Recently a CNN article regarding little girls dressing like tramps has been circulating all over the web. It's an interesting commentary about how girls as young as the age of eight are dressing as if they were prostitutes as corporations are sexing up clothing targeted to them. The author of the commentary is correct in laying blame squarely where it should lie with, the parents.But is that enough? Will simply calling out folks who dress their daughters as whores on the internet really going to change adults minds or is it just preaching to the choir? Does the author, and those who are sharing his piece with their Facebook friends, really think that someone who does let their child look like a teen idol in public are really going to change their ways?
I've often been told, mostly by parents, that you shouldn't criticize other people's paternal skills unless you yourself have crotchfruit. I find that completely ridiculous. I don't have access to nuclear weapons nor am I a police officer, but I should be allowed an opinion on the appropriate use of genocidal tools and law enforcement. Sure I've never been through the backbreaking work parents put themselves through, but it's clear to them that if I see an adult do something I deem stupid or reckless I should clam up and go about my day.
Too often we hear that stupid line that the childless should keep their mouths shut. Sure in some cases it's appropriate to keep your opinions yourself regarding the parenting of others, but when I see an eight year old girl dressed like a pole dancer should I just mind my own business? I mean the stripper industry does need a workforce and I'm all about good economics.
Seriously I'd hate to see a bunch of zealots run around and denounce parents in public for any action as it would lead to mob rule of parenting, something none of us want. Parents are free to make their own decisions, for good or for ill. No one should create a website called parentswhoraisestrippers.com with pictures of offending adults, although that would be comical. In the case of dressing little girls like hookers, well that's their right to excersize poor judgment. Sure they may have a daughter grow up to be one of loose morals, but there were plenty of them well before Bratz dolls and the like.
So I'll pose the question nobody is asking; if you're really offended by pre-teen girls showing too much skin, what exactly can or should you do about it?
"Yeah, that 8-year-old girl was something to see all right. ... I hope her parents are proud. Their daughter was the sexiest girl in the terminal, and she's not even in middle school yet." - LZ Granderson
Parents, don't dress your girls like tramps
4 comments:
the stripper industry does need a workforce
That's what Eastern European immigrants are for.
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer. My first reaction is to look at the parents-- how are they dressed?
Most parents are extremely defensive when it comes to the "job" they are doing. Unless their child is in eminent danger-- they don't want to hear a word from you on their actions.
A dress code, morals, etc. are subjective. What may be okay in one's eyes... may be an atrocity in another's.
I posted the article and I said, "Right on." But, I also wouldn't let my daughter even wear a bikini until she was at least 16. Some may find that over protective-- I call it not sexualizing my child.
My Mother always told me, "dress how you want to be perceived". Maybe that little 8-year old wanted to be perceived as a stripper.
It's fine to be disapproving, but I don't think it's something that calls for the intervention of a stranger. I also think the article is blowing the whole thing out of proportion - I don't think it's really that big of a trend or anything.
Once, shortly after I became a parent (of a boy, thankfully), I was with my wife in a mall and saw a girl of about 12 wearing the classic "naughty schoolgirl" outfit. I said to my wife, "If I were that girl's father, I wouldn't let her out of the house dressed like that." Then I stopped and said, "Did I really just say that?"
That's when I realized that becoming a parent changed me, drastically.
I guess this is where "dress codes" are a good idea IE no hot pants, mini skirts at school. Doesn't really help outside of the classroom though does it.
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