There was a huge brouhaha that lit the interwebs and twitter up like Times Square.  Ah….JCPenney, what are you thinking?  What were you thinking.  As the mother of a little girl who loves being pretty and make-up and frilly clothes, I struggle with teaching her that those are not the things that matter.   And this doesn’t help…

Cute and sassy?  I don’t mind if my daughter is cute and sassy, but she is also going to be intellectual and use her brain for more than picking out the right shade of lipstick.  I know that being pretty is overvalued in our society. I know the research that says that pretty people make more money and have more opportunity (just look at TV, movies, print ads–we totally overvalue beauty).  These pressures are abundant in our society and they don’t go away as you get older.  Hell, I’m 40 and I still feel them.  But to market to that?  To make being pretty a value just doesn’t sit right with me.

Our job as parents raising boys who are caring and girls who value smarts is already difficult enough, does it really need to get any harder?