Showing posts with label debate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label debate. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Little Miss...Perfect?

While flipping through the channels this afternoon, I watched about half an hour of a show on WE titled Little Miss Perfect. Much like Toddlers and Tiaras, the show chronicles the beauty-pageant lives of 5-10 year old girls, focusing on two contestants in each episode.

After I got over the initial "Oh-my-gosh-this-is-so-weird-its-comical" shock, I started to consider the message of the show- especially its title. To me, the fact that girls as young as five or six are focusing on winning the title of perfection is heartbreaking. They're all adorable, polite, talented little girls, and I think that pitting one against the other before they can even understand the concept of the competition is unsettling- if they lose, they're already receiving the message that they're not perfect enough.

The thing that struck me the most was the intensity displayed by the mothers. I don't understand the rationale behind subjecting your child to being judged like that- I'm sure they love their daughters very much, and most of the little girls seem to love it, but it's clear that they're already feeling the pressures of the competition. What do you think is an appropriate age to start pageants, if any? Where do you draw the line between little-girl fun and real-world judging? I'll admit that I have absolutely zero experience with pageants, so if anyone has a different opinion, I'd like to hear your thoughts!

 * * *
This afternoon, I snacked on (two) whole-wheat wraps with the last few servings of chipotle-pepper hummus:


Followed by a Trader Joe's seaweed snack. I love these things!


For dinner, I wanted to make a guacamole salad. Upon cutting into the avocado, however, I realized that the slightly squishy exterior was misleading, since the inside was still hard! Instead, I just sliced it up.


7 lettuce blend, cukes, toms, carrots, avocado and salsa, seasoned with lime juice.


On the side, I had a generous handful of Kashi TLC 7-grain crackers and some sliced strawberries.


After dinner, I broke into this quirky bar of Dechox dark chocolate that my mom bought me.


It was one of the mildest vegan dark chocolate bars I've tasted, which was a good thing. I love super-dark, but every once in awhile I crave something a bit sweeter!


I went back for another two squares. Can you blame me? :)

Enjoy your evening!