Recently, the Comedian and I broke into a debate about raising girls in the current environment with social media being such an influence. I really had no idea how to argue his point. I'm not a parent and I don't have experience with the psychology of a young person. I'm not really sure how others are developed, I only know my own story. There is some sort of fear of raising a child. You don't know how they will grow up or what kind of adult you would be, one would just have faith that you would instill your values into this child and let them out in the world. Does this ideal make us naive?
This conversation came up because of the recent album cover of Nikki Minaj. Basically, her bare bottom is shown as she is bent down. She has made a name for herself as a talented artist and young girls look up to her. So does this make it okay to show our bodies in that manner? What kind of message does that deliver to little kids? Not too long ago, Kim Kardashian posted an Instagram photo with her in a revealing bathing suit that made us question the same.
Granted, when I was growing up, there were influences like Madonna and Cindi Lauper, however, I was very sheltered. My parents never talked to me about sex and I was always told to dress conservatively. My mom is an old school Catholic woman. I remember she made a comment about my rebellious stage in college. I used to show a lot of cleavage because I felt that if I was blessed to be endowed in that area, I should show it off. She said that I had one side of my closet I wore around her and the other I didn't. Ha! I don't dress like that any more if you're wondering. Something about not being 21 anymore changed my wardrobe.
After the conversation ended, I posted a question on Facebook asking the opinion of others. Many felt strongly that is more difficult to raise girls in this generation than before because technology is so accessible. Others said the jury was still out. Children have influences from their friends where they might have cell phones at 7 years old and able to watch things that are not being supervised by parents. There's a comedian, Louis C.K., who was asked by his 9 year old daughter whether she could have a cell phone, he told her, "No". She questioned and he answered that she wasn't old enough to have a phone. She rebutted that her friend had one. He still said, "No".
The question is whether parents have enough influence on their children to become good adults, to not follow in the footsteps of pop stars showing off their sexuality and sending the wrong message to the opposite sex. How do we really know? The thing is, we don't. We don't know how our children are going to turn out, however, we pray that they are healthy and lead good lives. In the long run, we love them and want them to have the time of their lives like we did.
