read ‘I’m in love with…’ with various male names. He said, “My name’s not on it.” I sassily replied, “You have a pen” and he signed my shirt. : )