Blinging up Baby

purpledaffodil I saw that prom article too in the Surrey Advertiser. The parents were very defensive at any criticism saying the kids loved it and it did not steal the thunder of older kids. My argument is what have they got to look forward to if they have already done this at 4! Forced into mini adulthood by thoughtless parents.
Re the beauty pageants: they are awful and whilst the kids may ask for spray tans etc. parents can always say no! My DGD (aged 8) loves to faff about with nail varnish etc but she knows it is for dressing up & playing and not for real life!

DD had to be forced into a dress when she was little, her 7 year old son is currently going shopping in his magician's robe - or dress, depending on your point of view and his 18 month old brother always expects to have some of my powder and lippy on before we go out. No gender stereotyping in OUR family

Nowadays DD can look stunning when she chooses, but I'm still more impressed by her PhD.

Bit of a shock to the system to find myself agreeing with every word Liz Jones writes! It's just so depressing that girls seem to be setting their sights lower and lower and then lower again for their own daughters.

I also saw a part of "This Morning" programme and saw the wardrobe of one of the children. It must have cost a fortune and they grow out of clothes so quickly. Where do the mothers acquire the money to pay for all of this?

I could not believe that hair extensions attached to hair combs were also used-incredible. I also do not think that babies should have their ears pierced- maybe I am old fashioned? I part blame the programme makers for showing this rubbish.

I think little girls have always tried on their mother's clothes, I remember doing it, and faffing around with lipstick etc., but this is something quite different, aside from the child being dressed like a mini Barbi doll, it's the subliminal message implanted in a young impressionable mind.

I should have said tried on shoes not clothes.

It's the tip of the iceberg. Glamour, dancing, skating and all things competitive.
I am not against healthy competition, but what's healthy in my mind isn't necessarily the same as what's in many a mum's mind. Given that there is over half a centenary between me and today's youth, I am a bit out of touch.
Just thankful that my grandkids are outdoor players!

she didn't spray tan her daughter on a regular basis; she just asked to use it once

she never actually made the little girl do anything against her will.

Grrrr - how would a very young girl even know about spray tans and what effect they can have on appearance if it wasn't put into the child's head? Why couldn't her mother have simply said 'no, you are too young to wear spray tan'? As for not making her do anything against her will, would the little girl have even have thought of dressing up to that extent and parading around ready to be judged if she is superior/inferior to other little girls if her mother hadn't put the ideas into her head?

Is it any worse than men who encourage their sons to be very macho?

Most women don't fanticise over young boys who are macho though and you don't see 4 or 5 year old boys being encouraged to lift weights.

(Comments not aimed directly at you Tegan but more at points that you raised.)

I felt sorry for the mother when she was on This Morning. I got the feeling she hadn't realised the way the programme makers were going to approach it and she seemed to be feeling quite victimised. It surprised me, feeling that way, because it's so alien to the way I feel children should be brought up.Mind you, I do need to watch the programme itself. I found the other lady [the one who dressed her toddler in tutus etc] very irritating, though. On the Australia programme with John Bishop there were men who encouraged their young sons to ride in rodeos and John Bishop was, understandably, horrified.

I'd be horrified to see young boys riding in rodeos! I just wish some parents would let children be children, it's such a brief period of their lives and I hate to see it taken away by rushing them into adulthood ideologies.

HollyDaze - my thoughts and feelings too.
I watched the programme and was horrified, though we have a neighbour who dresses her little girl in a similar way, not so extreme.
So I knew the fashion exists.
I sometimes think that since babies are now being born by choice, instead of by chance, they are regarded more like objects, material possessions, than as a human extensions of their parents.

I agree; some are like fashion accessories. It all began [I think] when someone in a girl band got pregnant [was it All Saints?] and baby bumps became 'fashionable'. Which then led to the cult of 'I've just had a baby and got my figure back within five minutes' [although I have been told that a lot of 'celebs' pencil in a day for their baby to be born and have work done at the same time; not sure how true that is but the source was quite reliable]. The next step was then dressing the children which created a market for the clothes. I think it might have been the rodeo item that made me think 'well, wearing daft dresses isn't the worst thing in the world that you can do to a child'.

It's not just wearing daft dresses, though. It's a whole culture of having to dress & make-up & act a certain way in order to win approval.
Even for little girls who are nowhere near a pageant, like TriciaF's neighbour, this is being instilled in them.
It is insidiously undermining the progress of women in society by seeming, to some people, to be an attractive, enjoyable way to be.
Banning pageants would at least be a step towards saying that this is not an acceptable attitude to have towards females, in particular very young females.

I think ear piecing is a cultural thing in many places including Mediterranean europe and i am not so bothered by that. View is less likely to go manky as baby less likely to fiddle with ear studs as a tiny!

I am always disappointed when I take DGDs shopping at what's on offer but pleased that they are generally drawn to 'practical' clothes and not fluffy nonsense. Comes from having a mum who refused skirts for years and is a great charity shop bargain hunter! As of course was their grandmother!

Speaking as a person who firmly believes that the most important thing is one's personality and that looks come way down the list I suppose I should be a bit worried about my own clothes and make up addiction. The thing is that I've never been trying to conform to an accepted standard, I've spent a lot of time creating an image, but not cared what anyone else thought of it. My poor mother spent years trying to get me to have my ears pierced but I always looked on it as a sort of mutilation. Then when I was about 30 I suddenly got them done and I've worn earrings ever since. My daughter's were pierced when she was about 10 I think.

As far as my children were concerned I dressed them for what ever they were doing - which was mainly scrambling around in the fields or on the beach wearing the oldest clothes they'd got!

DH and I watched this programme tonight and we thought it was toe curling. The amount of money spent on dresses was ridiculous considering two of the mothers did not work.
There was no talk of education but just the hope that they might be a celebrity.
IMO they are spoiling any chance these children have of a normal childhood.

Someone commented that it's no worse than boys being encouraged to be macho. In a way, that's right.
The difference, tho, is that the boys are being encouraged to act powerfully while the girls are being encouraged to alter themselves to gain approval from others.