the lolita factory

Is it just me, or are there some of you out there in bloggerland who also have a strong disdain for Disney and their 'Lolita Factory'? You know that place where young girls are being groomed into prepubescent stardom and taught that traits like sauciness, sassiness and sexiness are appropriate for today’s teen/tween audience? I don’t blame it all on Disney – there are parents out there who allow their kids to be treated like a commodity - Lindsay Lohan and her mother Dina are a perfect example - but an attachment to the Disney brand and the money that follows are what makes it all sooo attractive. And if you’ve seen ‘Bruno’, you’ve seen that some parents will allow their kids to do anything for a chance at Hollywood’s brass ring.

My 6yr old niece’s name is Hannah. Everyone at her school, and even some members of our family, call her Hannah Montana. It makes me cringe! Miley Cyrus is a 16yrs old smoker who started living with her 20-something boyfriend with her parent's consent at the age of 15, and who at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, where the audience is...well...teens...was pole dancing dresed in next to nothing. Meanwhile, girls with a ‘cleaner’ image like Demi Lovato and Selena Gomez are being pushed to the backburner, clearing the way for the red-carpet antics of their sexier counterparts.

Now throw into the mix shows like 'Toddlers & Tiaras'; in our current society tramping up young girls is becoming the norm and good old fashioned values are being thrown by the wayside.

I remember when Jodie Foster and Brooke Shields being accepted into Yale and Princeton respectfully was considered celebrity news; giving girls at the time (like me) something real to aspire to. Now all it takes is a flash of skin without panties and 'hacked' cell phone pics to become CNN headline news.

So I’m fighting back. How? I have started watching Little House on the Prairie with Hannah, so that she can learn it is not cool to sass grown-ups, attitude will not win you friends (courtesy of one Nellie Olsen) and that doing the right thing will always earn you respect (remember when Laura and Bunny won the horse race and she gave the cup back to Mrs. Olsen?). She calls it ‘our show’ and often has to remind me when it is on. In addition to that, a full Miley/Hannah boycott. Not a dime to be wasted on that crap. And I am always on the lookout for more positive role models for young girls – like Demi and Selena – to encourage Hannah to look up to. Any suggestions?

Please feel free to weigh in - I would love to hear your thoughts...whether you agree, disagree or agree to disagree!

Cheers,
Lori