Little Girls and Modern Women
Behold, readers. A cute, little girl playing a modern woman:
The Huffington Post seemed to think this is endearing. I happen to think it is disturbing. And not just because she is wearing an outfit I might actually sport, as well as has my exact same glasses, computer, and phone.
Am I the only one who thinks that this little girl playing grownup is actually really sad? Let’s break it down, shall we?
First, the stereotypes abound. Clearly, a modern woman must:
- Look good
- Drive a VW Beetle
- Type furiously
- Decline invitations to office parties
- Sue people
- Eat frozen meals because she has no time to cook
- Watch Sex & the City
- Enjoy some light reading before bedtime (aka really thick nonfiction)
Is this truly how we see the modern woman? If so, we really do have some important work to do. It also makes me wonder how we would see the modern man… but I won’t go there.
Second, however, it absolutely concerns me that we are seeing a little girl play a grown-up woman. And I’m not sure what disturbs me more: that this little girl is growing up much faster than she should, or that the modern woman’s concerns are being trivialized (and infantalized) by whoever made this movie.
What do you think, readers?
I don’t think there’s anything necessarily wrong with little kids playing grown-up. I LOVED playing dress up when I was little, and a lot of times that involved pretending to be an adult (in a super skewed, childish way, of course). But I think what is particularly bothersome about this video is the fact that this seems like something her parents thought would be cute, rather than something she was doing and her parents documented it. This little girl probably doesn’t actually play grown up by getting into a car or watching Sex and the City, which made it a lot less cute than watching, say, the viral video of that adorable 5-year-old girl who talks about needing a job before she gets married. This one just feels really forced and inauthentic.
YES! Exactly. It’s creepy in that it’s not the little girl’s adorable (mis)conception of what it means to be a grown up. It’s someone else’s idea of what it would be funny to see a little girl do on camera.
This gives me hope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CU040Hqbas&feature=player_embedded
YES!!!!!!!!!!