More Rantings from the Teenage Mind

Yesterday my sister and me saw an interesting commercial for a new episode of 20/20 that talked about sixteen year olds sailing the world, children growing up with the Westbero Baptist Church, child pageants, and a soldier's dog from Iraq sent home to his family after he died. And yes, in that order.

I'm not kidding. Apparently there are teenagers who wish to sail the world by themselves at that young of an age. Crazy? Yes. And they had their parents' consent knowing the risks of months of isolation in the dangerous ocean. They even showed a video of one guy completely terrified for his life. Is it complete irresponsibility of the parents? Yes and no. Yes because a sixteen year old really shouldn't be doing such a dangerous adventure such as sailing the world on their own. No because the parents know the risks and so do their child so it's not like they didn't give a thought about it before their child set sail on the ocean. I mean if I was in that position I wouldn't allow it. It's really risky and I wouldn't do it at all.

Westbero Baptist Church. I'm sure everyone's familiar with these nut heads. What's the worst part of it? When children probably as young as two or three become a part of it. It's almost scary to hear them spout out hate at such a young age and a high chance likely says they really have no idea that what they're being taught is wrong. Because they're so young they'll assume everything their parents say is right despite the fact that they participate in protests that end in violence. These kids don't really know what they say until they finally have minds to think for themselves. And when they speak against these beliefs, they're rejected by their own loved ones. What's sad is that this is true for a young woman who spoke against the church and was kicked out of her own family who didn't seem impacted for banishing their own daughter who now lives a thousand miles away unable to see her growing siblings.

I hate how they're against everything. They hate homosexuality, Jews, people in the army, and America. I mean if you hate the country you're living in so much why don't you live somewhere else? And if God hates us so much then why are we still here? And if he hates Jews so much then does that mean he hates his own son, Jesus who was a Jew? Without Judaism, Christianity wouldn't exist. With the exception of the belief that Jesus is the Messiah, they're the same thing. I don't know why people have to make such a huge deal about it. What's the most irritating about these people is that they protest at funerals for people who supported homosexuality and soldiers who died in the army basically saying "Good riddance". My step-brother's in the Air Force and if he were to die in action, I would never ever stand for people protesting at his funeral. It's totally disrespectful and stupid. And do homosexual people go to hell? Of course not. I mean if you don't like the idea of two men or two women being together, fine. Quit being so overcritical over it.

Y'know everything would probably be better if everyone was Buddhist. It's not a religion, but a philosophy on how to live your life. It's nice and peaceful and there's no deities (Well save for Chinese Buddhism). It's the same peaceful teachings of other religions and there's no hate. I learned this stuff cause my sister's Christian and Buddhist and I listen to what Buddhism teaches.

Anyway...

So I've done my fair share of rantings about child pageants. I think many people realize how stupid it is to doll up your child past a certain extent. I mean it may be cute once in a while if it's at a moderate level but you go out of bounds when you dress up your kid like the hooker from Pretty Woman. It's even outside the catwalk and in real life. Clothing stores for children sell really questionable clothing, including padded bras for seven year olds. What seven year old wants boobs?? When I was seven all I wore was jeans and graphic shirts! Childhood's shifted a lot since I was young. There are even girls in salons as young as ten and eleven getting their eyebrows plucked and getting bikini waxes!! What eleven year old has that huge amount of raging hormones that they need a bikini wax?? What's even worse is the French Vogue magazines that display girls in lingerie. Sure French Vogue is a really messed up magazine but it's rather disturbing to see girls that young dress three or four times their actual age. I mean are you just opening these kids up for pedophiles to, oh I dunno, kidnap/rape/kill?? Do people like this actually understand that there are creeps like that in the 21st century? Clearly not. I don't have a problem with dressing up your girls to look cute but there's a word to not make your kids look like they're adults. It's called moderation.

Sigh.... Finally got all of that out.

XOXO,

Liz

Should Toddlers be in Tiaras?

Most of us would answer no. But there are moms who dress up their little girls and put them in pageants. And of course the famous (or infamous) show Toddlers and Tiaras gives us a view of what these little girls go through preparing for these pageants.

I've seen this TV show too many times to get that what these moms do to their kids is insane.

In the most recent episode I saw, there was a woman with a three year old who was completely disrespectful to her mom and hitting and screaming at her. But the mom didn't do anything about it and just let it happen. And during pageant practice whenever the girl did well at something the mom would award her with sugar cubes. Is your kid a horse? Cause it sure looks like it. But I mean if I were this mom I wouldn't take the behavior that kid would give me. I see a lot of moms on this show who don't really have control of their children's behavior and that's not exactly good parenting if you can't set up boundaries for your kids and suck it up and say no to them when they misbehave.

There was also another woman who was just yelling at her kid and scolding her over stupid stuff and forcing her into pageants. When she went on the stage, the lady announcing said, "So and so says thanks to her mom for fulfilling her dream in being in a pageant." All I thought was bullcrap. Earlier in the episode this girl said that she wanted to be in the US Olympics gymnastics team. No where in that did she say anything about being in pageants as a dream. And this girl's really talented and she's seven years old, but her mom complained that she had too much muscle in her arms so she made her quit.

So is it me or did most of these moms have crappy childhoods and making it up for it with their girls? They practically make their kids do this kind of stuff unless the child wants to do it and they just throw away hundreds of dollars for dresses, hair pieces and all that crap. And then they make their kids practice their catwalks and talent routines to win ten thousand dollars. I mean, women can be more than stay at home moms so get off your butt and get a job so you'll be able to pay your bills and not magically get money from wherever.

It's really crazy what will be done to the girls to make them "pretty". Not only do parents waste money on dresses but they get their kid's eyebrows plucked and waxed, give them spray tans, and give them flippers for their teeth. For anyone who just got confused by the word flippers, they are dentures for kids and are used in pageants when a girl's lost baby teeth or has crooked teeth. And it's pretty obvious when someone has them on and it just doesn't look attractive.

This stuff does more damage to the kids other than their behavior. A lot of these moms put down their kids whenever they mess up on their routines; even on the slightest mistakes that seem to get noticed. That really affects the self-esteem of their girls. And girls who pursue like modeling careers or something will feel like they aren't pretty and may get bulimia or anorexia so they'll be "pretty".

And some of the outfits these girls are dressed up in a bit provocative for their ages. I mean, I know audiences at beauty pageants are small but doesn't anyone think that there may be the slightest chance a pedophile might be in the audience? Who remembers the 7 year old girls going hard on Single Ladies video? Those girls can dance very well for their age but a lot of their moves were very inappropriate for their age and they just wore such revealing outfits too.

I was in dance for years since I was little and we always wore costumes that weren't too revealing and did dances that weren't provocative. Even those rules applied to the older kids. Cause you never know when in one of our competitions or end of the year performances there may be a pedophile in the audience. I get kinda irritated when I think of this when I see all these girls dressed up like Barbie dolls.

So anyone thinking of putting their kids in pageants for extra money, forget it. Just give them as normal as a childhood as you can.

XOXO,
Liz