Something is badly wrong in the universe. I am astounded that I find myself agreeing with celebrity blogger,Perez Hilton. If you could MapQuest Mr. Hilton and myself based on where we stand with our core values, you would find it's a long jaunt from my location to his. I'm not throwing sticks at him, I'm just making a point (I hope). Just in case I'm being too murky-we have nothing in common. Except for an opinion.
A few days ago, a news story caught my attention concerning Hilton and Demi Moore. It seems that photos of Moore's 15 year-old daughter were posted on Hilton's blog, with a few descriptive words of her body parts that were on display. These were not photos that were taken of her with a telephoto lens while in the privacy of her home, she was photographed in public. In one photo, she had on a pair of what I call peek-a-cheek shorts, in the other a revealing, low-cut top. Keep in mind, we are talking about a 15 year-old girl who has a mother in the home. Moore went into a rage and called Hilton several names, accusing him of posting the pictures to appeal to perverts who like to look at little girls. Hilton responded by calling her a few names and expressed his opinion that Moore is a bad parent for letting her daughter dress in provocative ways in public.
Ouch! When "anything goes" Hilton calls someone a bad mama, it makes you ponder what could have prompted him to make that judgement. Of course, part of Hilton's pronouncement is probably self-serving. I'm sure that he realizes that posting those pictures of an underaged girl was way over the line. He seems to be looking for someone else to blame for his behavior. However, I agree with what he said about Moore, though I don't agree with his own actions.
In this area, Moore has failed her daughter. Mothers are supposed to equip their daughters to survive and thrive in our world, an increasingly over-sexualized world. As mothers we owe our daughters an upbringing that teaches them to respect their bodies and to demand that same respect from others. Part of the training that we must give our daughters is to educate them on how they are viewed by others when they wear very revealing clothes. Mothers who refuse to instill a sense of modesty in their girls are doing great damage to them. When I talk about modesty, I am not advocating dresses down to the calves (makes your legs look fat anyway!) or collars up to your earlobes. I am speaking of dressing and carrying yourself in a way that lets the world know, "I am valuable, I know it and you'd better know it too". When we allow and even encourage our young girls to dress like an extra in a Madonna video, they are sending out a message that will bring results that they are not able to handle.
There is a saying in the south that is right on target, "If it's not for sale, don't put it in the window". Let's not allow our daughters to display something that is priceless, without fully knowing what they are advertising. Let's teach them how much they are worth and that some things, once given away, can never be replaced.
Mothers, let's do our jobs.
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