Our Daughters

The scene is a middle school auditorium, where girls in teams of three or four are bopping to pop songs at a student talent show. Not bopping, actually, but doing elaborately choreographed re-creations of music videos, in tiny skirts or tight shorts, with bare bellies, rouged cheeks and glittery eyes.

They proceed to dance in a way that I will not let my teenage sons see let alone allow participation from my middle school age daughter. Why do the parents, teachers, and school districts allow such activity to be displayed as a talent? They not only allow it, they encourage it. It required costumes, dance lessons, and permission from the school. What kind of talent were they trying to show? Lap dancing, pole dancing... Don't the adults surrounding this situation realize that this can't lead to anything good? These kinds of things are why I am glad that my children are happy homeschooling. The girls obviously worked hard at their "talent":

Their faces are locked from grim exertion, from all that leaping up and lying down without poles to hold onto.

It's a good thing their parents didn't see this toy before it was removed from the toy section. At the end of the editorial he says:

Suburban parents...allow the culture of boy-toy sexuality to bore unchecked into their little ones’ ears and eyeballs, displacing their nimble and growing brains and impoverishing the sense of wider possibilities in life. ...And it’s a cramped vision of girlhood that enshrines sexual allure as the best or only form of power and esteem.

The only way for this type of situation to be changed is for parents to do some parenting. We have to make the change by doing what we can to not allow our children to wear these types of clothes or dance or act in these ways. We can refuse to buy immodest clothing, refuse to pay for lessons to dance inappropriately, not allow inappropriate music to be played in our house, and encourage our daughters to see the beauty within. "Everyday Mommy" (on her blog) is trying to make a difference. She has come up with the Moms for Modesty Mission Statement to try to unite parents against stores and manufacturers that sell immodest clothing for children. It says:

Moms for Modesty Mission Statement

• As a Mom for Modesty I believe in common-sense modesty for girls and young women.
• I believe in refraining from sexualizing our girls and young women.
• I believe that it is unwise and unfair to taunt boys and young men by permitting my daughter(s) to dress in an immodest manner.
• I believe that true beauty comes from within and I strive to teach my daughter(s) this truth.
• I will loyally shop at retailers that provide girls' and young womens clothing that is modest, affordable and stylish.

If you agree with this click here and sign the petition, and add their button to your blog if you have one.