Am I getting old or is this horribly wrong?

[luvsJack]

What I said is that it wouldn't matter what they were wearing or what they were doing; the creeps would still get their jollies.

EXACTLY. This is what people refuse to understand. Pedophiles aren't looking for kids in skimpy clothes, they are looking for kids that are vulnerable. What the child is wearing has nothing to do with it.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I watched Beyonce's video to Single Ladies tonight while I exercised and thought that her gyrations were appropriate. I like her video a lot. She's a grown woman who seems to be in full control of her own sexuality. Yes, her dance indicates that the diner is open for business, so to speak, but she's set the menu and decides who the clientele are.

The little girls in this video, while talented, aren't yet old enough to have any idea that the diner even exists, much less have any control over it, and yet, the moves in their dance are the ones that adult women use when they, through dance, are indicating, even if it is just acting, that they are open for business. That bothers me. A lot.

There's plenty of time for those dance moves in those little girls' futures - when they are much bigger and fully understand and are in full control of the messages those particular moves are sending! I'd have no problem with that dance if those girls were in college.

 

[kidshop]

What I said is that it wouldn't matter what they were wearing or what they were doing; the creeps would still get their jollies.

How does that make these costumes and the dance routine ok for a 7 y/o? What is the point of the costume choice and the dance moves? Do they look and act like little girls? (I see no one has answered me yet)

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

...What is the point of the costume choice and the dance moves?

Any answer would be a guess. We didn't put this arrangement together.

I could make all sorts of guesses, none of which would be to prepare these girls for lives as strippers or prostitutes.

 

[kidshop]

EXACTLY. This is what people refuse to understand. Pedophiles aren't looking for kids in skimpy clothes, they are looking for kids that are vulnerable. What the child is wearing has nothing to do with it.

So IS there nothing inappropriate that a child can wear? Is there a line where something becomes uncomfortable to see a child wear or do, even if you don't happen to be a pedophile? I realize the line is markedly different for everyone, but IS there a line somewhere?

 

[luvmy3]

How does that make these costumes and the dance routine ok for a 7 y/o? What is the point of the costume choice and the dance moves? Do they look and act like little girls? (I see no one has answered me yet)

They are acting like performers doing a dance routine. Other than a few very mature moves, their routine is pretty typical choreography for that age. Its a mix of dance tecniques being taught to classes full of girls that age, and younger, so I'm not sure what you are expecting them to act like. Do you think the should just be skipping around in a circle with a few twirls added in?

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

So IS there nothing inappropriate that a child can wear? Is there a line where something becomes uncomfortable to see a child wear or do, even if you don't happen to be a pedophile? I realize the line is markedly different for everyone, but IS there a line somewhere?

I am not sure, but I wouldn't want to see girls this age dressed that way walking around town. On stage, dancing, it seemed appropriate. JMO.

 

[FireDancer]

I made it about 20 seconds in before I had to get out of that train wreck. I feel like I need to register somewhere that will require me to not hand out candy on Halloween after watching that. What is wrong with people? Between the parents and organizers someone should have stepped in and stopped that.

I'll be back in 11 years when they are 18 and I can enjoy it, until then I think Gary Glitter has a new favorite YouTube video.

 

[design_mom]

I think it was inappropriate, too... although the girls are talented dancers.

I think it is a combination of things. If the "hip hop moves" were done in a less revealing outfit, they might not seem so suggestive. And if the same costume were worn for a totally different style dance (a more traditional tap dance, for instance) it might not seem as "adult." But the combo is BAAAAAADDDD.

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

I made it about 20 seconds in before I had to get out of that train wreck. I feel like I need to register somewhere that will require me to not hand out candy on Halloween after watching that...

 

[goofy!]

Talk about being uncomfortable watching that It just makes me wonder what the heck the dance school/teachers/parents were thinking to encourage such overt sexual behavior in young children

What's next for this dance troupe? Pole dancing as a show of their acrobatic skills:rolleyties1

Be careful what you ask for.

We were at a regional cheer/dance competition back in January.

On the program was an exhibition of a new circus acrobatic troupe. We were all wondering what the heck it was.

So, it is their turn to come out.

