Let's take It Slow

I saw Little Miss Sunshine over the weekend…..and loved it.

I know some of you saw it and thought it was slow…..my parents (who are hardly a Ebert and Roeper duo, so Gosh knows why I listened to them) said it was mighty boring….

I thought it was insanely good: story wise, comedy wise, tragedy wise…..GO SEE IT!

The last scene in the movie is of little girls competing for a beauty pageant. The girls are dressed up like little tarts with big hair, make up and skimpy little outfits. They were shaking their behinds and smiling coyly; true Tarty behavior from eight year olds.

Little girls should not be sexual. They should not be wearing make up, they should not be obsessing about their weight or their hair, or their clothes, or be wearing bikinis. Little girls should not be dressed in anything resembling what their mothers may be wearing or have worn in the last fifteen years. (I would like to say twenty, but heck it is fifteen years olds who are having babies these days.)

What I realized from my trip to India is the main difference between our North American society and Asian societies in general, is that we are sex obsessed. With freedom has come obsession. We sexualize everything to the point that nothing is sacred, shocking or even interesting. I am not scandalized when I hear a sixteen year old girl is pregnant, it seems so much a part of everyday life.

India is a romantic society. Even though it is hot, you don’t walk around in the streets wearing booty shorts. You don’t wear skin tight tops during the day, because it isn’t necessary. I am not saying Indians aren’t fashion obsessed. Nightclubs out there are filled with drunk leather mini skirt wearing girls, falling over themselves after having one too many to drink. There are strip clubs and brothels. Yet there is a time and place for sex. Kids grow up slower. Little girls play hop scotch. Teenage girls run around with boys playing hide and seek. Sure things happen, but life seems a little simpler, and a little more innocent.

We judge here. We judge based on what people wear. We judge on if they are carrying a name brand. We judge on color coordination. Maybe it’s us older people setting a bad example. Sure it is important to be the best you can be. Looking good is a great part of life, but it shouldn’t be an obsession. We should be able to go out in a trashy shirt and jeans and not care. We should be able to be ok with five extra pounds, and not be obsessed about having flat washboard abs. We should judge people on their actions, not just their pretty looks. Perhaps we are passing down our insecurities to the next generation.

I never thought I would lament the days of lace frocks that itch, and bow clad frilly shirts. But every time I walk by stores selling booty shorts and bikinis for little girls, I cringe.

How do we go back? How do we stop kids from growing up too quickly? From caring too fast about make up, boys, sex and most importantly having babies, whilst they are still themselves babies?