Emma and I just got back from her horse show.
It was great Mother-Daughter fun, and this horse Mom was tired, but thankful for the time we had together.
Sometimes it's the funniest things that end up being the most fun on these kind of outings.
Ours was an hour long game of "A crazy Mom would..." in the car.
We came up with about 102 answers to that question, which kept me awake while driving, in conjunction with some not-so-bad gas station coffee, and made us laugh outloud.
But here's my best answer to that question.
A crazy Mom would put her little girl in pageants.
Have you seen this show "Toddlers and Tiaras" on TLC?
Our DVR was broken for a while, and without anything conveniently waiting for us, pre-recorded, I defaulted to TLC. I think that's what I watched before the DVR. That, and "Little House" recorded.
This is one of those, drop your jaw, are you kidding? shows.
Highlights: fake teeth for the little girls, fake hair, spray tanning, Halloween level of make-up, and the saddest part of all, swimsuit competitions. (They don't allow g-strings, they said on one of the shows, just because it's hard to pull off without the perfect body. I couldn't sleep that night.)
The whole thing is a not-so-distant cousin to pedophilia.
I don't think that would be most parents' intent, but what in the WORLD are they thinking, sexualizing their little girls like that?
And that led to an interesting discussion I had with my Mom.
She is teaching soon to her ladies about ways that we sexualize our children early on. I think this is something we need to be very aware of.
How are we doing this, in our culture, and in our own families?
The obvious would be to put make-up on your child, dress them up like a hoochie Mama and teach them to dance around suggesstively in front of a panel of judges to be scored based on their hoochie dancing abilities, their bodies, and their facial beauty.
(Is this not obvious to them!?)
But what are more subtle things that we might be doing with our daughters that have become so accepted in our culture that we aren't aware of it ourselves?
I'm trying to be especially aware of this in the area of clothing for my daughter.
Any thoughts, Moms? Dads? Everyone else?
(Oh, and anyone who is feeling the tiniest bit defensive for pageant Moms, please watch "Toddlers and Tiaras" and then get back to me. If you are willing to go to bat for these pageant parents, I would love to understand why! Let's talk!)
2 comments:
Okay, so June is just coming up on 4 months old, and we're already trying to be conscious of what she wears, especially when it comes to bathing suits. I've always wondered how it would be okay for kids to wear things that would be immodest for adults.
I think many people pass it off because their kids look so cute. But what are we training them to think?
Just something I've noticed we're more aware of now that we have our own little one to protect and raise to be a godly woman. Plus, a rash guard and a pair of board shorts are super cute, no matter what age!
Thanks!
Rachel
I totally agree with Rachel. Ricci and I have talked about this multiple times for future children.
Even though it may look "cute" to put little toddler girls in bikinis, at what age does it become immodest? And how do I explain that to my daughter then? "Well it was okay for you when you were a chunky little two year old, but now it's not because you're older." We've decided that we're just not ever going to encourage bikinis and things like that.
Also, speaking as a husband, it's way more attractive if Ricci wears a one-piece and shorts, or a rash guard and shorts if we go swimming because it means that she's making sure nobody else gets to see her like I do. And there's that whole athletic look thing. More importantly it means she's being Godly which is way hotter than follow the fashion trends of this world.
Post a Comment