Monday, August 10, 2009

Hoochies

Alright. I'm SO not the kind of parent who is hypervigilant about what my boys watch on t.v. We don't really censor their music and we (I don't think) aren't over the top about what they can't watch in terms of movies and such. We DO have the parental lock on the t.v. to block shows TV-14 and up. And honestly? Even that made us both a bit uncomfortable.

We've always parented from the standpoint of: this is the culture/society/time in which we live; kids are done a disservice if they're constantly sheltered.

I have to say, though, it's getting awfully difficult to teach my male children to be respectful and (appropriately) reverent of the opposite sex when they see images of pre-teens and teens "on the pole". My fellow blogger, EmergePeoria brings up the most recent assault on young girls in discussing  Miley Cyrus' performance at the Teen Choice Awards. A stripper pole? Really? I understand that she's becoming a young lady and that her performances will reflect this growth and development.

But wait. This is Nickelodeon. This is the Rugrats network. The Powerpuff Girls. You Can't Do That on T.V. The only slime I thought was on that network was the stuff dumped on some pre-teen's head.

What gives?

I'm trying REALLY hard to guide my boys towards an appreciate of the opposite sex for more than the ole 'hubba hubba' that pre-teen and teen boys hold so dear. "I'll bet she has a good sense of humor." "It's cool that she does so well on Scholastic Bowl." "Isn't it cool that you guys have been in band together for so long?"

I'm not a prude. But this is getting ridiculous.

2 comments:

Katie said...

A-freakin-men!!!

EmergePeoria said...

I stopped by the show just in time to see the award for "Choice Fabulous". The nominees:

Perez Hilton (hateful gay blogger)
Miss J. (gay fashionista from Top Model)
Dude from Ugly Betty (the gay assistant)
Dude from Entourage (the gay one)
Dude from Queer Eye, Carson Pressley

Miss J. won. He kissed his wife and then made it up to the stage in a beautiful, cream colored, pleated, knee length, skirt and thanked all of the LGBT for making this possible and wished them all fierceness.

Wow. Really? I'm somewhat progressive, but I even I think that was a bit much.