7 Year-Old "Single Ladies": Child Pornography, or Innocent Dancing?

While child pornography has not yet become totally acceptable in our society, a recent video of five 7-year old girls forming a dance troupe executing perfectly choreographed moves to the Beyonce song "Single Ladies" can only make one think, "What was going through the heads of the adults who made this video?

The five girls are dressed in skimpy bikini style red and black costumes (think Folies Bergere), engaging in hip shaking and moves that might be better done with a pole. Just when you thought the objectification of females went out with feminism, a group of otherwise cute little girls are imitating moves Britney Spears would engage in. Beyonce herself is 29, an age better suited for clothes and that sort of thing. Most parents in their right mind would never allow their young daughters to be exposed to what these girls are doing, much less dress and dance like that on stage. So what gives?

The actual video was taped at the World of Dance competition in Pomona, California last month. Then when the video showed up on Youtube, well, the inevitable happened, as with many videos that have been uploaded at the site. Copyright issues kept the full video from being played. Then there is the problem of child identification in the video (pedophiles are unusually successful at tracking down children who appeal to them on the Internet and find out where they live). Do the parents of these girls really think it is "precious" how their girls exhibit themselves onstage? These kids are not even wearing ballet costumes, performing at a recital. No, instead, the moves these kids are doing are more reminiscent at an age 21 and over club that is only open after daytime hours. And what about the adult who trained these little girls for the dance? What was going through her head? Do those who chose to participate in this video think it would be a keepsake for the child who, when the child grows up and has children of her own, have kids who say, "That's my Mom, Miss Folies Bergere aged 7!"? It is not bad enough when a child's innocence is destroyed like this in the name of, well, whatever it is done in the name of, because it is neither cuteness nor popularity. All I can think of is, JonBenet Ramsey, the former beauty pageant queen who was made up to look like a 20 year old at the tender age of 6 then brutally murdered in 1996. It is a terrible thing to think about, children who are exposed to unnecessary influences such as pornography at such young ages. Who can rescue children from adults who force them into doing things like this? Right now, the state does not do the best job of rescuing these kids. What will happen to the five 7 year-olds in the Beyonce video? Children that age really do not need to be sexualized and initiated into sexual behavior like that displayed in the video. The saddest part is that there will always be someone who will try to justify the exploitation of innocent children in our society.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/14/AR2010051404324.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82K2VnWpWas