7-year-olds & Single Ladies: Appropriate?

[IDrinkaRum]

Should 7-year-old children be dancing/dressing suggestively to Beyonce's song, "Single Ladies"?

Video shows a group of 5 girls dressed in barely-there costumes dancing suggestively to the song "Single Ladies".

What were the parents/promoters/dance instructor thinking?

[Hobbs]

I saw it...I was kinda amazed at some of the dance moves the girls pulled off.

[Red Panda]

Maybe none of those people thought it was wrong because none of them are attracted to 7 year old girls? What you call suggestive is an entire style of dance that is in no way inherently more sexual then any other kind of dance. You could argue that any kind of slow dancing is more sexual since it involves actual contact between a boy and a girl. The costumes are revealing but any nudist will tell you that showing skin is not by itself sexual. If the costumes are designed to resemble those worn by Beyonce and provide freedom to move then there's no reason nobody should be able to wear them.

[jackfaire]

If it's my daughter hell no and she would be yanked from whatever program immediatlyl if they couldn't understand why I feel like that is a bad idea.

However I believe that no one has the right to tell me what my kid will or will not do, as long as it is not harming herself or others, thus I must extend that courtesy to them and they can let their children do whatever they want.

Hell I swore I would never be an uptight dad but if I could I would screen all music, cartoons, and music until she was old enough to understand the concepts being put forth in them. Too often I have to say, "I will explain/You will understand when your older"

I try very hard not to be overbearing about it but I know her mom and grandmother agree with me that she needs to be allowed to experience childhood before rushing into adulthood.

Honestly I am not the dad that will be sitting there with a shot gun she will know how to knee the boy herself if he tries to hurt her on purpose. I don't think children should exist in a bubble.

Back to the specific topic at hand if girls "know" that it is okay to dance dirty to express their sexuality etc how will they know what bad touch is or when behavior isn't okay?

[Rebel]

Dude. Have you ever been to a dancing school or concert? All of them do this. I did dancing (jazz, tap, and acrobatics) from the time I was 4 until I turned 20. Even the tiny tots classes would have costumes that could be seen as bordering on inappropriate. Leotards, mid drift baring tops, barely there costumes, are all par for the course.

This isn't me saying that I'm condoning what dancing schools and teachers are having young girls wear and what sort of music they're dancing to. I think they're acting and dressing too old for their age. But another thing to realize is that most girls in dancing classes choose what songs they want to dance to and many can be the ones to put forth what they want their costumes to look like.

Hell, I looked back at my dancing concert videos recently and was surprised at what I was wearing even at 4-7 years of age, let alone when I was older. At the time though, I just knew I looked pretty.

[Parrothead]

They look like the costumes I wore to my jazz dance recitals when I was about that age.

(I was never that good, but...)

[Red Panda]

Who says "dirty" dancing has to be sexual. Sure they are gyrating, but if they were slow dancing with a boy who has a hand on the small of their back isn't that more sexual? There is not only contact but he is inches away from touching her but.

Kids aren't stupid. Because they dance a certain way it doesn't mean they won't understand bad touch, or because they don't dress modestly they won't understand what is appropriate.

When I was young and it was hot out I would want to go shirtless just like my brothers. Some adults let me others didn't. The thing is there was no reason to not let me. Anatomically I was no different and just because I was a girl and was showing skin I wasn't suddenly raped by the pedophiles who apparently live everywhere these days waiting for a girl to show too much skin. All the talk and worry about kids growing up too fast is what makes them grow up too dast because instead of being the unconcerned innocence that does what they want kids suddenly have to be concerned about what they wear and if it is too adult which makes them more adult

[jackfaire]

If the dancing is innocent and the costumes are not risque then I would have no issue with it, unless as my daughter alwasy does ask, "Daddy what does ^&%%&% mean I heard it in this song?" then I have slight issue with it.

There are songs that are explicit and it is inappropriate in my mind for my daughter to be encouraged to like said song.

Ask yourself this if the song was a rap song about beating girls and raping them would you want the girls dancing to it cuz, they chose it and they don't understand what it means.

[Hobbs]

If the dancing is innocent and the costumes are not risque then I would have no issue with it, unless as my daughter alwasy does ask, "Daddy what does ^&%%&% mean I heard it in this song?" then I have slight issue with it.

There are songs that are explicit and it is inappropriate in my mind for my daughter to be encouraged to like said song.

Ask yourself this if the song was a rap song about beating girls and raping them would you want the girls dancing to it cuz, they chose it and they don't understand what it means.

But the song isn't about raping and beating women...so that argument is irrelevant to the discussion.

[Red Panda]

Single Ladies isn't questionable. It actually empowers women. I'm not sure what you are saying. Your post makes it seem like you are saying you don't like inapropriate things, which is fine, but nothing in the video is inapropriate.

[AdminAssistant]

The dance moves are incredible (which to me suggests an intense training regiment for girls that age, but whatevs). Frankly, I do think the costumes are inappropriate. In the video, Beyonce and her dancers wore long-sleeved unitards that would have been a bit better. These costumes scream "Lingerie!" to me.

[Rebel]

Ask yourself this if the song was a rap song about beating girls and raping them would you want the girls dancing to it cuz, they chose it and they don't understand what it means.

While girls can choose the songs, they do have to be allowed by the dancing teachers and sometimes by the parents. This makes it very unlikely for an incident like you've described to happen.
In the case in the OP, the song and costumes, and even the dance, will have been okayed by the parents. Many parents would have seen it many times in the period leading up to the videotaped concert. If even 1 parent had complained, it would have had to be changed.

Now if the song the girls in the video had been dancing to was "Rude Boy" by Rhianna then this controversy would have had more backing.

[Amanita]

While the kids were very good dancers, I think the costumes were over the top for their age. They could have come up with outfits that were a little more age-appropriate, while still looking good and letting them move freely. The way I see it, when an adult woman dresses in a sexy outfit, she understands what message she's sending, and the reactions it may elicit. A child, not so much.

[Red Panda]

The child probably doesn't think there is any sexual connotation to the outfit and their shouldn't be. Those kids probably all show more when they go to the beach. The only people drawing any sexual conclusion to this situation are adults.

[The Shadow]

I wish I could say I was surprised by this, but I'm not. In my local mall I've seen sexualized clothes in store display windows - marketed towards girls as young as seven or eight.

What *does* surprise me though is that so many of you don't see anything wrong with this.

The only people drawing any sexual conclusion to this situation are adults.

Oh, I see. Well I guess that makes it OK then.