Ok, here’s a warning, rant coming on, so leave now if you want…
On Friday night, BB & GG had their music concert, which I wrote earlier. There I realised that most people found it very normal to put on make-up to their little girls – some as young as three and four!
My view about this is fairly straitforward – GG gets to wear make-up when she turns 15. If there are compeling reasons to wear make-up earlier, it will not be anytime before secondary school (13 or thereabouts) and then too it has be something very light – maybe lipgloss when she goes out. I am not discounting the odd make-up when is forced to wear it (like a performance in school etc), but in situations where it is not needed, I totally dislike it on young girls. According to me putting on chemicals on their faces now will lead to many problems later on in life. Also they are children, not miniature adults! Is there a need to make them look like adults so soon? Let them enjoy their childhood first. Are the parents even aware what is in the cosmetics that they are putting on their daughters? Have they read labels? This has the makings of their faces looking older than their real ages by the time they reach their mid-twenties. Even if the girls ask for it, isn’t it our jobs as parents to not let them do it?
The show on Friday was a very casual one with just the children who learn from this particular teacher and their parents. I saw girls with full make-up (by this I mean eyeshadow, eye liner, blush, lipstick and nail polish) while the others did variations of the theme. I think GG along with just 2-3 other girls was sans makeup at all. The colours used were the real dark colours like dark red and burgundy.
Another thing which gets my goat is the same young girls wearing shoes with heels. The same rule that applies for make-up applies for shoes for GG, although she has been longing for heels. When heels are said not be good even for adults, imagine what it would do to a young girl’s feet even before it has had a chance to fully grow!
Ok rant over, we can all go back to our lives now
What do you think about girls being allowed to wear make-up and heels before they should?
Memories and Such 
Its such a pity, but we see this here too….every time i go to school for some prog, i see the girls all togged up, fully made up, while i land up sans any! in fact, the girls dress up exactly like their moms, and the moms seem to think its ‘cute’!!!! wonder what these girls will grow into! and boys arent much better…. i attended a bday party and was shocked to see boys less than 8 styling their hair with all sorts of chemicals – colours, gels,. the whole lot! bringing up kids these days is scary at times!
Hi Anu,
I know! Here in Singapore, it’s getting quite scary to see girls in full make-up and along with that you have the so called ‘fashionable’ clothes, which to me are nothing less than what adults would wear to the disco or evenings out. Call me a prude or old fashioned, but I prefer young children look exactly that. Also how can parents think it’s ‘cute’ that they little ones want to be adults so soon? Me, I want to have my babies be young as much as I can – after all you do have to grow up one day and face the world, so why hurry it up? Also won’t all this lead to the sexualisation of young children and make them even more tempting to the ‘wrong’ kind of people? (I don’t want to use words which may encourage the wrong kind of people here)
Buying shoes also is now a pain because almost all shoe shops have shoes for young girls which come with heels. I have to dig in to find ballet flats or other shoes without heels!
Bringing up children has always been difficult for our generation, but with all this around, it’s just gotten harder!
H
I’m with you on this one — why do mothers want their little girls to grow up so fast? I am the oldest of five girls – and weren’t allowed to wear makeup (or date) until we were 16 years old. The same rule applied to my own two daughters. Everyone survived and they weren’t outcasts. I just don’t get the whole attitude of making our girls look like hookers! Rant on honey –I’m right behind you!
Thanks Katie for dropping by, I’m glad to hear that I’m not alone here.