.
I found a pair of girls corduroy pants in my bedroom, that look to be my daughters' size.
I go to their room and ask them, "Do these fit either of you?"
They both replied, "No."
Hmmm. What is wrong with the pants?
To which my fashion savvy daughter enlightens me: "I can't wear those because they make my butt look big."
My ten year old thinks her butt looks big?
Using my sternest, no nonsense voice, I replied, "Oh, they do not. You don't need to worry about such nonsense. Now here, take the pants"
Savvy Daughter: "Oh yes they do! They don't have back pockets. Pants without back pockets make your butt look big!"
Stern Me: "That has nothing to do with anything. Here, take the pants."
Savvy Daughter: "Yes, Mom! Pants without pockets make your butt look big! They do! Look, it says so in the book you gave me!"
In my most incredulous mom voice: "What?" (Thinking, "yeah, right!")
To which she produces the book, that yes, I gave her for Christmas last year, School Handbook for Girls* by Lisa Regan. I purchased it at the Scholastic Book Sale put on by their school each year.
And then my daughter quickly flips to the exact page, titled, Dream Jeans, where it says,
"If you're concerned that your butt is too big to wear jeans, think again. Choose a pair with large rear pockets to minimize your butt. Small pockets make it look bigger and no pockets will make it look huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge!"
Savvy Daughter: "See, Mom?!?"
I say nothing. I know when I've been beat.
And instead of taking a moment to explain that she has a beautiful little butt and doesn't need to worry about her butt looking huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge like the book I gave her says, I left the room with my mouth hanging open, determined to write a letter to the publisher, or leave an angry review on Amazon books, or both.
Or maybe just to blog about it.
*BackPackBooks. 2006. Miles Kelly Publishing Ltd.
31 comments:
This mom is speechless, too.
omg. Why do things ALWAYS come back to bite us in the ass?
I'm sending you over a bottle- you're gonna need it.
(shaking my head) If only future 35-year-old daughter could zap in from 2033 and give "herself" a good lesson in loving the great body when you still have one.
They say youth is wasted on the young, my take is a 16-year-old's body is wasted on a 16-year-old!!
But if memory serves me correctly, there isn't any way to teach that. Darn it.
Em
mental p -- uh huh.
vodka mom -- in one, long, glorious swallow.
eudea-mamia -- you are so right. it's like the 24 yr olds I see in my office who lament their fatness IN FRONT OF ME, the 40-something, overweight, wishing I had that body for ONE NIGHT. It's exactly as you say: young bodies are so wasted on the young. But I guess we should be glad, huh? Otherwise they would rule the world!
Oh, that makes me want to spit. Seriously, who writes a book for girls and in all good conscience warns them about their large rear end? Does she have children? Was she a girl? Going to sign off now, before I start typing in CAPS and using too many exclamation points!!!
The indoctrination begins.
Oh My God!!! My jaw just dropped. How irresponsible to write such a stupid (and untrue) thing! I'd say write both to the author and leave an honest review on Amazon. That was bad!!
Wow! Girls these days have SO much to deal with.
lol, your daughter sounds like my lil' sister :)
Crap. I won't be buying that book any time soon.
Fricking sad.
Oh, good lord. Writing something like that for elementary-age girls is flat-out cruel.
That's B.S. And makes me really angry that Scholastic, of all publishers, should have this kind of B.S. in one of their books.
And she absorbed it too. Took it in. So they can't argue that ten years olds don't get it.
'Cause they do.
And it is all wrong.
Wow! There is always crap hidden in the most innocent looking things, isn't there?!
oh no!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you'll have to get her a feminist book for christmas this year ;)
ridiculous.
okay,you have to write these people or tell them that you will get the message out that anyone caught reading their book will look like a huuuuuuge MORON!
A similar exchange took place at our house not too long ago and ended with Daughter #2 telling Daughter #1 that pants do not make your butt look big, your big butt makes your butt look big. This was followed up by their little brother chiming in that no one wants to look at either one of their butts anyway.
Sometimes they forget that whole "supportive family" concept for a little while.
Poor chickies. The decks are so stacked against any of us making it through school with any self-esteem as it is, and now Scholastic is going to help? Yuck.
If you write to the publisher's, send over a slap for me, 'kay?
Bastards.
That is horrible. And also bad advice--I only wear pants with three foot wide pockets on the butt.
Let's bombard Scholastic. They should really know better.
*crappy day and feeling in the mood for a bit of a scrap!*
Ah I never knew that. Not that anything would make my butt (ooh I never say that word - I am frowning now!) look smaller. The jeans could be one big pocket and it wouldn't help.
I am rather glad I don't have any more girls. Boys would read that and start taking the piss immediately. But I know from the way my sons joke at the dinner table, that the girls at school do talk about their physical appearance and sense of dissatisfaction with it. Such a shame because these girls are slim as anything.
I think the world has swung a bit far the other way - people let their young children get too fat and everyone is too polite to say anything. I think that for every child who perhaps used to suffer anorexia because of people teasing them about their weight, there are now 100 who will suffer illness through obesity instead because we are all too scared to say "well, maybe she shouldn't have a tenth helping of chocolate cake."
Oh I don't know. So difficult.
Wow. My 11 year old thinks she's fat because she has a little belly bulge. She's not fat, she's just shaped that way - she's petite and short-waisted... think Rachel Ray's shape - hers is like that. But her friends are tall and skinny minny's and she recently told me she needed to go on a diet. I'm treading the water carefully - realizing this is a crucial time in her development where some girls develop eating disorders.
That book -- yeah, Scholastic needs slapped and I hope you do write them a letter.
Things like this shouldn't still surprise me, but my jaw is dropped. All those messages flying at them can't be avoided anywhere these days. I let my 16 yr. old buy outrageous bikinis last summer, because it occurred to me looking back, that I wish someone told me to wear a bikini every day of my life when I was 16. So much time wasted worrying about my butt looking big. I hate that. Did the author really drag out huuuuge?
margo -- unfortunately, yes .. the huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge is exactly how it was written (give or take a "u")
This is truly disgusting! A 10 year old girl should not be worrying about the size of her ass. The author of that book IS a pretty big ass. So, basically we not only have to watch movies before letting them watch, but we have to read their books first? GAH!
how ridiculous, don't little girls have enough self-esteem issues due to our culture, they don't need anymore from a book that should be helping them! let us know, if you write that letter.
Are you frickin' kidding?? The idea that 10-year-old girls should be concerned about this is something I find amazing.
10-year-old boys, on the other hand, oh so completely different...or at least mine is...holy moly.
I'd take Vodka Mom upon the bottle...you may need it!!
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