Are You Out of Your Mind?!

Clearly, there is a problem when I can no longer tell the difference between clothes for women and clothes for little girls. The line has become so blurred now what with 3 inch heels, mini skirts, short-shorts, string bikinis, and shirts baring midriffs made for kids being sold in stores and online. What's worse is that these things are actually being bought by parents!  You'd think you'd only see this stuff on that awful show Toddlers and Tiaras, but no, sadly that isn't the case. Why, just a couple of days ago while at the mall I saw a group of what looked to be 10-11 year old girls with their mother wearing shorts that barely covered their bottoms paired with belly exposing shirts with phrases like "OMG" and "Diva" printed across them. It really is unacceptable and I can't even begin to fathom what is going on in the heads of these parents who can't seem to distinguish what is and what isn't age appropriate for their young girls. How can they let their children even walk out of the house while looking that way? This is is really getting to be too much!




 Someone explain to me how this is okay:

If you're wondering, YES this is a child wearing these shoes.

Or this....

I can go on and keep showing everyone examples of inappropriate attire that I've come across, but I'll stop here. What's even more disturbing is that these aren't even the worst of the clothes being sold on the market. 

Please... If you have a child and let them wear stuff like this, you need to STEP UP AND START BEING A PARENT AND START CARING MORE ABOUT YOUR CHILD'S SAFETY!!!! (and for goodness sake, do NOT use the tired "it's the only thing I can find in stores for them!" excuse... that just means you aren't looking hard enough) You're really putting them in danger and also, no one wants to see your kid flaunting things that they don't even have. 

I Really Want To Smack Pageant Moms.....

Dads too. I know that that is a really awful thing to say, but it's true! I wouldn't be so mad if pageant parents didn't take it so far... I mean, it's fine to have your child participate in  one or two here or there, as long as the children don't have to have 50 pounds of makeup on their faces, fake tans, fake teeth, and hair that's twice the size of their head. Don't even get me started on the atrocious (and often too provocative) outfits they dress them in, either. -_-; I feel that if they are going to enter their child in a pageant, they should have them look like children, and not like miniature adults. It's seriously disturbing.

Another thing I find to be wrong about these types of pageants is that they are conveying the wrong message to these kids. It seems as if they're trying to say that in order to be beautiful, you need to look a certain type of way and that if you have to drastically change your features by artificial means in order to fit that image, do it. It really is heartbreaking that some of these little girls are saying that without all of their pageant makeup, clothes, and wigs, they don't feel beautiful. Can't the parents see what kind of damage they are doing? There daughters already are starting to have warped views on how they think they should look. 

Not only that, but it also is teaching these children to value looks above all else. I remember watching these young girls fixated on their reflections in the mirror and sassing their mothers and fathers in the Toddlers and Tiaras commercials on TLC, and I was appalled that their parents had done NOTHING about their child's behavior. I know that when I was a little girl, I would not be able to get away with that attitude. My mother had always taught me that while looking good may be nice, it is much better to have a beautiful heart and to be kind and respectful. I didn't see many (if any at all) of those pageant parents teaching their kids that. And they wonder why their kids don't listen to them or why they act  like stuck-up divas... It's really unbelievable.

Above all else, I wish that they would just let their kids be kids. You know, let them run around and play in dirt.... They shouldn't have to worry about getting messy or ruining their hair or losing weight to fit in their stage clothing. I feel really bad for them, since it seems like their childhood is being taken away from them... It's unfortunate....