Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Autumn Miller

levite · 05-24-2010, 07:43 PM

Um....

I'm sorry, but...this is creepy.

Some of you know, I am really pretty liberal in my views about raising children, healthy freedoms of sexual expression in pretty much everyone, and not getting sucked in to Big Brother's fearfest that pedophiles are lurking behind every corner....

But this just strikes me as creepy. I don't know, maybe these kids really are innocent enough not to know the significance of what they're doing beyond just "dance moves." I kind of doubt it, given the media saturation of our culture. But anything is possible. But WTF is the matter with their parents?!

I have no problem with the idea of kids being curious about sexuality, or even beginning to explore their own sexuality in the ways we all did, sooner or later, in our childhoods. I think it's natural and healthy. And I am all for parents being understanding and respectful of kids doing so. But that is just a far cry from tarting your eight-year-old up in Grade A kinderslut wear and letting her do nasty ass Britney Spears bootyshaking in front of an audience and a videocamera.

I'm not saying it's a pedo's smorgasbord, although the argument could be made. I'm just saying it is improper, and creepy, and helps no one: not the adults who have no problem watching oversexualized little girls working it onstage, not the little girls who will now think this kind of gyrating and shaking their ass in front of people while half-naked is a great way to get approval from figures of authority and family members, and not a society that just refuses to let kids be. If they feel interested in sexuality, fine. If not, let's not foist it on them in the disguise of cheerleading or dancing.

I swear to God, I am not usually at all so prim and tightassed. I really hope I will one day be the kind of dad that an adolescent daughter can come to and ask questions about sex and boys (or girls), who will make sure his teenage daughter has birth control and regular ob/gyn visits, who will be genially tolerant and gently supervisorial of his teenage daughter's experiments with alcohol or weed. And if my little girl wants to hop naked into our pool, or wear a very small (but not kinderslutty) swimsuit, or experiment with a little lip gloss or something, I hope I will be Chill Dad. But I would never let a child of mine do this, I am sorry.

05-24-2010, 07:43 PM	#18 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	Um.... I'm sorry, but...this is creepy. Some of you know, I am really pretty liberal in my views about raising children, healthy freedoms of sexual expression in pretty much everyone, and not getting sucked in to Big Brother's fearfest that pedophiles are lurking behind every corner.... But this just strikes me as creepy. I don't know, maybe these kids really are innocent enough not to know the significance of what they're doing beyond just "dance moves." I kind of doubt it, given the media saturation of our culture. But anything is possible. But WTF is the matter with their parents?! I have no problem with the idea of kids being curious about sexuality, or even beginning to explore their own sexuality in the ways we all did, sooner or later, in our childhoods. I think it's natural and healthy. And I am all for parents being understanding and respectful of kids doing so. But that is just a far cry from tarting your eight-year-old up in Grade A kinderslut wear and letting her do nasty ass Britney Spears bootyshaking in front of an audience and a videocamera. I'm not saying it's a pedo's smorgasbord, although the argument could be made. I'm just saying it is improper, and creepy, and helps no one: not the adults who have no problem watching oversexualized little girls working it onstage, not the little girls who will now think this kind of gyrating and shaking their ass in front of people while half-naked is a great way to get approval from figures of authority and family members, and not a society that just refuses to let kids be. If they feel interested in sexuality, fine. If not, let's not foist it on them in the disguise of cheerleading or dancing. I swear to God, I am not usually at all so prim and tightassed. I really hope I will one day be the kind of dad that an adolescent daughter can come to and ask questions about sex and boys (or girls), who will make sure his teenage daughter has birth control and regular ob/gyn visits, who will be genially tolerant and gently supervisorial of his teenage daughter's experiments with alcohol or weed. And if my little girl wants to hop naked into our pool, or wear a very small (but not kinderslutty) swimsuit, or experiment with a little lip gloss or something, I hope I will be Chill Dad. But I would never let a child of mine do this, I am sorry. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)