OK, so I watched Toddlers and Tiara's on TLC last year with a mixture of "I know Freyja would LOVE to do a pagent" and "OMG, these mothers are crazy!!".
We all meet them at the dance classes or sporting event, that mother who is living vicariously through their child, and maybe its just the ones they chose on these shows that are the worst, but make good TV, but OMG these mothers are crazy!!
I am not a thin woman myself, but watching these women who seems to average about 350 pounds, strutting about to show their kids what to do in their performance and then watching 3 and 4 year olds pout and gyrate made me wonder - is that what pagents are really about? Has anyone on here been in them or had kids/friends in them? Are they that crazy or is it just the ones in Alabama? ;)
And talking of pouting and gyrating 3 year olds, did anyone catch TLC's show on Gypsy Weddings? Having grown up in the UK, I have seen travellers come and go near my home (some used to race horses up the road outside my parents house every sunday morning, and come to get water for them from our hose). I have nothing against them and frankly think that as long as they are being productive members of society, who cares how long they live in one place - frankly, I've moved more than your average gypsy in the last 7 years - And its got to be easier just moving your home each time instead of the contents of a 3 bed house, so they are smarter than me there. BUT, OMG (again), they are crazy (again)!!! Dresses that can barely get down the aisle because they are so big, but despite the massive skirts the brides still seem underdressed. The female guests look like an act from a seedy Vegas strip joint, and the little girls are emulating them.
They are getting married at 16/17 after a courtship than seems to involve a boy/man, grabbing them by the hair and demanding a kiss. If she gives in and kisses him, she'd better hope he wants to marry her or she's ruined for life. They all dance like they have an invisible pole, the little girls too, and the 7 year olds are dressed for confirmation at church in what can only be described as a Vegas stipper style mini wedding / pagent dress gone wrong. Some of the dresses are twice the size and weight of the girls wearing them. And all of this is done with the words "Gypsy tradition" or "Traveller tradition" - sorry, but I don't remember any Romanies of old being described as wearing an 80 pound, pink tulle wedding dress with plastic butterflies and LED flashing lights!!
Flashing Lights brings me on to my last muse/rant. The lights are on and flashing but there is no-one home...
We've all heard about Jersey Shore, some of us have been unfortunate enough to have watched an episode, some people apparently even torture themselves by watching it on a daily basis. My understanding is that it is full of the stereotypical Italian American Jerseyite, with orange fake tan, bouffant hair, fake eyelashes and their own body weight in makeup (boys too) but not too much upstairs. Well, someone in the UK apparently decided the concept was too good to pass up so we now have Geordie Shore.
For those not familiar, a "Geordie" is someone who lives in the viscinity of Newcastle upon Tyne in the the North East of England. That is where I was born and raised, so I am a Geordie, as is my better half and all our families. Now, Newcastle has received a bit of a reputaion over the last few years and has become a place for stag parties and hen parties (stagettes) to go for a weekend of fun. Lots of bars and hotels, nightclubs and dancing to the wee small hours. However, with this has come a reputation of the girls being 'easy' and the boys being drunk and fighting all the time. Add to the mix a few years of Big Brother with a Geordie contestant (male or female) who appears to have little brains, fake tan, loves themselves very much and is false and an easy lay, and wave bye bye to any remaining good rep.
So now there is hardly any good reputaion left, despite these idiots only making up a small percent of the population (there are 2 universities in the city, a medical and dental school, copious museums and theatres - so there is plenty of learning and culture), the powers that be have decided to put the last nail in the coffin with "Geordie Shore". Being in Canada, I can't get it on TV, but the facebook updates from my friends on premiere night alone tell me how bad it was - put it this way, one of my friends sent me a message telling me how lucky I was to be living abroad as I would likely die of shame if still there!! So I would like to proclaim to all those who have not yet visited the fair city of Newcastle, with its culture, restaurants, history and architecture - don't let these perma-tanned prats put you off going - we're not all like that....really!!!
That is all......
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