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/ May 3, 2005 09:32 AM |
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How do we treat our children? I know we are supposed to be equal in handing out our time and attention, but do we? I guess not, according to a new study by the folks in the great white north.
“When it came to buckling up, pretty and ugly children were treated in starkly different ways, with seat belt use increasing in direct proportion to attractiveness. When a woman was in charge, 4 per cent of the homeliest children were strapped in compared with 13.3 per cent of the most attractive children. The difference was even more acute when fathers led the shopping expedition. In those cases, none of the least attractive children were secured with seat belts, while 12.5 per cent of the prettiest children were.
Plain children were also more often out of sight of their parents, and they were more often allowed to wander more than three meters away.”
Could this be the start of a new protected class? Ugly rights demonstrations at Berkeley? We would need a new term for that, no one will march for ugliness. How about cosmetically challenged? Or what about handsome deficient?
Being a father of two darn good looking kids, maybe I am jaded, but I am also a sucker for ugliest puppy in the litter. I would hope that we have come far enough in our civilization to treat our children with the same love, not based on their looks.
Now temperament, that’s a different story. My son is a pretty easy going kid, most of the time. My daughter is a bundle of high explosives wrapped in caffeine, with a short fuse. She is going to give me my heart attack, of that I am sure. Do I love her any less than my son? No, (well some days I have my doubts)
Thanks again to Digger for giving me a chance to speak to his peeps.
The Yolo Cowboy
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Posted by yolocowboy on May 3, 2005 09:32 AM (Permalink)
The big hurdle to "uglo-Americans" being recognized as a protected class will be "coming out of the closet" to admit their ugliness, but over time I am sure that one day, if we all do our part, the slogan "ugly is beautiful" will be on the lips of many ugloids, uh, I mean "uglo-Americans"
Posted by: Makrothumeo on May 3, 2005 11:21 AM
I don't think it matters how other people treat their children; worry about your own kids.
Posted by: Tom on May 3, 2005 06:47 PM
Even if I was taking a trip with 500 kids from Uglo-American University they would all be belted in. First of all it's the law. Secondly, kids usually don't know the hazards of accidents and the lifetime consequences of them. I don't care if the kid's pretty or ugly their butt would be strapped in to protect them from the real issue, which is childhood stupidity.
Posted by: Digger on May 4, 2005 12:02 AM
Actually, the article was about strapping kids into shopping carts at the grocery store--I wondered about that when I looked at the percentages quoted above...anyway, who is funding these studies? And who decided which kids were ugloids and which were attractive? And what parent thinks their kid is ugly, anyway? How many of us have been regaled with pictures of ugly kids while the parent tells us about how they are just the cutest? And why am I wasting time writing about this?
Posted by: Makrothumeo on May 4, 2005 08:06 AM
Agreed, Makro.
I also wonder, due to socio-economic constraints, if an otherwise "average" or "adorable" child dressed in raggedy, dirty clothing, with a dirty face and hair, snot running from their nose, being escorted by a sleazy-looking parent would be considered "ugly" "plain" or "homely" by these "researchers." I'll betcha!
I've seen my fair share of those.
I'm another parent of two absolutely physically-beautiful chidren. They behave well, too, but that's an aside. They get an inordinate amount of fawning attention from strangers when we take them out- usually it's in a supermarket, mall or Home Depot.
On the rare occasion my daughter's hair is a mess and she has an oatmeal-fruit bar filling or yogurt smeared on her face, or when my son just got through digging to rescue the worms in our garden and is covered in dirt that a basic handwashing won't fix (yet we HAD to get to the store!)... they do not get the same amount of attention, no way.
Likewise when my kids are well-groomed, yet I am in sweats with a baseball cap and no makeup, looking wicked tired... the "well meaning strangers" do not approach my kids as they do when we all look upbeat, clean and perky! They probably think I'm the nanny...
My kids are always strapped in to car seats, strollers, grocery carts, what-have-you. I have to say though, that I've noticed an inordinate amount of poor-looking folk totally ignoring their childrens' safety. More often than not, the kids I see are absolutely adorable. It's the parents' fault, and I think low/no education goes hand-in-hand with child safety awareness. I also believe many immigrants- sine they haven't the safety laws we do, especialy not in hispanic countries, just couldn't care less about strapping kids in.
At least 4 out of 5 times, when I see a parent not strapping a child in to a car seat, grocery cart, what-have-you- they are hispanic. They also seem to think it's cool to transport more people in a given vehicle than said vehicle has seats for.
I believe this is far more a socio-economic trend than an "ugly babies don't rate" finding. All babies are precious and beautiful to those who love them.
Finding out what "love" means to certain parents would seem more important.
Posted by: NHTaxpayer on May 4, 2005 02:39 PM
Can we PLEASE post something that is actually important?
Posted by: David Eccles on May 5, 2005 11:09 AM
If this ridiculous study is even remotely accurate, then there are WAY too many self-centered, insecure egomaniacs who are embarrased that one or more of their kids doesn't look like all the bolemic drug-addicts (over-generalizing maybe?) gracing the pages of magazines that serve no useful purpose to society.
That being said:
Can we PLEASE post something that is actually important?
Posted by: David Eccles on May 5, 2005 11:14 AM
David, if you own this blog (which I guess would make you Digger), or you are otherwise connected to this blog, then I apologize in advance, but...David, the last time I looked this is a blog...if you don't want to read the posts or the comments, there are a COUPLE of other blogs on the internet. Maybe you could visit some of them and find something you like.
Posted by: Makrothumeo on May 5, 2005 11:28 AM
My kids are always strapped in to car seats, strollers, grocery carts, what-have-you. I have to say though, that I've noticed an inordinate amount of poor-looking folk totally ignoring their childrens' safety
Posted by: Mark on June 21, 2010 12:47 AM
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