A quiet morning

[kinzel]

Gray, cool day, with Netflix and an Uncle Hugo's catalog the mail of note. Waiting for an email, looking forward to some clarity ... and getting ready to get to office.

By the way, something bugging me. 

When we were in Penn Station late last week we saw a mother with several children, all under 10, who seemed torn between being Mom and being "just one of the girls." This got... awkward ... when she handed over her cellphone and a couple of  small digital cameras and allowed -- encouraged -- the girls to take photos of each other doing dance routines. The two older girls did some kind of a song/dance thing they obviously liked, but the youngest, being ignored by her siblings and by mom broke into a series of model poses until the others did pay her attention. These were model poses that might well have been found in, say, a Sports Illustrated swimsuit video shoot -- come hither glances, hips jutting this way and that to show off non-existent shape... After a few minutes of this, Mom finally said "enough", and then told a lady friend she was with "I always check to see if there's anything I can use" as she started reviewing the pics the girls had taken of each other.

Is this odd, or am I just out of synch with the always on world?

Comments

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

I think its kinda creepy, most kids that age make faces at each other when getting their pictures taken.

[mardott.livejournal.com]

I think it's fairly normal behavior. The poor little girl sees this kind of thing all the time, and is probably too young to understand what it really means. Pictures like this are everywhere: billboards, magazines... there were probably some hanging in the train station, selling who-knows-what.

Mom needs to help the kids understand there's a place and time - and an age - for this kind of thing. Including a warning about cell phone cameras and the internet. These are very real dangers to young girls.

Penn Station

[trekgirlmo.livejournal.com]

I think's normal and odd at the same time. Sex is everywhere and used to sell everything, so it's not surprising that she was trying to be sexy, but a mother letting her daughter(s) act that way in public is horrifyingly bizarre.

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

I am out of sync, and glad to be, with a world that can even pretend to justify this:

http://www.newsnet14.com/2010/05/16/is-this-dancing-inappropriate-for-8-and-9-year-olds/

It's "safe for work" - just very creepy.

I first saw this a few weeks ago, and immediately thought of it when you posted. It took me a few minutes to find a copy of the video (page two of the article), because Beyonce's copyright folks were all over the YouTube copies. For once, I'm glad they pounced.

Just because it's "normal". . . .

[(Anonymous)]

Remember, just because it might pass for "normal behavior" by today's standards, that doesn't mean it's not "odd". I vote for "odd" even if (judging from other comments and my own observations of kids today) it may be normal, as in common.

As far as the video in the above comment goes, I'm afraid to even click on the link. And BTW, just who is this Beyonce person anyway?

[grassrose.livejournal.com]

(If you weren't being sarcastic) Beyonce is a singer - a good one, in my opinion, but your mileage may vary.

The video is a dance competition, and these 9-year-olds worked up a routine to a Beyonce song, "Put a Ring on It."

The kids are very talented and athletic, but the song is sexually provocative, and their routine is, too. It's no worse than you'll see on MTV - it's just that they're WAY too young. Hence, very creepy.

[(Anonymous)]

I have a 13 year old who listens to all sorts of music. Lots of it is very trashy. And no, you are NOT out of synch with the world, but some parents are. I certainly would not allow/encourage my child to act like that, much less "see if there's anything i can use" on the camera! Wonder what mom's doing with those provactive shots? And, thank goodness my child has mostly good sense and wouldn't act like that, anyway.
Barbara in Texas