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New York, 4:32 PM
Tue Nov 24
71 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/12/09
11/12/09
#2. This is what Carrie Prejean still sees when she closes her eyes and repeats "no sex tape...no sex tape...no sex tape...no gays married...no sex tape..." PS. The dog hates America.
#3 just killed Blofield. AND SHE WILL KILL AGAIN.
#4 is actually Strawberry Shortcake's fucked-up cousin Cherry Tart.
#5 is the missing Huckabee.
#6 is hoping that her exposed navel will distract us from the fact that she just chewed a hole in her hat. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/12/09
11/11/09
Being anti-pagaent is about being horrified that small children are being sexualised.
Are being forced into competition with other little children to look the cutest, sexiest, whatever.
Are being told at such a young age that if they do not win, they are somehow less worthy, less cute.
Are being forced to wear frigging fake nails at the age of 2, for fucks sake.
A little girl putting on a pretty dress up frock and playing with mum's make-up is one thing. A nine year old girl who is made up to look like a provocative grown-up woman is in a totally new ballpark altogether.
And Doonan arguing that parents are somehow cheating their children by denying them the right to compete in these pagaents is ridiculous. Parents are given these decision making responsibilities for a reason. Because they are supposed to know better than a small child what is good for them. By Doonans argument I should have been allowed to drink the entire bottle of Vallergan when I was four because I really liked the taste of it.
I used to love being in the spotlight, wearing a pretty dress as well, Mr Doonan. Happily for me my parents sat through many an impromptu backyard play. There are other, less damaging outlets. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
Also, even if you do think I'm dreary (debatable), overeducated (whatever the hell that is), and middle-class (which, okay, I am, but I'm confused as to whether raising or lowering my class would supposedly increase my appreciation of beauty pageants), lacking in spotlight intoxication I am not. I had nine perfectly enjoyable years on the competitive Irish dance circuit. And yet, I can still muster up a hefty heap of criticism for the increasing makeup-and-wig-laden glamorization trend in said competition circuit. See how that works, Mr. Doonan? I enjoyed the spotlight for the sake of athletic and artistic performance and managed to not pick up an appearance complex while doing so. I cared more about the attention I received from what I did than from how I looked. *Gasp.* #highglitzbook
11/11/09
That little girl is sad beyond her years.
11/12/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
And, they might learn some appreciation for the arts while they're at it. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
11/11/09
You take an awfully narrow view of what it means to be a kid. If I got dirt and grass stains on my dresses, I cried. I wouldn't have any of it.
And as for my parents? They were mortified. My mother tried endlessly to push "boys" and non-gendered toys on me. I just didn't want anything to do with it. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
You misunderstood me. That was only an example of the kind of play kids should be doing. I know getting dirty isn't all that kids do. Adults have a responsibility to teach their kids that sexy clothes are for adults who understand what that means (arousing sexual thought in yourself and someone else). Kids are not supposed to look sexy. Sure I played dress up but never thought about looking "sexy". I had no idea what that meant. Kids need to have that bit of nativity and innocence about them, that's what makes childhood great. No kids "needs" to play with sexy outfits to have fun, btw. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
11/11/09
11/11/09
This argument never made sense to me, especially when it comes to transgender children. If gender is both brain-based and a social construct, it makes perfect sense that transgender girls will "like" the same things as cisgender girls. Both of them are internalizing the fact that (a) they are girls (biological), and (b) girls like X (learned).
11/11/09
But there goes the fact that MANY OF US still do not consider transgender as well whatever gender they self identify.
"Why do those little boys who say they are little girls like what other little girls like" #highglitzbook
11/11/09
I am trans myself, and do not consider it transphobic to ask why so many trans people have such strong stereotypical ways of performing their gender. They are the most visible, so people associate that with trans people. And to ask why little kids are so gender-performatory... well, this is a great answer and helps me avoid that awkward "girls play with dolls, boys play with trucks" dichotomy that I absolutely do not believe is inborn based on sex. #highglitzbook
11/11/09
It's true. When I liked girly things everyone got all excited that I was learning to like pretty sparkly things (this was rare), and wasn't that cute. When I liked Matchboxes and boot knives, it was just because I wanted to be like my older brother. The only thing they gave me genuine credit for liking on my own was my collection of stuffed animals, which was gender-neutral.
11/11/09
Baby is like, 6 months old. You're dangling a sparkly object in front of her face. Of course she likes it. TO EAT IT. #highglitzbook
11/12/09
We all live in a gendered world, of course, and I'm not coming down on mothers, say, for liking their own dresses and jewelry and passing that on. But it has an effect. #highglitzbook
11/12/09
I would never hold it against a parent for wanting to share something they enjoy with a child, but I wish they weren't so insistent on these gender roles before the kid is even born. I mean, it's not that a parent totally shapes a kid's personality, but it does have an effect. And I wish the kid had a little more freedom in his or her choices, especially as they're learning to walk and talk. #highglitzbook
11/12/09
11/11/09
It's easy to look at something and say NOPE ITS BAD without even having an open mind or considering alternate views.
And even if the mothers make the girls do it, parents make kids do things ALL THE TIME. For me it was being forced to play football when all i really wanted to do was take dance lessons. As many negatives in child pageants I found in football. The adoring audiences, the control, the parent-guided competition, families going into debt, becoming a career rather than a game, and the adornment of things a kid doesn't naturally need. It wasn't nails for me it was cleats, shoulder pads, black makeup under my eye, jock straps, and even the suggestion that I gain MORE weight by eating peanut butter.
If we are going to critique one child activity we don't agree with why not stop there and critique all activities children are apart of? #highglitzbook
11/11/09
11/11/09
Possible things people make their children do: brush their teeth, learn to tie their shoelaces, learn to read... diet, completely alter their appearance (fake tans, fake nails, etc.), practice sexy smiles, walks, dancing for a beauty pageant.
You know, I don't think all these things are exactly comparable. What is more, I think there are astoundingly different motivations behind them. Not everything you "make" your child do has the same consequences for their wellbeing and I don't think that the consequences are absolutely arbitrary and random. Not everything goes, not everything is like anything else.
11/11/09
11/11/09
Say a mom enters her daughter into a pageant so she can work on her public speaking skills, dancing, poise, etc.
Now I don't think that's what happened to me. I was taught rigidity. Narrow definitions of masculinity. Aggression is good and necessary. Misogynistic language as I regularly heard "Dont be a girl, toughen up you sissy, what do you have a vagina down there" etc.
And yet I don't see anyone critiquing little league football and all the crap that goes on there. #highglitzbook
11/11/09