The two things are not related ~ except for one rather disturbing fact; they are symptomatic [to me] of adults who do not wish to grow up & behave like adults.
Do you remember [you may if you are as old as I am] when there was this really clearly demarcation line between adults & children? Short shorts for the boys, short skirts for the girls. Only men wore long trousers; women wore longer skirts. And stockings. I loathe stockings but that's beside the point. Adults got to stay up late & do interesting adult things like drink coffee & the after dinner port. Adults also did boring adult things like pay the bills & watch the news. Cartoons were for children. Not that I was ever real big on cartoons. I have serious issues with Tweetie~pie & wish that to put us all out of our misery Sylvester just got to eat him!
Now if ma wants to squeeze her size 16 figure into her daughter's size 8 jeans & pretend she's not lamb dressed up as mutton that's one thing. If she looks foolish there's a lot of it going round these days. As Rabbie Burns so happily put it, O wad some Power the giftie gie us,/To see oursels as ithers see us!
Adult cartoons, on the other hand, are another matter entirely. Starting with the Simpsons ~ which promptly got banned in this house, & is still banned to this day along with South Park, Family Guy, Ren & Stimpy, & all the others that followed along in their wake because, despite the packaging which appeals to most children, these are not children's cartoons. The humour is adult. The language is adult. The innuendos are adult. There is a lot of highly questionable content & context. That so many children watch these things surprises me not at all. That so many adults do I find more than a little disturbing. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I felt as a child, I thought as a child: now that I am become a man, I have put away childish things. Corinthians. The dumbing down of adults?
Put it down to taste. After all I don't like Monty Python either. I get him, I just don't like him. However there is an even more disturbing aspect to this ~ one of which I was blissfully unaware until fairly recently & one I would have happily remained blissfully unaware of; one, that for me, goes hand in hand with the deeply disturbing trend of dressing tiny little girls as down town tramps. Is that too harsh? I don't think so. If it dresses like a hooker, walks like a hooker, talks like a hooker I can be mistaken for thinking it is a hooker, yes?
So being rather unworldly & extraordinarily naive I had never heard of a *Brazilian Wax*. I had to look it up. Oh. My. Then some. Um, someone please explain to me why it is that grown women want to look like little girls? And what is wrong with the men who want their women looking pre~pubescent? Seriously. We have an epidemic of paedophilia in this country yet fail to celebrate women who look like women were meant to look, the way God meant women to look. This appalls me. I find it deeply, deeply disturbing. Children are children. They are not small adults. Adults are grown men & women who should act like adults rather than out of control teenagers with a hormonal imbalance.
And just recently, because I allow Star to get back issues of Dolly from the library [because no~one in this house knows the first thing about make~up & there are certain things she needs to know I can't help her with] there was a whole article on this. For teen girls. My head is spinning. For me me this crosses so many lines that shouldn't be crossed: the sexualising of our children; the babying of grown women; training our men in inappropriate ways.
Ok, I'm done. What do you think?
17 comments:
First, adult cartoons programs are banned here as well. Although not banned, per se, we do not watch children's cartoons either, except for Veggie Tales. The Princess has no clue about Saturday morning cartoons to this day and, unlike Tom and Jerry of my day, modern cartoons have way too much political propaganda.
I live in the south were children beauty pageants are more popular than I wish they were. I am not against a child using his or her talents in a show nor against the use of makeup when on stage, but these beauty contests for little children are horrible. I do not understand why any mother would do such a thing.
LOL Dolly wasn't quite so blunt back when I was a kid... waxing wasn't specially discussed. Mostly dopey tips not to go shopping with your Mum or you will "look like a dag." :)
I am so with you on this one! There are many times when I am out shopping for my children and I see the clothing being marketed as "children's" and I shudder! This "trend" makes it increasingly difficult for me to teach my children to respect a woman, and to not see them as "objects of affection" but rather as people that need to be respected. As you said, it's no wonder we have the problems we do with pedophilia because we are inviting it in with the temptation of the clothing alone!
As for the cartoons, they were all banned from my home when I was a child (well simpsons and south park, the others weren't around yet I don't think) and that ban has continued. I figure if my Daddy didn't think they were good enough for his little girl, then I certainly don't find them acceptable for my children! Daddy may not have raised me in a Christian home, but he certainly raised me with morals and values, and those just don't fit the bill. I do allow my children some cartoons, but they have to meet certain standards.
