Comments on: keep our babies off the pole http://marjorieingall.com/keep-our-babies-off-the-pole/ Sun, 05 Sep 2010 15:00:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: marjorieingall http://marjorieingall.com/keep-our-babies-off-the-pole/comment-page-1/#comment-845 marjorieingall Thu, 25 Feb 2010 18:57:01 +0000 http://marjorieingall.com/?p=685#comment-845 very, very well said. (and perhaps if i had been able to articulate the class issue as well as you just did, i would have convinced my editor not to cut that part!) very, very well said. (and perhaps if i had been able to articulate the class issue as well as you just did, i would have convinced my editor not to cut that part!)

]]> By: Theresa http://marjorieingall.com/keep-our-babies-off-the-pole/comment-page-1/#comment-778 Theresa Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:52:53 +0000 http://marjorieingall.com/?p=685#comment-778 That was a great article. I too wish we could get off the pendulum between "pole dancer" and "burka" (not to mention the assumption that covering or uncovering *women's* bodies is always the problem and the solution). I think the connection between baby-beauty-queen style and class is worth noting, if only because it can help reveal the parallel sins of other classes -- such as, as you noted, the Haring sneakers and ironic vintage wear. Even if the latter style doesn't involve premature sexualization, it still makes children a means to an end. The pageant parents are just doing the same thing. I mean, *they* don't think their daughters look like hos; they actually idealize that style as female beauty in its highest form. It's not just that we shouldn't judge those with tackier taste than our own, it's that we need to respect our kids as people when we dress them, not obsess about how their appearance makes *us* look among our peers. When they, and we, have self-respect, the kids have a better chance of developing a healthy sexuality and everything else. That was a great article. I too wish we could get off the pendulum between “pole dancer” and “burka” (not to mention the assumption that covering or uncovering *women’s* bodies is always the problem and the solution).

I think the connection between baby-beauty-queen style and class is worth noting, if only because it can help reveal the parallel sins of other classes — such as, as you noted, the Haring sneakers and ironic vintage wear. Even if the latter style doesn’t involve premature sexualization, it still makes children a means to an end. The pageant parents are just doing the same thing. I mean, *they* don’t think their daughters look like hos; they actually idealize that style as female beauty in its highest form.

It’s not just that we shouldn’t judge those with tackier taste than our own, it’s that we need to respect our kids as people when we dress them, not obsess about how their appearance makes *us* look among our peers. When they, and we, have self-respect, the kids have a better chance of developing a healthy sexuality and everything else.

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