Monday, April 28, 2008

Hannah Montana

Hannah Montanna's appeal is evident by the fact that in spite of having never seen the show on TV my 8 year old has a poster of the fictional pop star in her room and had a Hannah Montana cake for her birthday. After the Jamie Lynn Spears pregnancy, Miley Cyrus got elevated to some kind of a perfect-wholesome-teenagers status with articles about her faith in God and her excellent upbringing under strict rules etc. in every magazine. Hence, it was inevitable that some horrible photo or article would emerge to pop that balloon. It happened this weekend.

Some provocative images of Miley Cyrus with her boyfriend circulated the net. I was however, more worried by the spread she posed for in Vanity Fair magazine. Apparently her parents were at the shoot, and it was the famed photographer Annie Leibovitz handling the camera. Everybody was quite aware the photo would make Miley appear nude, covered by a satin sheet. Miley was apparently clothed under the sheet, but does that really matter? From what I read everyone was on board with what the picture was going to look like, and everyone involved with the photo shoot, including Miley and Ms Liebovitz themselves, agreed that the photo would appear "artistic".

I am not stranger to art and yes nudes can be very artistic! What shocks me is the state of current culture that nobody batted an eyelid about a 15 year old kid appearing to be nude in a magazine spread - art or no art! Yes, it is "simple" and "beautiful" picture, but it is a girl in the picture not a grown woman. She is insanely famous, but Miley is still a kid, and although she did not do a Britney Spears style sexy-school-girl photo, in my mind that kind of pose is inappropriate for a young girl. Why would the photographer suggest it and why would her parents agree? Could it be that we have gotten so desensitized by the sexualization of everything that it never occurred to anybody that maybe it is not a very good idea to photograph a 15 year old, naked in bed with a sheet held up to her chest?

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Food shortage

You know there has been talk for some time that we are on the brink of some very bad times - global warming, food shortages, chemicals in everything etc etc. It has finally hit home when Sam's club decides to limit rice purchases. Things must be really bad if we are going to have food rationing in the USA!

Once things start getting expensive perhaps the overboard consumerism will stop. To my kids, living in this land of plenty, nothing is precious anymore. You buy them cupcakes and they complain about the color of the frosting! That has always felt wrong to me but I don't know what the solution is. To my kids food is this ubiquitous thing, available in any shape, size and taste you want, at any time you want and there is nothing special about it. They have no respect for food or its preciousness and I don't know how to teach them this important lesson. Do I make them lead a life of deprivation just to teach them life lessons? I truly believe that hardship in life is important to grow resilient, strong and grounded human beings but can I force hardship on my own kids. Probably not but then I fail in my duty as a mother, and therein lies my dilemma. I think I will make my kids change schools every two years -that ought to force some hardship!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Independence

A recent article and subsequent discussion on a mailing list I am on, made me think about something much simpler. The article is about a parent letting their 9yo take the public transportation.

For me the much simpler topic was letting the kids drink out of a regular cup instead of a sippy-cup. I know that doesn't compare to letting a kid ride a subway alone but hear me out. As a parent there are a lot of things I do not let me children do because I think they are not ready for it. One such thing is letting them drink out of a regular cup unless they are at the table. My kids, aged 6 and 8, drink a cup of milk before going to bed. We always do this in their carpeted bedroom, sitting on their bed or the floor while reading books. They drink their milk from sippy-cups without the valves, because I am afraid they will spill the milk. On further thought I realized that I was approaching this all backwards. They aren't going to cross some magical age and suddenly have the skills to handle a regular cup. It is a skill they will learn only when they practice it, and if I don't let them, they'll never learn. Starting last week I am letting them both use a regular cup for their milk. Yes, they tend to tip it because they are engrossed in their book, but I am their to help and warn and we haven't had any spills yet. Even if we do, what is one little spill on the road to learning a new skill, eh?