Let Girls be Girls

Published: June 26 2006

Last weekend my daughter was invited to a birthday party for one of her friends who was turning 10. All of the girls attending the party were either 9 or 10. The party was planned so that the girls would have pizza at the birthday girl's house and then they would all go to the mall to complete the celebration. Parents were to pick up their daughters at Club Libby Lu in the mall.

Never having had the pleasure of shopping at Libby Lu before, I must say I was shocked when I got there to get my daughter. First of all, the store was very pink! Pink and purple and lace and girly stuff everywhere. There were tiaras, fairy dust, more pink and purple.

I walked into the store to find my 10-year-old daughter dressed in a white and silver sparkly spandex outfit. The top was sleeveless consisting of one shoulder while the other shoulder was a sequenced strap. The top came slightly below the top of the ribcage and left about 4 or 5 inches of belly showing (when you're ten years old, 4 or 5 inches of exposed belly is a lot).

The waistline of the white spandex pants was trimmed in silver sequence and so were the pant bottoms. Being spandex, it hugged her little body.

After getting over the initial shock of the outfit, I then zeroed in and realized that my 10-year-old daughter had on eyeshadow, star decals around her eyes, glossy sparkling lipstick, her hair re-done into a bun atop her head with sprayed on sparkle and glitter. To top it all off, she was wearing a tiara.

My throat began to close. I felt like I was in a tunnel and I couldn't speak for a moment. I was saved because as I was standing there with my mouth agape, other parents began to show up.

As I was leaving my trance, I saw one of the fathers standing there in shock. I asked him how comfortable was he standing in this pink place. He jokingly said he's getting into contact with his feminine side. We chuckled and I realized that I suddenly had the urge to go home and watch football, basketball, hockey, wrestling or even boxing. The place was getting to me.

Another mother showed up and stood there slowly looking around with her mouth open. I guess that's how I looked a couple of minutes before. She was in shock.

To top it off, after they dress the girls up in the skimpy outfits, they parade them around the store singing and dancing and waving their hands/hips and anything else waveable. They paraded the girls to the front of the store (which is open for all mall walkers to see). Once at the front of the store, they have the girls sing and dance and wave, shake and perform to whoever is walking by. Of course, people stopped to watch.

All of the parents were standing there dumbfounded.

What is America coming to? I was mortified when my daughter said to me that she loved it and she wanted to have her party there. I mumbled under my breath, oh no you won't. This place won't be here a year from now, because I'll have burned it to the ground.

The other parents applauded and laughed, because they felt the same way.

No, I'm not a pyromaniac and I do not applaud burning establishments to the ground, but if a magic fairy were to grant me 3 wishes, my first wish would be to erase that place and places like that off the face of the earth. My next wish is to put some smarts into parents so they do not fall prey to societal pressures to dress young children up like little streetwalkers, and last, but certainly not least is to allow children to be children.

That's my two cents and I'm sticking with it.

About the Author: I am Felicia A. Williams, a wife, mom, grandma, writer and eternal student.

Last Modified: 21 May 2021