"The most important gift anyone can give a girl is a belief in her own power as an individual, her value without reference to gender, her respect as a person with potential." - Emilie Buchwald

I am an advocate against little girls dressing up like grown ups. Come on lah weh, high heels and slinky spaghetti strap tank top can wait. Your kid is just a little girl; dress her up in little girl clothes lah. I cringe when I see girls on Tom Tom Bak dressing in sexy mini skirts and dancing bergelek to Inul’s dangdut. Yikes. Tom Tom Bak kadang-kadang macam mini fiesta for pedophiles pun ada. I know she’s your kid and you have the right to corak her kain putih but teaching your kid that bergelek 360 degrees on national TV is OK is just not OK in my book.

And Toddlers and Tiaras? Man, they have gone too far! I have nothing against kids becoming models. Toddlers prancing around in cute clothes flashing cute smiles adalah normal dan comel. But toddlers in spray tan, fake boobs, hair extension, black net stockings and killer high heels and oh, mekap tebal 10 inci, are definitely bukan normal dan tidak comel!

Come on lah weh. Akupun tak pernah mekap tebal begini. Creepy-looking kids!

And just when I thought the girl dressed in Madonna coned bra was bad enough, I found out from Mrs. Djones’ tweet that in the latest episode, a girl was dressed (by her mother, of course) as Julia Roberts’ character in Pretty Woman, in a crop top, mini skirt and thigh-high vinyl boots. Ya, as a hooker ya. Pfftt. What is wrong with her mother?! Yes, Vivian's a nice girl who happened to be a hooker and was lucky to have found love in the dashing and rich Richard Gere, but hell no you shouldn’t dress your little girl sebagai hooker! That’s just so wrong on so many levels.

This is how a little girl should dress, minus the songkok of course ;)

Anyways, kalau pandang positif, TV shows macam Toddlers and Tiaras maybelah kot, boleh boost self-confidence in kids, tapi lebih banyak negatif dari positif. Such shows and/or beauty contest seolah-olah ajar these kids that they have to be of certain sizes, wear certain clothes, and basically be physically cantik in order for them to be considered beautiful and/or successful. That’s just so wrong. Jadi ya, banyak negatif dari positif. Kalau nak boost self-confidence, pergi masuk pertandingan bercerita sana.

I am all YAY for talent competition. Kids showing bakat menyanyi, main gitar, melukis, bercerita etc etc; I am all for that. So people, stop dressing up your little girl inappropriately in Inul’s skimpy attire and start enrolling her in piano classes instead! Now!