Although we haven’t yet delved much into the topic of childhood insecurities, we do hope to spend some time researching how we, as parents, can instill positive self esteem within our young children.
We saw this video online and were both disturbed, yet moved by the power of its message. In fact, I had to watch it three times to hear all of her words, and the video gave me the goosebumps during every viewing. The video contains humor, but will also take you through a host of other emotions as well. We strongly recommend that all mothers watch this video, especially if you have a little girl that might one day ask you “Will I Be Pretty?”
Please note that this video does contain ADULT language – there is one inappropriate word for little ears. The language is offensive, and not something that we would normally post on this site. However, given the nature of the subject, and because this video is poetry, we could not bear the thought of altering the video’s message.
Katie is performing “slam poetry,” a form of art, or poetry, of words. The words are very raw, and meant to incite all kinds of emotions within the audience. Personally, this video makes me laugh, but also makes me very angry. Not at Katie, of course, but at the ‘root cause’ of the question, “Will I Be Pretty?”
What kinds of emotions does this video incite within you? What do you do to encourage positive self esteem within your young child?
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Wow!
She is so effective with her message. I too am quite moved by it. Thank you so much for sharing this.
It’s so timely too. Just over the weekend my daughter (who is 3) made a comment that rattled us a little. She likes to mimic me by playing with my brushes and makeup etc. As she was ‘playing’ my husband asked her to go and do something else. She replied by saying “No Daddy, I’m making myself pretty.”
This upset him (and me) a lot and we began a discussion with her trying to enforce all the right values. Makeup doesn’t make you pretty…it just makes you look different, etc.
We have much work to do to figure out how we can rewind a little and go forward to instill proper, realistic values.
See this video today has just reinforced that for me.
Thank you!
Wow, City Mom, thank you for sharing your first-hand experience of how you and your husband dealt with this message over the weekend. I know my time is coming, too (my daughter is 2), to brooch this subject; and like you, I want to be prepared for how to approach this delicate/sensitive message. Jasmine and I have been discussing what we, as parents, can do on a daily basis to instill positive self esteem within our babies. We look forward to spending some time researching and discussing this in future posts. Thank you so much for your extremely valuable comment!
Well I really look forward to following along and learning from you!
We learn as much from you and our other readers as we do when we research. Parents sharing their experiences is the best source of knowledge!
When I was 11 years old I asked my Mom whether I was pretty and she told me I shouldn’t be concerned about that. I translated that into I am not pretty. I spent my teens and early 20s struggling with eating disorders and promiscuity. Her intention was good. She didn’t want me to focus entirely on my looks. As a mother, I tell my daughter she is beautiful every day. Just as she is. I don’t want her to ever doubt it. I also tell her she’s kind, smart, talented, etc.
Faith, thank you so much for sharing your personal experience with us. We have tremendous influence over our children and their self esteem (and at such a young age)! Jasmine and I hope to spend more time looking into ways in which we can help instill that positive sense of self within our young kids – thank you for sharing your helpful daily tips. Namaste.
Great moms group activity that someone started out here… a book that parents work with their daugthers (and sons) every night for a week (or two depending on age) highlighting all of the reasons why their child is special. It can be a special “project” time, working together to share what we value in our kids, complete with glue, crayons, stickers and pictures cut from different magazines, catalogs, etc. I though it was a pretty cool idea.
That’s a great idea, Andrea! Thank you for sharing.
What a timely suggestion, too…would be a great tradition to start this month and even incorporate into Thanksgiving (share the book during Thanksgiving weekend with the rest of the family). LOVE it!