They bring out this large cube (about 8x8 ft) made of.....


(wait for it)





pipes.

Okaaayyy.

5 young teens come out.

4 of them take the vertical corners and the 5th climbs to the top and grabs one of the horizontal top bars with her thighs.

We then sat with our mouths agape as these teens spent the next two and a half minutes literally pole dancing around that thing. Acrobatic troupe - yeah, sure. Didn't see much acrobatics.

It was completely silent in that arena as cheer parents (I am one) were trying to pick their jaws up off the floor.

To this day we tease our gym owners when they are going to start a pole dancing cheer routine (our gym owners are pretty conservative - no crop top uniforms for the little kids, no butt slapping, etc.)

 

[EMom]

I made it about 20 seconds in before I had to get out of that train wreck. I feel like I need to register somewhere that will require me to not hand out candy on Halloween after watching that. What is wrong with people. Between the parents and organizers someone should have stepped in and stopped that.

I'll be back in 11 years when they are 18 and I can enjoy it, until then I think Gary Glitter has a new favorite YouTube video.

Sad, but oh so true. Old Gary is jumping for joy, I'm sure.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Too bad the camera didn't pan across the audience. I wonder how many men were moving for their wallets and a few $ bills. I agree, all that was missing was the pole.

 

[kidshop]

I am not sure, but I wouldn't want to see girls this age dressed that way walking around town. On stage, dancing, it seemed appropriate. JMO.

Ok, but for many of us it is cringeworthy on stage or anywhere else. This is where the line is.

Some children may wear less clothes than these girls at the beach, but context (I assume no grinding at the beach) and intent counts for something. they didn't put these girls in the outfits b/c they were 'pretty'.

 

[goofy!]

But then I see people who think it is adorable to dress their little girls in tiny bikinis and short shorts ....and I wonder what they could possible be thinking, I guess they think it is adorable?

It is amazing I am not employed on 42nd street with a pole. Or any of my cousins. Or any of their friends.

My parents, who happened to be European so without the body hangups of some of us American, never even bothered to put my tiny bikini top on me.

I have pictures of me with my cousins who were similarly dressed playing on beaches from NY to Nice completely topless up until the age of 7 or 8. Of course, on the Riviera, even my mother and aunts were topless

Never once did I think I was being sexual. Never crossed my mind. In fact it took me till my 40's to realize that others may think a 7 year old going topless might not be innocent

 

[CathrynRose]

Just showed it to my husband- he thought it was disgusting. Our 9 year old niece had her dance recital the first weekend of the month- I can only imagine my fil sitting in the audience witnessing that......

Exactly what my husband said. He leaned in really close to the laptop and goes "Wait a minute...." (cuz I hadn't said anything but "check this out") He then said "Aren't they a little young for that???"

When I told him the ages, he was horrified and said "that's all on the parents"

And then as FireDancer:

I made it about 20 seconds in before I had to get out of that train wreck. .

He turned away and said "I've seen enough......"


Did they have talent? Heck yeah they did! But come on now....

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

That's the problem. People see it as something that everyone else is doing, so it's accepted as the norm. Thus, it must be ok. It isn't cool to question it or to reject it. If you want to fit in, or win in this case, you follow the herd.

Exactly. Remember the good ol' days when mothers said "I don't care what the other kids are doing!"?

Exactly- EVERYTHING is not ok. Some things are inappropriate and little girls being dressed like Prostitots and gyrating on stage is one of those things. Sometimes being judgemental is okay.

oh crud it was the very end.! But Joy said something about having the parents arrested!

Good for her!

The costumes, other than the boots, are less revealing than many bathing suits.

I'm going to hear that line in my head in my sleep tonight.

EXACTLY. This is what people refuse to understand. Pedophiles aren't looking for kids in skimpy clothes, they are looking for kids that are vulnerable. What the child is wearing has nothing to do with it.

So pedophiles don't look at child porn? I don't know...you seem to know more about pedophiles than I do apparently.

I made it about 20 seconds in before I had to get out of that train wreck. I feel like I need to register somewhere that will require me to not hand out candy on Halloween after watching that. What is wrong with people. Between the parents and organizers someone should have stepped in and stopped that.

