Thank Heaven...

In 1981, I was seven years old. Looking back, it was a very interesting time to be a little girl. I was still treated to cartoons ONLY on Saturday mornings - and those cartoons were things like The Smurfs, The Super Friends, Richie Rich and Bugs Bunny. The T.V shows that I enjoyed were Alice, Little House on the Prairie, M*A*S*H, The Jefferson's, Magnum P.I. and Private Benjamin. I was listening to Journey, Pat Benetar and the Go-Go's. My favorite toys included Strawberry Shortcake - a cute little doll that smelled like strawberries, the Rubik's Cube, Barbie Dolls, my brothers Dukes of Hazzard matchbox cars, and of course Kenner Star Wars Figures. I was, by most accounts, a normal little girl.

But I grew up right before the Television deregulation happened. Basically, in the early 1980's the TV networks were allowed to start "marketing" to children. This is when you saw the birth many popular TV shows that were devious little vechicals aimed at Mom and Dad's wallet. The Teenaged Mutant Ninja Turtles Television cartoon was created as a way to sell the toys. Not the other way around. Same with The Care Bears, My Little Pony, Pound Puppies and Master's of the Universe. These cartoons were created AFTER the toy as a way to hook the kids, and get mom and dad to pop for the toy. It didn't take long for companies to start marketing directly to an untapped market - little girls. "Companies noticed girls' love for ultra-feminine programs and their product tie-ins, and played it to the max. In the flush 1990s the media pushed harder, with the teen dial moving more toward sexy with sitcoms like Saved by the Bell." (http://www.familycircle.com/teen/parenting/sex-talk/growing-up-too-fast/?page=2)

Flash forward twenty-some years, and seven years old does not look the same. Actually, it biologically isn't the same. In the 1970's and 80's, girls hit puberty between the ages of 10-12. I myself was mortified to be the only girl in my class at 11 years old wearing a full on bra. Back then, a bra was still something to be embarrassed about. Today, many girls are showing signs of puberty by age eight. EIGHT!

There are a lot of people out there that complain of little girls growing up too fast - and they might be. But, the world is not the same world as it was. Being an eight year old today is a far cry from being an eight year old in the 1980's. I remember causing a stir at the fourth grade talent show when me, Sarah Broberg and Catherine Parsons dressed up as Madonna and did a dance. By today's standards it seems silly, but back then Madonna was considered slutty and not "age appropriate" for little girls. I gotta say, Madonna was wearing FAR more clothing than Beyonce or even little Miley Cyrus. And, back then there was no such thing as a TWEEN. (thank god)

The fact is that the we have let the media, the markets and the culture influence our girls. Girls today worship what they see on TV and in music and in the movies (just like I did), but what they see is a world CREATED and marketed just for them. From Hannah Montana to High School Musical, little girls are being sold an image, and that image is SEXY. Of course little girls want to shake their booty like Beyonce, or the Pussy Cat Dolls - thats what we are offering them. Stardom is a bona fide career choice today. Today media is a 24/7 reality. The internet, TV, movies, magazines and music are always with you. there is no escape.

So, can we really point the finger of shame at these little girls (or their parents)for what they are doing? Personally, I don't think it is fair. First off - notice that this video was taken at a DANCE COMPETITION. This was not a little school talent show, or a national TV talent show. This was a World of Dance performance. WOD is a traveling competition that features local and professional dance crews competing for cash prizes. Next, let's take into account that these (obviously well trained little girls) are not competing in a dance competition in 1981. They are performing in 2010 - and I would argue that those little girls don't want to do out of date dance moves or wear out of date costumes. I would also argue that they would not win the cash prize if they did.

We have created a world wherein little girls grow up fast. We cannot hold today's little girls to the same standards as we had when we were young, because the world is a completely different place. MTV was first aired in 1981 when I was seven years old. That means that it would be another three years before Madonna could scare the crap out of parents everywhere by rolling on the ground in a wedding dress. Little girls today are born into a world that has not ONE but SEVERAL channels to watch music videos on. They are born into a world where they can see a famous person who is the same age as them. Little girls are encouraged to be HOT, and WE are encouraging them.

Don't like it? Well, Tough luck. Unfortunately the trend is not going anywhere.
Pointing the finger at a few little girls and accusing their parents of low morals is't the solution. I think the responsibility here has to be a personal one. You know, think globally - act locally. If you are indeed TRULEY offended by this growing trend, then I would suggest that you stop listening to the radio in the car when your kid is riding with you. Don't take little Sally to the market so she won't be exposed to all of the diet foods and magazine covers. Throw out your TV and computers so that she won't be able to see the crap the media is selling. Not possible? Of course not. But maybe we can start by not judging. The world is what it is, and if we want to change it we MUST start in our own homes and not by criticizing what we helped to create. We wanted our MTV - and now we are paying for it.

