I've been doing a lot of news searches this morning because, hell, it's Memorial Day! That's what you do on Memorial Day! Laundry, dishes, BBQs, and news searches. Isn't that what everyone does?
Oh no? It's not? Oh. Nevermind then.
In any case, I found this very disturbing gem on HuffPo about an hour ago:
A Pierce County mother says she's horrified by a cartoon video - posted online - that showed several ways to kill her sixth grade daughter. The cartoon was made off school grounds by some of her daughter's classmates, girls aged 11 and 12. Titled "Top Six Ways to Kill Piper," it includes depictions of girls shooting her, making her commit suicide, poisoning her and even pushing her off a cliff.
!!!!!
I KNOW!
As the mother of an 8-year-old girl, American society's current trend towards not valuing, and even hurting, young girls who are different or unique is beyond disturbing to me. If I was the mom of one of the children who made that video about Piper, my kid would be grounded for the rest of her natural-born life. I'd send her little ass to therapy, and I might even seriously consider some sort of hardcore wilderness training.
In short, I would try to curb this behavior immediately. Anything else would be wholely unacceptable to me, because seriously, how can you not empathize with Piper and her family? How can you not recognize that this is NOT OK?!
From the video:
Beth Smith, (Piper's mom):
One guy blew it off and said he was making dinner! Yeah, he was busy making dinner right now, he'd get back to us.
Nice goin', Dad. I'm sure the Smith family really appreciates your wonderful support. I could make a bunch of wisecracks about how your <insert horrible adjective here> daughter will probably be Regina George in a few years, but that's a gimme.
I'm not really worried about my own kid, I gotta say. My little 8-year-old is more the Janis Ian type than anything else. She's been taught to use her looks for Good and not for Evil, and to be nice and respectful to everyone, or she'll have to deal with me. She stands up for herself, and her friends definitely have her back. (Remind me to tell you the Littlest Pet Shop story. Pretty cool shit, I tell you wut.) 2 years ago, this boy was teasing my child about being too "girly", because she likes dancing and stuff, and holy crap, did she ever smack him down!
Shiz's daughter: What is your problem with dancing, man? For your information, I can breakdance like it's going out of style. Listen, I'll get down on the floor right now and show you, just to prove it.
Heh. I know, it's a HUGE shock to y'all that my offspring is assertive. And I would submit that we need more girls these days to be like Cady or Janis, instead of Regina, Gretchen, or Karen. Piper seems like an awesome, well-adjusted kid, sorta like Cady. And if we don't curb the trend of the freaking Plastics in the American education system, then middle school is going to become more unbearable than it already is. Could you even imagine?!
Ugh. I can't even handle adult women who compete with other women. Regina George's mom is not my friend. (But I would gladly hang out any day with Amy Poehler, just so we're clear. :P)