You're OK, I'm OK

WTF? Is this an AprilFools joke? What the fuck are you talking about

It’s not a joke, it’s insightful social journalism that I happen to find fascinating. If you’re asking someone to give you the gist of it because you can’t be bothered to read it, well, I’m afraid I can’t be bothered to do that.

Just a few generalized comments:

1) If you're under 30, and have no kids, call me in ten years and tell you how YOU are doing it. You have no idea what you're talking about. Having children doesn't automatically turn you into someone else, and it's a really interesting ride trying to figure out who the you who is a mommy/daddy looks like, and what s/he wants, and what works for you in your new life. Everybody makes that decision differently, and as long as your kid is healthy, happy, and reasonably well adjusted, you get the good parent prize.

2) If I dress my child who can't pick her own clothes in Pooh, it's not because she likes Pooh, it's because I like Pooh on her. If I dress my child in starched dresses and make her keep them clean, it's also about what I think a child should be, and I'm teaching her being pretty is better than playing in the dirt. If I dress my little girl in tshirts and jeans, I'm doing the opposite. If I give her a mohawk, I'm expressing my own personality just the same, but, for christ's sake, don't think that I'm teaching her some big life lesson involving corporate America. She's going to preschool, not an interview for a six figure job.

3) As my momma taught me on her knee, all clothes (and this includes haircuts) are costumes. They're not you, they are not permanent. You can wear a Clash t-shirt one day and a Brooks Brothers' suit the next. I grew up in Arkansas in the '70s and '80s, I had the freaky hair and clothes, I have three degrees and a corporate job in the South with lots of fringes and a corporate credit card and a wardrobe that runs heavily to black and Emily the Strange. All me, and the one never made any difference to the other.

4) We're all still growing up, hopefully until we die, even if we're 105. We all still have someone we want to grow up to be.

Relax.

However, if you're dressing her in a studded choker, a pointy bra, and a tutu, you're teaching her to be a social outcast. And if there's one thing I hated about my childhood, it was being a social outcast.

I feel this way a lot these days. Going to school with a bunch o f20 year olds probably helps that feeling along. I'm not sure if most of them mistaking me for one of them as a compliment on my youthful good looks or whether I am patheticly clinging to my early twenties.

or

[Edited on Apr 02, 2006 by Clov]

Actually, in New Orleans, if I dress her in a choker, a pointy bra, and a tutu, she's going to get a lot of comments on how cute she is. Her little friends at school will still think she's fine. In what way is she going to be a social outcast? Every little girl I know would think that was a dream outfit, if mommy would let her wear it to school.

That said, I'd think the pointy bra would be age inappropriate. Sexualizing children, to me, seems unhealthy.

So here's the impression I got from the story: People who have enough money to act however they want, are acting however they want. Brilliant.

This, of course, is a seismic shift in intergenerational relationships. It means there is no fundamental generation gap anymore. This is unprecedented in human history. And it’s kind of weird.

It's also a lie. As I've aged I've defined myself less and less by the music I listen to, the clothes I wear, and the toys I buy. I see that among my friends as they grow up also. I always thought that was what they called maturity, but maybe everyone I know is just totally uncool.

The only reason I can imagine to promote this lie is to make people comfortable with the idea of reliving their adolesence as long as humanly possible. The longer people keep defining themselves by their music, their clothes and their toys, the longer they will keep spending too much money on music, clothes, and toys.

That's why I said "my child who can't pick her own clothes." I didn't say kids don't like cartoons, just that I am dressing her in them, as opposed to her picking them out. My daughter, now two, can dress herself, and loves her "Bert shirt". Cartoons are great. Lucy also loves her little pimp coat and hat, and would wear them all the time if mommy said it was OK. She picked them out.

edited because I can't read my own post



[Edited on Apr 02, 2006 by et_ux]

[Edited on Apr 02, 2006 by et_ux]

To me, the whole thing about the article is not the trendiness of this movement (if you can call it a movement), it's that it's so natural to most of us. I love Interpol and the Killers and Bloc Party, but I never thought that I wasn't supposed to. A few years ago, some buddies I worked with who were 10 years younger than me, turned me onto videogames. Now, I still go to the stores to see what new titles are out. To me, that's just what I like to do and who I am. I didn't think about it as a cultural or generational revolution until I saw the article.

Mostly because our culture has an unhealthy obsession with youth. To the point of increasingly ostracizing a person to the point of alienation the older they get(in terms of the media, Im sure everyone's nice to their grandparents ).

[Edited on Apr 02, 2006 by wottan]

Bingo.

haha.

stop acting like a cunt and try to stay on topic and you got yourself a deal