all little girls should be told they are pretty...

"All little girls should be told they are pretty, even if they aren't."
— Marilyn Monroe

The Mr. and I went to the mall on Friday night and for some crazy reason, I decided to run into Claire's. I know, I'm too old to shop there, but it doesn't stop me from going in. Anyway, in the middle of the store was a little girl of probably 7 or 8 years old getting her ears pierced. I'm not sure the procedure had even begun yet and the little girl was crying her poor little eyes out. Now, normally I probably would have thought, "Yikes!" and moved on. But for some reason, the scene just really made me mad. Has society convinced the girl that in order for her to fit in or to be pretty she has to get her ears pierced? Did her mother drag her in? {My guess on the latter one is "no".} My assumption is that all of her friends have their ears pierced and she feels like she has to do what they do so she can fit in, or they've talked her into it because it's "un-cool to have unpierced ears!" or something to that effect. It just really frustrated me. Let me just say that I do NOT have any problem with little girls getting their ears pierced. I think I had mine done when I was about that age and I distinctly remember telling my mom I wanted it done. Of course, that was because all of my friends were doing it. So it's not the ear piercing that bothers me. Rather, it's the fact that a child of that age, who was so terrified of the pain, was willing to go through it anyway just so she would feel like she was pretty. I don't blame her parents either because my parents always told me how beautiful I was, but I just always thought, "Of course you think that, you're my mom." I am just saddened at the state of society where women have to look, act and dress a certain way to be considered "pretty." Even at such a young age. We all want to feel beautiful. That's natural. I just hate the definitions of "beauty". I wish I could be strong enough to always go my own way and to always march to the beat of my own drum, but it's extremely hard. God sees us all as beautiful, so why can't we see that for ourselves?

I know this isn't a new topic by any means, but I just wish things were different. If I ever become the mother to a little girl, I just pray that I can teach her the meaning of true beauty, and instill in her the strength I've never had.