I have been itching to post something on this topic, and since Amy @ New Adventures In Dreamworld has spoken up, I figured now was as good a time as any.
I did not watch the story on "A Current Affair" relating to children Beauty Queens.
I saw the ad's, knew it was going to be on, but did not wish to watch it.
Even before I had children, I found the idea of Beauty Pageants for little girls disgusting.
The thought of paedophiles scares me.
The thought of people voluntarily providing them with what they deem as pornographic content is scarier.
I don't know about anyone else, but I vividly remember my childhood.
I enjoyed playing.
Using my imagination.
Getting dirty.
Getting cuddles from my Mum.
I enjoyed cartoons.
"Camping" in the loungeroom with my Mum & little brother on cold nights.
Thursday night Girl Guides with a Happy Meal for dinner so we weren't eating too late.
Singing Abba.
Going on nighttime "hoons" with my grandparents & Mum to count how many bunnies, boats & red taxi's we could see.
Not to mention I went to school, had an active little social life with friends/sports etc.
I can safely say I do not recall having one single boring day in my youth.
I may have, but if I did, I don't remember it.
Now, trying to imagine squeezing make-up, hairdressers, botox & pageants into my busy little life is incomprehendable.
I look back at my old photo's and see a happy, gawky child.
I look at photo's of my own children and see happy, smiling kids, who are not quite gawky, yet, but they have a natural happy air about them.
To me, that is more beautiful, than this:
Image oh-too-easily pinched from here
If I, who knows not much about technology can access pictures of this child,
imagine, if you will, how many perves can edit it, and sell it for their own gratificiation.
Sickening, isn't it?
This is quite possibly the ugliest thing I have seen.
I am aware she's just a little girl, and I am in no way attacking her, personally.
When I say this is the ugliest thing I have seen, I mean the fact she is dressed up like a Barbie is ugly.
The parents who do this to their children, are ugly.
The fact that this girl is younger than my baby sister,
and wears more make-up than I ever have as an adult, is ugly.
The thought that this little girl has probably had plastic surgery to fix some unknown blemish, is mortifying.
Fast forward a few years, and this girl will hit puberty.
Speaking from experience, that shit is tough.
Your body is changing.
You are growing taller,
Expanding everywhere.
The natural beauty of changing from a little girl into a woman,
for this child and several others,
has been tarnished already.
Her breasts will develop, and like all girls, one may appear larger than the other.
When my daughter goes through this awkward, wonderful, scary time of her life, I want to guide her.
Cuddle her.
Talk to her.
Tell her it's going to be okay, and when she is a woman, she will appreciate every curve, lump, bump, pimple.
And if any man is lucky enough to have the love of my daughter,
He will also appreciate every curve, lump, bump and pimple she has.
This little girl, and other's,
are being told at the age of 8, that they aren't perfect in every way already.
By their own mother's and father's.
By strangers who judge them like prize cattle.
Going over every inch of them like an animal.
I don't know about everyone else, but I was not offended by Barbie's shape.
I was not led to believe that real women looked like that.
Seriously, at the age of 8 when I had heaps of time to play with my Barbie's,
I was aware that she wasn't real.
She didn't even have a belly button!
I was raised by a real woman, around real women, who were beautiful to me because they were not only natural, but had kick arse personalities that made me love them more.
To mothers who push, pay, bitch, and extort your children in this way,
you are a disgrace.
My babies are perfect for who they are.
My daughter's nose is a little crooked.
Would I fix it with plastic surgery?
No, because it's a genetic trait she gets from her Daddy.
The birthmark she has on her side,
is an exact replica of mine.
To these mothers, they are imperfections.
To me, they are proof the babies I carried, nurture and love are mine.
Like every mother I believe my child is beautiful.
The difference between me and pageant mothers is, I do not need or want to change my children.
I do not care if people don't find my children to be adorable as they are.
At the end of the day, they are mine to love.
Mine to care about.
And if any other mother can not love their child "warts and all",
then they aren't very good mother's.
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