Believe me, the fact that I’m featuring parenting advice of former X-Rated movie star Traci Lords is a little bit astonishing to me (ok, a LOT astonishing to me). Perhaps it’s a testament to the ‘filosophy’ of ‘things-you-never-thought-you’d-do-until-you-become-a-parent.’ (Also a testament to personal growth and evolution, if you wanna apply it to Lords herself.)
Image courtesy of Wikimedia.
I gotta tell ya: The 44-year old vixen is making sense these days. In a video chat that I was intrigued to join for Huffington Post Live, Traci discussed how she was sexually assaulted at the age of 10 (suggesting it’s what led her into the adult film industry at the tender age of 15), how she made less-than-responsible choices in her life, and is now speaking out and inciting discussion about sexual violence with a new song and video called “Stupidville” (incited by the despicable events in Lord’s hometown of Steubenville, OH, where a high school girl was recently gang-raped by a group of her peers… and where Lords was assaulted herself).
You might find the video interview (below, compliments of HuffPoLive) informative, disturbing, revealing and heart-breaking like I did… and you might also be fascinated by the fact that Traci is now a MOM to a five year old son. (Wow. I had no idea.)
So, I asked her about when and how she plans to talk to her child about sexual violence. Her answer impressed and empowered me… and it’s one that I want to emulate by talking to my girls about these delicate topics (once they’re age-appropriate, that is).
WATCH and LISTEN to the specifics for yourself (my question is towards the end (near the 17-minute mark):
“When they’re two years old, you start to tell them on the playground: Don’t throw sand, be kind, don’t take somebody’s toy… you start to teach them right then about manners and behavior, and what’s acceptable and what’s not acceptable… and then, I think, some parents just stop doing it.” Traci went on to suggest that parent-to-child discussions should continue on and on, and ultimately never stop… and encouraged parents to not be embarrassed to broach all topics with their kids. She also cited how she wishes some experiences of her own life never happened, and that some of her less-than-stellar choices may have been prevented with a heavier parenting hand, citing that it behooves us to “hold our kids closer” during the times when they might choose to sack-out as teenagers tend to do. (So I’m guessing the ex-porn star is a fabulous tough mom? Seems like it.)
DO YOU AGREE WITH TRACI LORDS’ PARENTING FILOSOPHY?