Uh oh...I agree with FireDancer. Hell must've frozen over.

Too bad the camera didn't pan across the audience. I wonder how many men were moving for their wallets and a few $ bills. I agree, all that was missing was the pole.

It probably reminded them of last Friday night out with the boys.

 

[handinpocket]

There was no finger licking or oral sex simulation. Just some little girls dancing. I've seen worse in high school cheer routines. Much ado about nothing.

 

[FireDancer]

Uh oh...I agree with FireDancer. Hell must've frozen over.

True.

I have pictures of me with my cousins who were similarly dressed playing on beaches from NY to Nice completely topless up until the age of 7 or 8. Of course, on the Riviera, even my mother and aunts were topless

Never once did I think I was being sexual. Never crossed my mind. In fact it took me till my 40's to realize that others may think a 7 year old going topless might not be innocent

It isn't the outfits in them selves that are the problem. I am a pro-nudity person who agrees that we are way too hung up on body image in this country. I have also made the nudity doesn't equal sexuality argument on these boards many a time.

In this case, however, these girls are performing sexually suggestive dance moves, regardless of whether that is their intention or not, to a sexually suggestive song, in a public display, while wearing the costumes. And this I got in less then half of a minute of watching.

Had you been topless at the beach grinding on other people to Paradise by the Dashboard lights while an audience watched and they posted the clip on the public Internet for all to see then the correlation between you at the beach and this disaster would hold up. As it is there is no way the two are even close.

Just my opinion of course, I am not these kids parents and won't be the ones paying the therapy bill down the road so ultimately I don't care but I do find it disturbing.

I think the worst thing about the whole ordeal isn't even so much the performance itself, but that someone posted it online. Had it not been posted online I imagine the only people who would have seen it would be other parents or judges at the competition. Posting it online gives it a whole different creepy factor. Using the criteria I use for posting anything online, would I want my boss, potential boss, or future children to see it or would I put it on a billboard next to the highway, I'm afraid this wouldn't make the cut.

 

[akelly]

This never would have flown at my dance studio. I think for me, the problem is just the total package. The moves were not appropriate, but one or two on their own would not have been as bad. The costumes were too much, but in a different dance would not have stood out as muc .

Yes, when I danced I wore costumes that did not cover much more- but our costumes did not look like something out of a lingerie catalogue. My problem isn't just with how revealing (and we certainly had more conservative costumes when we were that age), it's the idea that they look like undergarments you would wear on a honeymoon.

We also would not have been doing so much thrusting, shaking, butt dropping, etc. Way too inappropriate for that age. The girls have wonderful technical skills. I don't know many girls who could do a triple pirouette. But it's hidden in all the nonsense. It takes zero dance training to do some of those shimmies, anybody who has been to a school dance could tell you that. That routine have showcased their skills so much better. Instead, there were a few complicated moves hidden underneath a lot of silliness.

As a mom of a competitive dancer - WOW, WOW and WOW again. Never ever have I seen anything like that and never would I let my daughter participate in that dance.

I love the PP's statement I bolded above. The choreography on that dance was sloppy, the pirouettes were terrific but everything else was an absolute mess.

As for the costumes, they are too revealing, and certainly too revealing for that dance. But, it all depends on the dance, too. For instance, this past weekend I saw a group dance in a miniskirt with a little bathing suit style halter top with a sailors collar. It didn't reveal quite as much as the girls in the video but close. BUT, they had two pigtails, a cute little hat on, and danced to a totally age appropriate song. They were followed a few dances later by a same-aged group that had on a less revealing costume but who did very age-inappropriate moves. This second group was the one people were whispering about (not in a good way).

BTW, judges do judge on age-appropriateness of costumes. It is figured into the scores at competitions.

My DD9 is actually doing "Single Ladies" for her hip-hop number this year for a regular class (not a competition number). The teacher wanted to use it but went back and forth about it being ok for this age group (7-10 year olds). When the Chipettes version came out (from Chipmunks movie) she decided to go with that version. Love it!

I don't have time to read through the whole thread. Was anyone able to confirm that these were seven year olds? They looked older than that to me. Just wondering?