4. Speaking of big talks with your young kids, what about explaining mixed race and same sex couples to young kids as they relate to babies and genes and all that? We love that Peggy Orenstein is taking over the Motherlode blog this week.
5. We don’t even know what to say about all these child geniuses.
The conversation about the Jonas Brothers’ purity rings is over. Sensationalizing Miley is now passé. But I am sure there will be plenty of discussion surrounding the music industry’s newest ingénue, Willow Smith, the daughter of actors Will and Jada Smith. Willow’s first music video, “Whip My Hair,” premiered yesterday. And there’s something about it that’s sitting really uncomfortably with me.
Maybe I should backtrack a little and introduce myself, as this is my first Bunchland blog post. The salient details are these: like you, I’m a pop-cultural fiend and a metropolitan gal about town. This gal though, is 25 and single. What up, Bunchland, hope you don’t mind a little sass! This is only to articulate that my perceptions on this topic don’t stem from a place of personal comparison. My mind hasn’t begun to process things with a perspective to how younger minds might perceive them. For instance, I’ve had friends who are parents explain to me why a TV show that’s deemed “family” and airs at 8pm that touches on teenage sex in its pilot episode is a problem. Because I am neither out of touch enough to be shocked or young enough to be titillated; that plot point didn’t even stick out as significant or inappropriate. Which is why I’m so surprised at the fervour of my reaction to Ms. Smith’s entry into the industry. Read more...
The first installment in our daily Halloween costume idea for October…the Biebs! Chances are, if your kids are fans, they already dress like him, so we think this would make an excellent grownup costume. Carry around an issue of Tiger Beat with his face plastered across the cover to show people who don’t “get it” (but if you incorporate all of his trademarks, we don’t see how that could happen).
You will need:
A purple hoodie
A gold chain necklace
A baseball cap (we hear he likes the Atlanta Braves)
A Bieber wig (this Bruno wig can easily pass for a Bieber wig)
A headset microphone (we recommend fashioning one out of black pipe cleaners)
Sometimes we think certain boy singers are chicks when we first hear them on the radio, then we hear their names and go, “Oh.” It’s a biological thing, and those dudes can’t help it. The fact is that many a male artist is in possession of a trademark lilting soprano until the big P hits.
Unless you’ve been backpacking through South America for the last year, you know that our favourite girly-sounding pop singer is Justin Bieber. We think he is adorable. And when we saw the Biebs live in Toronto last month, we saw many under-10s with their moms and very bored dads. Hopefully, if your kids are fans, they don’t love him to the point of sobbing when they hear one of his songs (though if they do, it might land them a spot on Jimmy Kimmel Live). Read more...
