That’s what China said to the 7 year-old whose voice appeared in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic games. Instead of having Yang Peiyi (photo right) perform during the ceremony, Chinese officials dropped her saying that she was not pretty enough. They replaced her with a 9 year old TV ad princess (photo left) who lip-synched the song.
Here are the photos of the 2 girls. First of all, I think they are both cute. I don’t see what the big deal was.
But, more importantly, this is wrong. What kind of message are they sending to the clearly very talented 7 year old girl and millions of other little girls around the world? “Yes, you are talented. But that’s not enough in this world. You have to have it all. And you have to be pretty too.”
That little girl will remember for the rest of her life that she was not good enough. No matter what anyone says, she will carry that with her.
It’s bad enough that our little girls (and boys) have to grow up in our overachieving society, where kids are pressured to be well-rounded…which translates into overscheduled and tired kids.
But now, when you find your real talents (which not all of us are lucky enough to do)….it’s still…not good enough.
My dad has told me since I was a little girl, that no matter what, I am always worth 1.000. No more, no less. It’s my reminder that my worth can never change. It’s our basic right as human beings. We are born worthy. I guess the Chinese didn’t get the memo.