Call Me the Clay

I don’t understand.  I try.  And I’m SURE it’s not because I’m getting old or I’m such a fuddy-duddy.  It’s not because I lack intelligence….because I am known for being smarter than the average bear!

But I heard on the news this morning about a mother who is injecting her own 8 year old daughter with Botox!  I can’t believe that our society is still so stupid.  Sorry – I know that’s not a nice thing to say – but this upsets me – greatly.

I remember the day in 1996 when little Jon Benet Ramsey was murdered.  And I remember when the media was flashing all of that little girls’ pageant pics every where.  I was appalled back then at how ‘grown up’ those people thought the girls in the pageants needed to be.  And here it is again.  This little 8 year old tells her mom that she sees wrinkles (which even the folks on the morning show I was watching believe them to be DIMPLES not wrinkles) on her little face.  So mommy goes out and purchases Botox (from an undisclosed source) and she injects dear pageant princess on a regular basis.  They’ve also tried waxing her little legs.  Why? Says the anchorwoman.  ‘Because I don’t feel that it is very lady-like to have hair on your legs’ says the little girl.  Good news – because of the pain….girl has decided not to do that again.

When they asked the mom about why in the world she would do such a thing.  Mom says ‘Other moms in the pageant do it too – we aren’t the only ones.  And if you want to be competitive you have to keep up.’

What kills me is that this is what the moms always say.  Or when asked about pushing their child into such pageants you hear ‘it’s what my child wants,’ or ‘she/he likes doing it’.  Guess what people – OF COURSE A CHILD IS GOING TO GO ALONG WITH WHAT THE PARENT WANTS…..THEY WANT TO PLEASE YOU!!!!!  And here’s another tip – they are too YOUNG to be able to make wise decisions about their lives!!!

People claim that pageants help give children self-confidence.  Really?  What I see is that they teach children to do anything and everything to be like everyone else or better if possible…..and that your worth is completely dependent on you LOOKS.  Sorry folks, but that is not REAL confidence.  God-forbid if someone would be in some sort of accident that disfigured them…..what would they do then?  Go into deep depression or possible kill themselves because they feel they aren’t worthy?

I personally believe that beauty pageants should become a thing of the past – and the self-esteem building events should be more about showing our young people how to be comfortable in their own skin/body.  Let’s focus on their skills and abilities and not superficial things that fade with time.  Let them show us what’s going on in those awesome brains of theirs and praise them for their imaginations and creativity.  Boost them up with POSITIVE things rather than being cut-throat about looks.

Okay….I will now step down from my soapbox.

                  Have a good evening, folks!