Why It's Important For 9-Year-Old Girls To Be "Sexy"

By Tracie Egan Morrissey | July 21, 2011 | 8:00pm

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On last night’s episode of Dance Moms, studio owner Abby Lee decided that in order to win competitions, her 8- and 9-year-old students needed to wear “skimpier” outfits and do a more “scandalous dance.” Or as she told one little girl, “You have to be really hot. Sexy. Make it like you’re 17 years old.” Dressing the girls in lamé booty shorts and bras with thigh highs (and having their mothers paint abs on their stomachs) Abby insisted that this was the only way for the girls to win first place. However, they didn’t win any trophies, presumably because the judges found their routine and costumes age inappropriate.

Some of the moms were voicing their complaints—based on the costumes alone—before even arriving at the competition, but after being horrified by the routine (in which the little girls were smacking their asses and spreading their legs open, suggestively), they confronted Abby, who told them that there wasn’t a problem with age inappropriateness because the 8 and 9 year old liked the costumes and routine. Because anytime a child thinks that something is a good idea, then it must be right. She went on to say that parents who open their mouths end up “ruining” their children.