In Defense Of Simpson, Jessica, That Is!

Friday morning, while driving my husband to the airport, I heard something that had me tilting my head and saying...Huh? The morning DJ's topic of conversation was Jessica Simpson and her baby. Innocuous enough, except that she was catching heat for what the baby was wearing on Katie Couric's new show.

So here's the deal. I'm not a big fan of Jessica Simpson. Her dumb blond act (and I do mean act) got a little wearing with me. She was smart enough to parlay it into a lot of money...but still, it irks me when women deliberately hide their intelligence behind the airhead facade. And then there's the fact that I'm a Cowboy fan. No, I don't think she was responsible for distracting Romo or causing the team to lose. But I do know that she wasn't right for our quarterback.

Back to my point... This DJ was calling Jessica Simpson out because her 4 month old baby was dressed too provocatively in the pictures that were shared. The baby was wearing a cute yellow macrame bikini. The DJ went on to say that her little darling (and she is a cutie) was posed provocatively. I was scratching my head. Why would someone be looking at a baby picture and thinking in those terms? How many of us have parents who took naked baby pictures of us? How creepy would it have been if someone saw them and thought, "ooh, sexy!" I saw the baby picture. I even linked it in. Personally, I saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. She was clothed. She wasn't posing provocatively...she was kicking her legs as babies are prone to do.

Then something wierder was said. The person kicking up the most dust about this was a male child protection advocate. Now call me a cynic, but all I could think of was that for a guy who is allowed around children to look at one little picture and call down wrath like that...well, something may be off about his moral compass. It wouldn't exactly be the first time a perv managed to get his/her self placed around children to feed their sick perversions. You hear about it more and more often, unfortunately.

A caller phoned in. She said she had issues with it and that kids shouldn't start dressing this way until they were in their 10-13 age range. Now, I don't know about you guys, but I know this. A baby in a bikini, no big deal. But a tween and early teenager...that's gonna draw a heck of a lot more attention. A baby or toddler in a bikini doesn't phase me. But watching these little girls dressing up like adult women...just as they're starting to develop...no thanks. Better to stay a child for as long as you can. And unfortunately, at that age, kids are getting to know themselves and their bodies. That's when they become sexualized and objectified.

I do have issues with toddlers in tiaras...make up at that age. That kind of emphasis being put on appearances so early. They're going to run into those things as they get older anyway. Why make a child think that they're not much better than the face they show the world. No need to cake on the make up. And parents... be parents. Be grown ups. Teach your kids the value of intelligence and kindness. The nasty cattiness is all over the place...and people wonder how bullies happen. Bah!
You know, the funny thing is...I was so irritated by this radio show that I felt the need to write about it. What's worse? I hate people who create controversy for controversy's sake...and yet what did I do? I let them have the forum in my brain. And I shared it with you. Maybe now that I've gotten on my soapbox and shared I'll be able to let it go.

Kids are our biggest gift to the world. Our greatest legacy. It drives me crazy when I see people try to tarnish that.