If your girls are involved in dance, this is the season for end-of-year recitals.
Competitive dance tryouts are also days away at many schools.
While some dance schools allow their pre-teen dancers to dress more modestly (shorts, t-shirts and headbands), there are a number of pictures on social media that leave me a little bewildered.
Parents are posting photos of their girls wearing skimpy shorts and crop tops that show their daughters’ bellies. They even have full make up and fake eyelashes.
I don’t have girls, so perhaps I’m not the one to offer commentary on the subject. Yet I still can’t help feel a little unsettled about the trend.
I get that this is just what dancers wear. It’s part of their costume and no dance school wants to stand out by being the only one to dress their dancers modestly when everyone other girl is wearing makeup and a flashy dance outfit.
I wonder how girls feel about this. What if they don’t have a perfect dancer’s body? Will this discourage them from competing? Will some drop out because they don’t feel comfortable dancing with so much bare skin showing? And as parents, are we not sexualizing girls from a young age by allowing them to wear skimpy outfits. I wouldn’t feel comfortable dancing in front of an audience with my butt hanging out of my shorts. Why is ok that our daughters must?
As dance season draws to an end, I can’t help but wonder what other parents think of the trend.
In my opinion, having been a dancer who did not have the "perfect dancer's body" It actually improved my body confidence and many girls who are not dancers wear less swimming and they are not shamed for it.
“I think there are these subtle messages, that sort of carry on that we shouldn’t show anything. Why shouldn’t we show something? Because something’s wrong with our body. We need to be teaching the boys what appropriate behavior is instead of teaching the girls that they have to cover up to protect themselves from the boys.”
I find that a lot of people seem to think we are people seem to think we are sexualizing young girls by letting them wear these costumes, but I think the problem lies more in the people who are looking at young girls in a sexual manner
I also find that the reason why many women are not "comfortable dancing in front of an audience with their butt hanging out of their shorts" has to do with them being told to be ashamed of their body and what it looks like There are places where people where little to no clothing at all and never think twice about it until they are introduced to the idea that this is wrong and here are the reasons why...
So over all I believe that it is less about the costumes being sexy and more about what people are sexualizing.
The concern is not what I think when I look at children in dance costumes as the mother of a dancer, but what pedophiles think as they look at the same children. My concerns stretch to suggestive dance moves, the lyrics of suggestive songs for preteen girls, and the message of their worth that comes from wearing next to nothing., and parents with no security settings on their social media accounts. A wonderful dancer need not dress in a tiny costume to get attention. People will stop and stare at their accomplishment no matter what they wear. I am thankful for dance competitions that recognize age appropriate costumes and music.
I wore makeup to dance recitals when I was a youngin.