“Pretty girls don’t do that.” ~ the 3 year old was told
An innocent statement perhaps, but does it cause more harm than good? Could statements like this have a negative impact on a child’s future body image and self-esteem?
This post is for One-Liner Wednesday, hosted by LindaGHill.
 | amommasview on Not-So-Common Courtesy |
 | mewhoami on Not-So-Common Courtesy |
| mewhoami on Not-So-Common Courtesy |
| mewhoami on Not-So-Common Courtesy |
| mewhoami on The Odd One Out |
© mewhoami, 2013.
All Publications by mewhoami is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License
Me - Who am I? 
This sentence sounds like something parents told their daughters many years ago and it was scaring and damaging for many girls then.
LikeLike
Sadly then, I would suspect that it would be just as damaging today. Just heard this statement yesterday.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is very sad.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I have been trying but I can not imagine a situation where this would be appropriate to say to a young girl. It’s just wrong for so many reasons.
LikeLike
I agree and although I truly believe it was said with no bad intentions, it probably shouldn’t have been said at all. The words we use have power.
LikeLike
Wow, I would NEVER consider saying that to a little girl. Yuck.
LikeLike
I agree. I don’t think people always consider how their words could possibly effect others.
LikeLike
Would never say that ever. Your child does not need to be told how to be a pretty girl, they need to learn many lessons to help them become responsible young adults and being pretty may be an advantage (in some places) but will not sustain them in the big wide world. It sounds so shallow to me.
LikeLike
Thank you. I completely agree. There are many lessons that children need, but that is not one of them.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. I remember sitting with 2 step daughters. And a very thoughtless woman would visit and say to one of the daughters “you’re so pretty” and say nothing to the other. I was very angry. I noticed from that moment on that “pretty” was used in many contexts in regard to one daughter, often in front of the other daughter. Using ‘pretty’ can set up a child in so many ways to cause damage, and not using it for a child can cause other issues.
LikeLike
That’s horrible. I cannot imagine how the other girl must have felt, and what effects that must have had on her for years to come. What happens to the ‘pretty’ one when she gets blemishes or flaws, and will the other one ever feel pretty enough? That’s just terrible.
LikeLike
Exactly. The impacts of what ‘we’ say carry on. And for those comments they impacts were immediate AND long lasting.
LikeLike