You’ve seen it, right? I’m not the only one. You’ve been to the mall when what walks by but a 7 year old pop diva all tarted up on her cell phone or texting her mother who’s right next to her who’s dressed the same way.
Well, now famous entertainer Beyonce Knowles, 27, and her fashion designer mother have launched a girls clothing line. And boy, it’s a doozy.
The business, “House of Dereon,” recently published advertisements for its “Dereon Girls Collection” with young models all looking like streetwise JonBenets posing seductively with bright lipstick. And they’re bringing the bling too along with a neon pink boa, leopard-skin fedora and stilettos or spike-heeled leather boots. And they’re wearing the attitude to match, you know the one I’m talking about.
Firstly, I’m wondering if Beyonce should be charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors. These girls make Miley Cyrus look like Doris Day.
But let’s face it the problem isn’t Beyonce. It’s us. We’re buying this junk. Beyonce is a ridiculous star. But the fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves.
How often have you heard it said that kids grow up so fast today? But I think it’s more true to say parents don’t protect their children’s innocence any more today. We are the problem.
I see it everywhere. People making their children into simply reflections of themselves, and not treating them and respecting them as individual gifts from God. Essentially, they’re designing their children. Should it be any surprise that they’re designing them now in the womb too. If what’s in there is only what you make it, then why shouldn’t you throw it out when the child doesn’t meet expectations. Start over. Re-cast for the part of mini-you.
May 17, 2008 at 2:02 pm
Matthew:
A couple years ago I was shopping at Target with my daughter when we spied the most ridiculous pair of shoes I’ve ever seen. They were spike-heeled thong sandals for an infant! I mused aloud: “Who on earth would design such a ridiculous pair of shoes for a baby?!” A young woman a few yards away, stepped over from the rack of clothes she had been arranging: “Hi…I couldn’t help but overhear. You really want to know who’s designing this crap? The child fashion industry is full of pedophiles. I’m a fashion design rep and merchandiser…this is common knowledge in the industry. Who but a pedophile would want to dress little girls like little women?”
Vapid, ridiculous and over the top Beyonce Knowles is putting her name on this stuff, but she’s not designing it. Preserving the innocence and purity of our children is a real challenge and you are so right in the assertion that the problem lies with parents. These guys are peddling their wares to a mad, mad world…but not all of us are buying into it.
May 17, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Excellent post and commentary, Matthew. You hit the nail on the head in your last paragraph.
This is illness defined.
The good news is that, if you peruse the fashion blogs (I know, I can only take so much myself), the great majority of commentary from bloggers is negative, for similar reasons that you mention: “the look is too adult; it’s a parent’s nightmare and a perverts dreamland; why can’t kids be kids?” Most seem to think this is a huge misstep by Beyonce. Let’s hope she corrects it quickly.
Bob Hunt
May 17, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Wow. What a great piece! Couldn’t agree more.
May 17, 2008 at 8:23 pm
A few years ago, your third-grade princess would have adored Britney Spears. These days it would be Hannah Montana, which sounded like an improvement at first, before those naughty photographs came out. What was that redneck daddy of hers thinking??? It’s enough to break your achy-breaky heart.
Thankfully, Southern belle and author Celia Rivenbark comes to the rescue. The author of Bless Your Heart, Tramp: And Other Southern Endearments, has come out with her latest, Stop Dressing Your Six-Year-Old Like a Skank: And Other Words of Delicate Southern Wisdom. Click on her name above to go to her homepage.
You know you want to, dah-lings.
May 18, 2008 at 2:28 pm
I’m so glad we only have boys (so far)…
May 19, 2008 at 1:20 am
“How often have you heard it said that kids grow up so fast today? But I think it’s more true to say parents don’t protect their children’s innocence any more today. We are the problem.”
“We have met the enemy and he is us”…
Pogo
May 19, 2008 at 2:05 pm
David,
Thanks for recommending Celia Rivenbark. I’d not heard of her but have read some of her columns and enjoyed them. I think my wife might enjoy her books.
Bob Hunt