"I'm better than you Because..."

If you are on Facebook - you have probably noticed that there are "Groups" to join for just about anything. You can join a group proclaiming your political affiliation (Barack and Michelle Obama, or the popular "How about we stop blaming Barack Obama for everything George Bush did?"), your taste in music ("Coldplay Sucks" or "Coldplay is the best band ever!") or, as I have come to find, even lame personal habits (I turn my pillow over at night for the 'cool' side. - which boasts about 30,00 fans.) Weird. Since a pickle managed to get more "fans" than the band Nickleback, people have made "groups" for their personal preferences. I find this trend disturbing. It disturbs me in general that we (as a society) have the need to share EVERY like and dislike we have as publicly as possible, and that we feel the need to validate those likes and dislikes by the number of people who agree with us.

I recently got an "invite" to join a group called - "Curvy girls are better than skinny girls!" Not only did the group name offend me, but the fact that it exists at all was offensive. Didn't we all learn in grade school not to compare apples to oranges? Didn't we learn that both are really really good? Maybe I should make a group called "Short people are better than tall people!" How totally absurd.

I am not a "skinny" girl - not by a long shot. I am short, I have a large bust, ample hips and a big booty. That's me. I am not about to proclaim that these things make me "better" than a woman who is tall and thin and has less boobs than I do. This kind of thinking is what makes women want plastic surgery, or start throwing up their lunch. I don't think there is anything wrong with being thin, or big as long as you are healthy. And, while I am at it - let's try to desist using terms like "plus size" or "curvy". I hate when people use the term "Real women" as if chicks who are naturally slender are an alien life form, or made of synthetic materials. They are still REAL people - just like you and me. I don't think we need to bash people different than us just to make ourselves feel pretty, do you?

I think its great that magazines like Elle (recently Polish Elle) and Glamour have been using models of different sizes. The problem is still that the magazine's are still photoshopping the heck out of these models to make them all look the same. The most recent example is Glamour' new cover. It is supposed to be celebrating women of all body types (hooray!) but unfortunately comes off looking like it is celebrating three thin, beautiful women. Take a look at some of the non photoshopped pictures and you get a very different picture. All three women are gorgeous, why did they feel the need to make them all look the same?

If WE ladies stop trying to one up eachother by putting down one another, we might finally get someplace. Skinny? Great! Chubby? Great! Just work it. And while your at it, let me work it too.

(A note: These pictures are of the SAME model at different weights)

Mother of Exiles?

I am an immigrant. Sure, most of the time I don't think of myself that way, but that is what I am. We American's who come to live in Prague like to glam it up a bit by calling ourselves "Expats", but we are just your run of the mill immigrants. Some of us are here legally and some of us are not. The Czech Government does not want us here and makes it very difficult for us to stay here. The laws are constantly changing and filing for a Visa takes persistence and patience. Czech's do not like foreigners coming in and taking their jobs and changing their culture. Sound familiar? But, unlike America, the Czechs do not pass unfair laws to keep out would be immigrants. We have a very rich history of turning away people who come to America in search of a better/different life.

"Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

This is what America promises and does not deliver. The Czech Republic does not claim to be a land of opportunity, and a home for the exiled. It does not claim to be a beacon for the tired and poor and homeless. America does. I find it not just ironic, but unjust and gross that America does not remember its own history and therefor cannot learn from it. "We" came to this land seeking freedom, and in doing so blatantly stole it from the people who lived there. After that, we created laws that would keep them "in their place."

In 1882 we signed the "Chinese Exclusion Act" which was a ban on Chinese Immigration. This Act was not over turned until 1943. Even after that, in California a Chinese person could not legally marry a "white" until 1948. In 1942 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Under the terms of the Order, some 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. This was justified by claiming that ALL of these people might be spies. During the war only TEN people were convicted of being spies - and they were all WHITE. Of course in the 1950's we had "McCarthyism" and Truman's Executive Order 9835. This was intended to root out the Commies serving in the Government, but all it managed to do was make citizens paranoid and create the House Committee on Un-American Activities - whatever THAT means.

And now, the lovely state of Arizona has passed Bill 1070 - which requires Arizona police to investigate the residency status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. Did you get that? REQUIRES police to investigate the residency status of ANYONE they think might be here illegally. Holy Racial Crap, Batman! President Obama called the Bill unfair, and he is not alone. This type of discrimination goes against everything America stands for.

If we continue being racially bias our nation will fail.