Even dolly was quite detailed for me, be careful of those advice coloumns especially. Hubby has been thinking ahead on this topic just recently and saw this in a catalogue 'Makeup Makeovers' by Robert Jones http://www.portico.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=13412&osCsid=4715da810e28af76081416a7d513ba53. Your local library has a copy (i do miss their up to date variety of books lol) so maybe order it in and have a look.
So glad to see you are recovered, Ganeida!
Seeking: While disliking beauty pageants personally I can see, that if done well, they teach certain useful skills: poise in social situations; the ability to articulate an idea; the ability to move gracefully & with a certain pizazz. Not sure small children are that capable of these things but I guess that's the general idea.
I guess I am finding the blurring of acceptable boundaries between adults & children upsetting. No grown woman looks like a small child & to deliberatly emulate that in any way, shape or form I find quite horrifying ~ especially given certain personal history I know you are aware of.
HEM: No, I don't remember Dolly being quite so quite so either. lol Mostly it's just silly. Star is always wanting to show me the fashions & the hair. I'm pretty sure she doen't read much of it because, well, it's silly. lol
Birbitt: I get satire & irony delights me ~ but it is adult humour ~ & not all adults get it either.
When the Sydney olympics were on channel 7 put on this late night show called [I think] The Dream ~ or something, which was a send up of the day's olympiad. It went to air in America & sad to say the Americans had to have it explained to them. If something is that far over your head it should trigger warning bells & that's how I feel about these cartoons. If you have to explain they shouldn't be watching.
LLL: thanks. Will check the link.
Ruby: You reckon? Watch out, girl, I'm feeling particularly snarky just now. Lack of sunshine, maybe?
I'm with you about older women wearing clothes that are designed for a 20 year olds -the tight jeans, skimpy tops, plunging necklines and makeup that is caked on. Do they thing they look beautiful. Instead them took cheap and trashy. Then again we have young teenagers dressed cheap and nasty and looking much older than they are. And little girls dresses in "sexy" outfits, now I find that very disturbing.
Don't watch those adult cartons, never have, however my sons have from time to time but they don't anymore, probably outgrown them.
So totally agree! We only watch Veggie Tales and a few others particularly marketed for pre-schoolers like Maisy. I was never allowed to watch the Simpsons or South Park or any of them and still don't. I do, rather detest them. What especially offends me is how so many of our youth leaders at church watch Family Guy and think nothing of quoting it on FB. That is one of the most disgusting shows ever and so FAR from where their heads should be as church youth leaders. We also don't do most fashion for kids--we are very particular that they should like toddlers when they are toddlers and not mini-women. We don't do bikini swimsuits, even on a toddler, because we see it as a sexualized piece of clothing. I'm probably a little bit extreme in some ways and maybe not in others--but I totally agree that children should be children and adults should be adults. The boundaries have become far too blurry.
Jo: adults are free to run their own risks in how they portray themselves. Children lack discernment & need to be protected till they develop some protective armour. When we blur the lines we remove some of that protection.
Bonnie: Sing to me, sistah. Rashies & boardies for all mine. The girls sometimes wear a bikini undernearth but that is *underwear* & not for public display. There has been trouble at public venues like Southbank with adults, children & cameras.
The point about youth leaders is a good one ~ but this is a Holy Spirit issue. One cannot force another's spiritual growth ~ nor is it a good idea to try & attempt to do so. Scripture speaks clearly about our leaders being *mature* ~ & married! How they run their own household is a good indicator of how they will manage the church. By their fruits... I shouldn't start. So much of standard church structure is unacceptable in my eyes for being non scriptual & my views can be offensive so I just shouldn't start. Where are the leaders after God's own heart, as David was? Not pot~shotting at you, BTW. Just a fairly vague & general statement. ♥
Rant away, Ganeida. I couldn't agree with you more. The word "heartbreaking" doesn't even come close to what is happening with young people. I comfort myself by rehearsing God's bigness and goodness and willingness to step in and show Himself glorious if we would but pray. Thank you for your rant. :) God bless you today...
