Expanding the Pipeline: There have been so many good leads coming in here and not enough time to produce them all. The efforts of readers to keep us up to date is much appreciated but there is also much duplication of effort. The idea of ‘The Pipeline’ was to have a master index of what leads we have, what materials we have and what we still need. In examining the current database and hardcopy sources, it is clear that ‘Films’ and ‘Artists’ subcategories will be huge and so will have dedicated pages. Although there is not much to see at the moment, readers who keep up on this site will notice a major expansion of these pages in the next few months, beginning with ‘Films’.
The Cost of Bullying: Amy “Dolly” Everett, famous for being the face of Akubra hats at age 8 in Australia has committed suicide at age 14, after being harassed online. Everett’s father would not disclose the exact nature of the bullying or who was responsible, but urged the culprits to have the courage to attend her memorial service and witness first-hand the devastation they have caused. You can see more coverage of this story here and here and the full Akubra ad can be found here. Understandably, this has prompted debate about the dangers of social media and what measures are effective in stopping bullying.
An Iconic Ad? A reader came forward with an interesting image advertising floor coverings in Mexico. The ad supposedly appeared in the middle of the 1980s, but he only got a blurry shot of it so readers are requested to come forward with a better copy. Our copy of the image can currently be found at the top of the ‘Little Orphan Images’ page.
What a Drag: Recently, a 9-year-old drag queen who goes by the name Lactacia became the cover model for a gay clothing store called House of Mann. Predictably, conservatives went nuts (here and here). Pink News, a website covering LGBT issues, has this to say about it.
Standing Against Corporal Punishment: Children make themselves visible in a public demonstration while Wales votes on whether to ban corporal punishment, joining over 50 other countries.
Meet Ava Ryan: Ryan is a 7-year-old comedienne who has produced a number of cute and hilarious videos. Take a look here and here .
Why Little Girls? I have been asked in a number of private communications why we focus only on girls. Isn’t there a segment of the population who finds boys fascinating? Or perhaps some find both genders equally interesting and are perplexed by our biased coverage. Well, I suspect my initial answer may seem like a cop out and it is this: because I am made the way I am and little girls are made the way they are! That is perhaps an overly simplistic way of saying that each of us has different perceptions, sensitivities and temperaments and so we react to stimuli differently and there is no talking us out of it by rational argument. It is interesting to note that this site very nearly did cover boy children. Pip founded this site in 2011 and thought he might cover both genders but, in examining his collected material, realized that much more of it featured girls and so placed his focus on them. And although we specialize in girls, whenever we cover an artist that does not have the same focus, we try to make it clear to our readers. Their coverage of girls or even children generally may have only been incidental and yet if it is interesting enough, it might be offered in a ‘Random Image’ post. As a result, I do not wish any boys (or their parents) to develop neuroses from our neglect. Indeed, these inquiries point to a need for someone with the drive and discipline to create a site that challenges and treats its subjects with dignity and good humor as we have. Should such a site come to pass, we would be delighted to inform our readers so they can experience that side of things. Girls and boys, even at very young ages, are not the same and those of us who observe and enjoy them tend to read different meanings into behavior and attitude just because of their “girlness” or “boyness”. These differences should be celebrated and not condemned simply because they fail to meet someone’s egalitarian standards. Managing this site is an ongoing personal exploration and I hope it is one that, in the sharing, can be appreciated by others as well. I will not claim to know all the answers and that is exactly why I remain involved with Pigtails in Paint. -Ron