Guest editorials…Sexualization of ­children, teens

The World of Dance competition held in Los Angeles recently ignited a firestorm of controversy when video footage of a performance by five 7-year-olds, scantily dressed and bumping and grinding to Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” showed up on the Internet. The two-minute performance has been uploaded to thousands of sites, including YouTube, which has seen more than 100,000 views. But while some laud over the “tremendous dance techniques” of the grammar school-aged girls, others have derived sexual excitement and pleasure from it. The parents of the girls have “no comment”.

Oddly enough, when the late-Dr. C. Delores Tucker, former chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women, pointed out the misogyny and sexualization of women and girls in hip-hop videos, she was ostracized, demonized and labeled “un-hip.” In the same vein, the overt sexualization of these five White girls, still clinging desperately to their baby teeth, speaks volumes on the level of depravity with which America is willing to embrace.

One commentator on the girls’ performance celebrates the talent and vibrancy of such young girls. If a stripper pole had been among the props, I wonder if the commentator would have felt the same.

It is no surprise that this performance shares news space with that of a 16-year-old runaway in New York, whose pimp beat her up and forced her to have sex with former Pro Football Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor. Also not surprising are the comments from many in the Black community that suggest the child is to blame not only for her sexual enslavement, but also for possibly causing Taylor to lose his Hall of Fame trophy. Why did she run away from home? What was she doing trusting some strange man? She should have known he was a pimp!

If parents are so loopy as to allow their children to perform lewd dance routines for the benefit of the pedophiles and sex traffickers of the world, how can they then expect these same children to have discernment enough to walk away from hidden dangers involving their sexuality?

(Reprinted from the Washington Informer.)

About Post Author

Comments

From the Web

Skip to content