Spoilt Princesses

I'll tell you what bugs me, stupid mothers with their princess daughters, whinging that they shouldn't be criticised for blatant exploitation.

In an article in SMH,

THE mother of a 12-year-old girl chosen to be the face of Gold Coast Fashion Week has demanded a public apology from Prime Minister John Howard over claims her daughter is too young to model.

As Maddison Gabriel spent yesterday getting pampered at a local beauty salon with seven girlfriends in preparation for her 13th birthday today, her mother, Michelle, said she was shocked Mr Howard and Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd had weighed into the debate.

"Without knowing us, how dare they make those comments," Mrs Gabriel said. "I would suggest both of them contact my family before they make any more defamatory remarks about us. We as a family deserve an apology from both of them.

Of course you do lady, no one else is allowed an opinion, and your daughter is flawless and the fact that she's being exploited seems just fine for you. Nevermind the fact that Gold Coast Fashion Week hasn't had this much press in years. And when the sleazy old guys and managers are touching your daughter up in the casting room, you'll be the first to cry foul.

"As politicians, you would expect that they would know how things would be misrepresented and maybe they should have known what our side of the story is before they made those types of comments.

As politicians they are expected to make comment on issues they know little about, radio interviews and press conferences REVEL in opportunities to catch them out. The fact that they are on the money in this instance is a happy co-incidence.

"I believe the Prime Minister is getting very doddery. He does not know exactly what 13- and 14-year-old girls are like. I used to vote for him."

Mr Howard told Melbourne radio on Friday: "Catapulting girls as young as 12 into something like that is quite outrageous and I am totally opposed to it."

His concerns were later echoed by Mr Rudd, who said: "I have real concerns about littlies that young going out there doing that sort of thing."

But Mrs Gabriel defended her daughter, saying Maddison would be 14 by the time she represented the fashion week next year.

She also denied reports that part of her daughter's duties as an ambassador would be to appear at Gold Coast nightclubs.

She said organisers told her yesterday morning that there were no plans to pull her daughter from the position despite the negative publicity.

"There's been a carry-on about Maddison wearing adult clothes," Mrs Gabriel said.

"People should know she is 5 foot 7 [1.7 metres]. All of her friends buy clothes from adult shops. Every 13-year-old I know, even if they're little, wears adult clothes.

So what, that makes it ok for them to be wearing adult clothes? Little girls have played dress ups with their mothers clothes for years! That doesn't mean we should stick them in leopard print boots just because they ask for them! This attitude gives new meaning to "13-going-on-23".

"[As a society] we're trying to get our teenage daughters to act older. I am so happy that I've got a daughter who has got a good head on her shoulders."

Since when as a society are we trying to get our girls to act OLDER? WHEN did that happen you stupid twit!? I thought we were trying to get girls to act THEIR AGE. For chrissakes lady, with an attiude like this, Pageant-Mum much?

Maddison chose to spend her birthday weekend like many teenage girls, starting with a sleepover with friends on Friday night, during which they ate pizza and watched movies.

Ok this part is normal

The celebrations continued yesterday with a visit to a Gold Coast salon, where the girls had manicures, pedicures, eyebrow waxes, eyelash tints and their make-up done, and indulged in birthday cake.

Umm, excuse me, just got very Un-normal for a thirteen year old girl. Waxing? Far out, I was barely allowed to shave when I was 13. My first eyelash tint was for my Year 10 formal.

Boys were strictly banned.

"They're not my favourite," Maddison said. "It's really more a girly day."

For her birthday, she asked for a laptop, clothes, accessories and a couch. Today, the family are throwing a big party at their Mudgeeraba home.

FAR OUT!!! No wonder this princess won this competition, her mother pushed her through it probably, and has given the little angel everything she's ever wanted by the look of this list. I'm sure I wanted a CD player at this age, a COUCH????? LAPTOP (do NOT even get me started)

But unlike most young girls, Maddison began her last day as a 12-year-old fielding a call from the BBC in London.

She said that, while all the attention had been overwhelming, she did not understand why because of the number of other young models in the industry.

"You see all these other young models that are 13 on the front of magazines," she said. "I wanted to do it since I was very young and I've been trying to get into it, going into competitions since the beginning of this year.

Yes, of course young girls WANT to be models. It doesn't mean they SHOULD be models. This statement I feel accurately reflects why this girl doesn't understand. As I heard Kristy Hinze echo on the radio, if girls this age appear on Dolly or Girlfriend that's kind of OK, their target market is girls that age. When 13 year old are modelling for adults, thats wrong.

"My friends are really proud that I won. They're excited for me.

Yeah because they're beacons of normalcy in the world. They're just excited you can give them free shit now.

She said her goal was to become an international model.

A spokesman for Mr Howard said he had nothing to add.