Little girls like to play dress up! Oh no! The horror, the shame, the agony!

How dare parents let their little girls paint their nails, or horror of horrors, wear lip gloss?

Newsweek is full of crap.  I’m sorry, but it’s true.  I’ve never been so disgusted by an article in a so-called reputable publication.

the new normal: a generation that primps and dyes and pulls and shapes, younger and with more vigor. Girls today are salon vets before they enter elementary school.

Really?  How about some numbers to back this up? Hello?  Anything?  Nope.  Not a single statistic to show that little girls are going to salons at higher rates than in decades past.

If these trends continue, by the time your tween hits the Botox years, she’ll have spent thousands on the beauty treatments once reserved for the “Beverly Hills, 90210″ set, not junior highs in Madison, Wis.

I don’t know of any junior high kids who are in their “Botox years”, do you?  Hyperbole at it’s best.

According to market-research firm Experian, 43 percent of 6- to 9-year-olds are already using lipstick or lip gloss; 38 percent use hairstyling products; and 12 percent use other cosmetics.

Anyone out there remember tinkerbell lip gloss?  Oh, and folks, you better believe that I use a hairstyling product on my toddler’s curls.  It’s called a spray-in-detangler.  I dare you to find one mother with a curly haired child that doesn’t!   “Other cosmetics”, could that possible include nail polish? Hmm, how many of you women out there remember painting your nails as little girls? Or more correctly, having your mom or big sister paint your nails for you?  I know when my mom or babysitter painted mine, I felt so grown up! Then I’d put on my mom’s dress shoes,  throw a boa over my shoulder, put on a pith helmet, and announce my adventurous plans for the day.

Little girls play dress up. So do little boys. It’s a perfectly normal part of development.  Preschools have dress-up boxes!

Yes, tweens are “over sexualized” in our culture, but this kind of fear mongering, shock nonsense isn’t even fit for Fox News during sweeps month.  Much less Newsweek in March.