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Venus Williams Inspires Sexy Pajama Day at The French Open

Ah yes, spring in France.  The French Open. Fuzzy yellow balls flying through the air and the free spirited tennis phenoms prancing about in their lacy black and red teddy style lingerie, ahem... sports wear.  It's all the rage!

It's all anyone can talk about. (Well, not anyone, but my mom used to say things like this all the time and I think it sounds good and dramatic, so let's keep it.)

Yes, I'm referring to Venus Williams' choice of clothing.  Some are saying "oh, my! too revealing, shocking really!" and others say "she's Venus she can wear whatever the heck she wants."

My take?

Why you gotta go and wear something like this?

How long do you think it'll take to get the image of this outta my head?  What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks kinda message are you trying to send?  "Hey look at me, Ima crack a few balls over this here net and then you can catch me 2nd shift at The Moulin Rouge"?

So what if she actually can wear anything she wants to?  WHY?  Why would someone with such talent cause such spectacle on purpose?  How many people do you think were discussing her actual physical execution of a real live tennis game today?  Anyone?  I couldn't watch - it was hard to take seriously!

Perhaps I'm being a tad bit harsh and really, she was just thinking, "sheesh, I gotta get up and whoop another chicks ass today, I can't even be bothered to get myself dressed.  It's Pajama Day at The French Open, baby!"

Really?

Really, really?

Perfect Moment Monday ~ Captured Essence

I Capture
Perfect Moments.

My fellow Mile High Mama friend, Laurie (@lavluz) hosts this great meme Perfect Moment Monday, and I just happen to have had a perfect moment this week that I'd love to share!

My youngest graduated from Pre-K on Monday and we've been having a lot of fun running around town, just the two of us, getting ourselves into trouble.  I can't believe my littlest baby peanut is getting so grown up... This picture captures the essence of my week with her.

Stay At Home Moms ROCK Social Media All The Way To The Bank

Social media platforms have been an incredible outlet for those of us who have spent time as "stay at home moms".   I have "stayed home" with my kids for more than 10 years and have loved every minute of it.  I've had a lot of opportunity to be very involved at the kids' schools, I've done everything from simply being a room mom to managing large fundraisers.  I was excited about using my business and project management experience to make lots of money for the school.  DING DING Heads up though, running a school fundraiser like a business is social suicide. 'nough said.

Social media was a part of my life before it was even called social media.  I joined message boards while trying to conceive and made "friends" with other women who charted their cycles and stocked up on pregnancy tests, only to be disappointed by the 50 discarded negative pregnancy tests.  After a miscarriage I spilled my guts to other virtual strangers about the horror and pain I felt at not being able to carry a baby to term.  Later I joined a group with due dates in the same month as my sweet baby.  We shared the joyful heartburn, weight gain, and other nasty things about pregnancy you'd never actually discuss in the polite company of IRL friends.  That group actually stayed together for more than four years before slowly dissipating as life led us to other things.  I'm a member of a group on Ebay that began when we were all selling children's clothing.... 7 or 8 years ago!  They've seen me through some of the most difficult times and there is a sense of safety in being able to share the deepest darkest and ugliest secrets with people that aren't here in my "real life". Although, they are very real in my life, I've even met several of them in person.

Enter blogging... I started blogging in January of 2009, yep just a year and a half ago.  People ask me all the time how I grew my online presence so quickly.  I'm sleuth by nature.  When I am interested in something I will hunt down every little piece of information and suck it up and savor it as the yummiest piece of buttered toast ever.  With blogging it was no different.  I started a blog and as soon as I realized that blogging was actually a way I could communicate ideas and converse with other, I set out to make my blog successful. I read all the "how to"'s, followed (nay stalked) the "experst", joined every network, webinar, and started using every tool there was and eventually got gutsy enough to start engaging people on Twitter.  I haven't been swept up with all of the reviews and giveaways but you can bet I've been paying attention to how the bloggers and brands are working together. In my quest to learn more, I traveled to conferences and began networking all over the sphere, with PR people, businesses, branding experts etc.  I dig it.  Honestly, I just like talking about business - I love marketing because it is what drives business, makes money and proves relevance. I could do nothing but just follow people around listening to them talk.   That gets a little creepy though, so I try to keep my stalking to a minimum.

The emergence of social media tools has given many women the opportunity to transition from staying at home with their kids to getting out and starting their own businesses.  Everything from consulting to turning their blogs and social communities into full fledged revenue earners.  I was fortunate to be able to turn my local marketing consultant gig into a full fledged business working with companies all over the country. I would never have been able to apply for a job after 10 years at home and been able to convince someone to give me a chance at the level I have created for myself.  I'm fairly proud of what I've been able to do and I'm proud of what we SAHMs are doing every day!

What are some ways that you are using social media tools to grow as a person or as a business?  

7 Year Old Single Ladies ~ YouTube Video Taken Out of Context?

I'm dying. It's gone viral and everyone is talking about it. If you haven't seen this video on YouTube yet, you are living under one ginormous rock. Take a look at these little 7-9 year old girls competing in an Urban Dance Competition. These girls can dance!
 

Well? What did ya think? Pretty awesome, huh? Um, no - yes, but no. Ick. Wrong. On so many levels. Wrong.

Calm down friends, this controversy has been blown WAY out of proportion. A rep for the competition told PopEater earlier in the week, "There has been a great deal of controversy regarding this performance, and it has been taken out of context. It is a little sensitive now, to say the least,"

So, what is the context? 

Oh yes, an urban dance competition.

Well in that case, I think we owe these people an apology!

In the context of an urban dance competition, I definitely think that you should be proud of yourselves for encouraging your pre-pubescent children to shake their bottoms and non-existent breasts while dressed in whore outfits.

Especially if the song they are shakin' their groove thang to includes telling a dude that if he had wanted to keep "dippin it" he shoulda ponied up and put a ring on her finger.... 'cause right now she's busy all up in some other dudes junk. 

Before I vomit, I have to say one thing. I think these girls are spectacular dancers for their age and they are clearly having a good time. My heart is breaking for each of these girls because they've been unwillingly thrown into a massive debate over what is and isn't appropriate for little girls their age. 

Sadly, while the parents are defending the song choice as influenced by "pop culture" and the costumes as free moving and line defining for the sake of art, the rest of us are arguing about whether it is or isn't a pornographic performance sexualizing little girls. 

Well, if it wasn't before, it sure as heck is now.

Viral. Over two million hits on this particular YouTube video. Who is watching this video?

Every pervy child predator across the country is now turning to YouTube and keyword searching "7 year old Single Ladies" to take a peak at what everyone is calling the sexualization and exploitation of young, young, girls. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure they aren't sitting quietly with their hands folded in their laps. ick.

I tend to abide by the unspoken rule of "you screw up your kid and I'll focus on screwing up mine", but I really want to call BULL SHIT on this. 

I'm not a total prude, but I am sort of dorky in a fun and slightly quirky way. My parents never idolized celebrity so I like to think that I grew up to have a good filter for reality. Unfortunately, there are parents so enamored by pop culture that they are willing to sell out their daughters and their sons. And make NO mistake about it, our sons are watching everything we do. If we allow our babies to be immersed in pop culture before they are able to emotionally or intellectually filter the images and messages that they are seeing and, in this case, sending out... who will they become? 

Don't we want our girls to value themselves and their intellect, to become women that seek out relationships with men that value them as more than a place to be "dippin it"? 

This song is popular because many men and women relate to it. It's real. It's just a song. It's just a dance competition. It's just a slutty outfit.

Not. In. My. House.