Disco Babes- BBCNI Last Night..

nozzadamozza

Slightly off-topic but in a roundabout way is about money....did anyone see Disco Babes last night- about a troupe of young kids from Belfast who go to disco-dancing type competitions- if you didnt - have a look on BBC catch-up- well worth the watch.

So why on this forum am I being so cheeky and putting this up- well cos i am still trying to lift my jaw from the ground...there is a clip in it when one of the girls opens up her 11+ results, gets a C2 (whatever that means) and the parents give her a card with- £500 in it!!! :eek:
Maybe this site has made me a scrooge but £500!!:eek:

The father asks, do you know how much is there (obviously so the camera sees, and even I know its a wad of £20 notes!) and the girl goes '£100?' Should any kid be given £500 when they cant really count or have no sense of the value of that!

I know quite a broad spectrum of people and i have never heard of anyone giving a kid that amount of money- the families all seemed to be from working class areas of the East of the city and I just think its sad that people throw money around like that, especially in this climate..i mean my niece passed the 11+ a few weeks ago and me and my mum gave her a tenner!

Ok rant over:)

fin54

And an other one had an outfit that cost £1000, Shame on the parents for waisting this kind of money. Both my husband and I work and I would NEVER DREAM of spending that kind of money on an outfit for a child who will probably only wear if a few times because all her friends have seen it.

nozzadamozza

fin54 wrote: »

And an other one had an outfit that cost £1000, Shame on the parents for waisting this kind of money. Both my husband and I work and I would NEVER DREAM of spending that kind of money on an outfit for a child who will probably only wear if a few times because all her friends have seen it.

I forgot about that- yeah that was mad as well- its crazy what people will waste their money on- am 6 months pregnant at the moment and know that all baby things will be got through Freecycle, charity shops, handmedowns and when i feel like splashing on out baby clothes, either make them myself or Primark!!

How I wish I had that amount of money to waste..maybe its because I am self employed and know how hard it is to get money in at times and am always trying to cut down bills where I can (thus why I am always hanging around this site lol)

wifeforlife

Well for them they have £500 a month to give as as gift!

I know for the dancing competitions you get marked down for the same outfits, my DD goes to disco dancing although her outfits dont cost £1000, maybe £30 max!!

Cate

seatzie

I saw that too, I just wondered was the £500 sponsorship towards the trip, once it was at that stage in the programme.........each to their own I suppose, felt sorry for the girl though she'd had a tutor since July........

maintenance_man

i know the dad personaly. and ask him today about it!.. i joked and said did u wait until the cameras where off and take the money back? lol
he laughted and told me what the didnt say on the program was that the money was to but an outfit for the competition coming up...

warmhands.coldheart

I have to say in my own personal opinion (for what it's worth) I think this program really did this community not favours.. it made them out to look like complete Chavs... It was so unbelievably distasteful that you had to watch it. And don't even get me started at the fact that children this age are getting spray tans... Disgracful Completely sexualising children at this age, what with all the makeup and skimpy dresses. I'd never let my daughter wear that sort of stuff at such a young age... (Call me a prude or old fashioned I still think it's terrible)

nozzadamozza

It did make me think of those pagents over in the US, warmhands.coldheart.- am sure that early emphasis on makeup, fake tans, skimpy outfits isnt good in the long run. It seemed many of the parents had their own insecurities and whilst they thought they were bolstering the kids, were unknowingly making the kids as insecure.

thanks maintenance_man, typical editorial licence, just a shame though that that hard earned money was spend on a shiny bit of cloth:)

wifeforlife

Hows dancing sexualising a child?! My daughter does disco dancing and is not in anyway sexualised. She's fully clothed, has some glitter and stickers on and gets her hair up with funky hairbands

It's more tame than the girls shown but these children are not sexualised by the dancing or the clothing, they are sexualised by the person making the comment or making the observation (and I'm not directing this at warmhands.coldheart or saying you did!!)

I agree it did not portray the community in a nice way but it's their lives and this is how they choose to live it. Would you prefer the children to be walking the streets, doing drugs, abusing the community or involved in paramilitaries.

Just because the girls have the tans, makeup and glitter does not mean they are chav's. See the positive's in it, these young girls are involved in physical activity, they're learning and following instructions.

It's widely known in NI that girls especially, do not partake in sports and if they are involved at a young age, there is a big drop out level once puberty starts.

The clothing and movement is no less or worse than gymnastics

Cate

warmhands.coldheart

It's not the dancing Cate,,, It's the clothing.. OK Maybe Sexualising was a bit OTT but I do think it is completely inappropriate especially as I said the whole false tan etc..etc... It's no better than Beauty Pagents.... If it was about the dancing first and foremost what is it with all the costumes?? (As you say, they can cost up to £1000 so is someone who only has a cheap costume but a better dancer instantly at a disadvantege.. not very fair for what is a essentially a Dancing competition)

And I'm not just saying it's just disco dancing... the whole fake tan and seriously expensive dresses is a problem in my eyes in Irish Dancing too... not exactly leaving it open to access to people on low incomes who can't afford it..

steveymp

I totally agree with Warmhands here;)

They are creating a new generation of Chavs here, dance by all means, its great as you say Cathy to see young girls getting exercise and doing something constructive, but the fake tans, make up and £1000 costumes are way OTT:eek:

I have a cousin and a niece that did the whole Irish Dancing thing too for years, both won loads of medals and cups, however both recently left as they got bored with the beauty contest rather than the dancing contest, if you know what I mean. Unfortunately more Americanisms creeping there way into our lives :mad:

On the brighter side, my 9 year old son does Karate and the number of girls at his class is amazing;) £40 per Year a £15 outfit which you get to wear every week;) and £2.50 per night. Now thats value and exercise all rolled into 1:T :T :T Not a fake tan in sight either:D