Julie: One problem with the shows is they grow a callous over the heart which makes it so much harder to reach people for Christ. The other I just don't get at all. We do not have a very realistic view of how our bodies change. I have been fascinated to see how like the Sheila na gighs of the old Celtic areas my body has become as I age. They had a realist view of the female body & celebrated that ~ unlike 21st century women! lol
I think the worst of it all is making our little girls 'sexy' in the media with their clothing and such. Another perk of home schooling-mine truly have no idea about many of the styles and brands out there..lol.Ha! Good thing too, as we could never afford any of it.
I also think we must embrace the aging process gracefully for what it is-for what God intended it to be. I find that as of late, I am being called further down the path of dressing simply and have been surprised to see that without mention of it, my daughters have asked for a few plain skirts and jumpers as well. I stink at sewing, so have ordered some from Katie's Mercantile.
I'm with you on this one! we can't stand those cartoons! as for the dressing part, yea that's a whole nother world that I'm discovering as my dd grows up:( mind you even though I'm no fashionista and dress very plainly she seems to somehow know what's in fashion and not!!! hmmm....parenting keeps me dependent on God for wisdom each day:)
Trying again with this comment... trimmed a bit...
Years ago I saw, and it has remained with me, a TV programme about some place in rural Africa where the people all ate cassava. To prepare it involved grating it, a communal big deal every day: the women all stood round a massive vat grating cassava together. One woman had a tiny little girl, about 2. The little girl showed an interest in the activity. The mother produced in response a mini-grater she had waiting ready so the little girl could join in.
I think children always want to faithfully copy what we do like this, so I am not greatly in favour of separating life into 'adult' and 'child' categories. In general I think if something in a book or film should be hidden from a child then I'd like to avoid it too.
'Adult' applied to a film usually means explicit sex, violence and general nastiness. Is that what adulthood means? :0(
On sites like The Kings Daughters (clothes) I like the 'mother and daughter' dresses.
How I dress is the same as how a child would dress. Everyone should wear shoes they can dance and run in :0)
But natural changes - both the signs of growing up like breasts and body hair, and the signs of growing old like fat and wrinkles, just are, and should be accepted peacefully, neither celebrated nor denied.
This weird thing for women stripped of body hair, and maintained so thin their breasts vanish, is a symptom of people who have lost the ability to accept themselves.
Another adult-child blurring is the whole thing of alco-pops (intoxicating liquor with kids' soda type flavours). Again, my response to all that is that I don't want the booze for the kids, so I'll pass it up too. Anything forbidden becomes desirable.
I think the infantilising of women would likely contribute to paedophile activity, in as much as it sends mixed messages at the least. But I think vulnerability to paedophilia is also created by a child's immersion in a world of lies, making it hard for them to be alert to untrustworthy people because they are accustomed to hypocrisy. And I think sometimes the church has been a place where hypocrisy was the rule rather than the exception, so we have made children very vulnerable to paedophilia - over-riding their will, insisting on obedience, keeping secrets, showing one face in church and another at home, insisting they show affection to adults they hate and fear, etc.
It's a dodgy old world. Honesty, and following what is natural, go a long way towards keeping us wholesome.
Jan Lyn: I can't believe mothers, who buy most of this stuff for their kids, aren't up in arms but so many seem to think it's cute or something. People are strange.
Rosemary: biggest argument for learning to sew. ☺
Ember: Thank you for your in depth & thoughtful comments & addressing the *waxing* issue. lol I have often wondered the same about the arts. So many people look uni~sex one can be mistaken for getting a little confused.
The alco~pops are scary. Our Lid was never much interested in drinking till she found these for those social situations wherein a drink is deemed necessary. They look & taste like very sweet soda. Thankfully she moved on fast.
You are right; monkey see, monkey do & as always honesty remains the best policy.
Ember said: ..."over-riding their will, insisting on obedience, keeping secrets, showing one face in church and another at home, insisting they show affection to adults they hate and fear, etc."
Ember my parent, does this with me, and I have suffered for it. It is horrible living with that kind of thing. It is there all the time, they never stop.
It does hearten me to read what you said because at the moment one of my children have been watching too many movies they shouldn't have watched etc. At least with facebook they soon learn to talk about people they don't like, I guess as long as they don't say it in a very mean way.
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