Kids as Hookers

Am I the only person who is having a problem with the poor kid in Brazil who has been chosen the "Queen of Carnival"?

I don't have a problem with the girl, 7 years old, who wants to dance the Samba (her country's national dance) at Carnival (her country's annual pageant...think "Mardi Gras"). What I DO have a problem with is the costume, just as I have a problem with most tyke beauty pageants in this country. Kids in our country dress up like little miniature hookers, complete with dresses cut to the navel and false eyelashes.

There is a big hoopla, both in this country and in Brazil, about the appropriateness of having a 7-year-old dance in a provocative manner, in a provocative costume. So would it be the same if the kid danced in an up-to-the-chin, longed-sleeved, down-to-the-ankles dress? I think not.

My business is making children's clothing, so, despite the fact that I had boys who wouldn't be caught dead within 5 miles of a pageant, I think I have some authority here. I've been on-line for those US pageant web sites and I'm here to tell you, they are a child molester's dream.

Brazil reportedly has a problem with child sexual trafficking. A judge has been determined to be the best arbiter of whether this girl in Brazil can dance at Carnival. (And we've all seen how competent the courts in Brazil are when it comes to "what's best for the child."

It's the Jean-Benet Ramsey syndrome. Dress a young girl up in provocative clothing, make her think that pleasing adults and looking beautiful/sexy are appropriate goals for a young girl and look what happens. Though the Ramsey case has never been solved, it's my humble opinion that her death was, at least indirectly, caused by her participation in these baby hooker pageants.

Just as the parents of Michael Jackson's victims willingly handed over their sons to an almost certain molestation, for the purpose of being able to sue Jackson later, these pageant parents are setting their little darlings up for, at the very least, being ogled at by some very nasty pervs. Who doesn't think that child molesters slather at these photos on-line?

Just to be fair, some pageants (Bumble Bee and others) emphasize the kids being themselves and ban teeth capping, plastic surgery and hair weaves. But many other pageants do not. Children are beautiful all by themselves and they don't need all the add-ons.

I think my main beef is the way the kids are dressed. (Of course, being a children's clothing designer, I have an admitted bias!) There are size 7 jeans at WalMart with "Pussy" emblazoned on the rear! There are young girls performing a strip-tease for their "talent" at pageants! (And no, I'm not referring to a movie. Watch "Toddlers & Tiaras" on TLC sometime.)

I've been accused of being one of those wild-eyed maniacs who secretly have some rather perturbing fantasies. I'm not. I think sex education should be taught in our schools because, in part, it teaches children to protect themselves from child molesters and perverts.

I'm instead one of those people who believes that, at the very least, child molesters should be locked up for life. I believe kids should be kids AND DRESS LIKE KIDS. Is it any wonder, with parents dressing up baby whores, that kids are becoming sexually active at younger and younger ages? The message to the kids is, "It's all right to dress and behave sexually when you are 6", leaving them open to the perverted amongst us.

So for those in the US who are against a mini-Brazilian 7-year-old doing a bump-and-grind, let him who is without sin cast the first stone.