I went to a Farmer’s Market this morning, because, 4 days in, the only way I can be persuaded to eat another Turkey Sandwich is to have artisianal locally made bread to dress it up.  Otherwise I’d be feeding it to my cats.

Before I moved to LA, I didn’t know about Farmer’s Markets, where local people sell their veggies and fruits and stinky soap crap from little tents each week.  It’s great.   As I peruse the rows of fresh, green radishes and kale and fresh-grown sprouts, I imagine a world where I would buy those healthy veggies and fruits and prepare homemade dishes that were nourishing and life-extending.  But then I just buy some fatty croissants and bread and eat out for dinner.

The one I went to this morning is in a rich-ish part of town.  The anti-Beverly Hills  if you would.  It’s an irritating part of town, but one where, if I were honest, I would live in a heartbeat if we could afford it.   It’s the kind of rich LA crowd who act like they’re “regular” and “hip” and wear sloppy sweaters and jeans even though the sweaters are really cashmere and the denims are +250 dollars with artfully worn holes to seem “humble.”  Even on the men.  It’s kind of surreal.   With their plastic framed glasses and scruffy beards, the Dads are clinging to a coolness they believe they’re maintaining from their single years, but you can tell there’s an air of “what happened” on their faces.  Or maybe I’m projecting.

This morning it was a flood of Hummer Baby carriages and Priuses, hip parents wrangling babies dressed in perfectly coordinated outfits, being pushed around in contraptions so elaborate that they should only be classified as a “service vehicle.”  If they barely fit on the sidewalk, 2 or 3 babies wide, shouldn’t they be driven in the bike lane?!

Anyway, this whole post was inspired not so much by the parents, as by the kids.  I was shocked that almost every little girl I saw this morning was dressed in a pink princess outfit or derivative thereof.  It was surreal.   I mean, if you’re a progressive, liberal well-off parent, why would you encourage sexual stereotyping like that?!  And these weren’t little girls throwing on pretty pieces mish-mashed together, these were obviously expensive, pink taffeta-ribbon-filled dresses bought at the store with a parent.  I even saw some tiny high heels on a 5 year old.  Scary stuff.

If I hadn’t seen so much concentrated in one area, I wouldn’t have noticed.   I know the whole “provocative kids clothes” thing has been big lately, but what about the “precious-fication” of girls?  It’s like a backlash against women’s lib.  Soon, we are going to have an army of 12 year olds that only care about manicures and hair extensions because Hannah Montana or whoever else Disney manufactured kid actor is showing them that that’s what they should care about, and no one’s discouraging otherwise.   Is it just genetic that girls want to look “pretty”, whatever age?   Is the chick-lit heroine really what we want the next gen of women to be?