Note to little girls: Living like a goddess, not so great

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  Posted by painted sea Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:20am PDT

  She is absolutely a beautiful child. The ritual is sad, but it's an old custom, and we Westerners could never understand.

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  Posted by C Thu Oct 9, 2008 6:28am PDT

  In no way I agree with this custom...but just to look at it from a different perspective...it is similar (although obviously more extreme) to the crazy mothers here in the USA who subject their daughters to extreme criticism in the form of beauty pageants and showbiz at such a young age. In the same way, the more successful they are, the harder it is to adjust in society upon aging. Again I repeat, I am not saying these situations are the same, just comparable in some ways.

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  Posted by Colleenabean Thu Oct 9, 2008 7:39am PDT

  People should research facts for themselves before they comment on article written by people like "crabmommy" and freak out over false statements. The "tradition" of leaving them in dark rooms with heads of animals is not accurate but sure makes for a shockingly good news story, doesn't it?

  A reporter asked the mother of this child about the "test" mentioned above and she said nothing of the sort happened to her child, all the council did was ask for a copy of her horoscope.

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  Posted by Chana C Thu Oct 9, 2008 8:19am PDT

  One thing that stands out to me is the fact that it states no where that this isn’t completely voluntary. While the children may not have much say, the parents choose to take the children to the judges. Not only is the child well taken care of, possibly better then the parents could, there is also honor brought to the rest of the family. To me it seems that there is only a fine line between this and the hundreds of parents in our own country that drag small girls to beauty pageants. They do it for family honor, or bragging rights, and for the prizes such as scholarships, that ensure the child has a chance at a better life. In Nepal the child will also be given a chance at proper nutrition in formative years that could make for much healthier adult years and less developmental delays. While they may have trouble marrying with in the strict culture there, the status of a living goddess may be close to that of a beauty queen for other cultures making finding a well to do foreigner to marry a possibility. As a mother I don't think I could give up my small daughter for any amount of time, but I can also afford to feed her and don't have to make the decision on what is best for her basic survival and that of siblings.

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  Posted by Andygirl Thu Oct 9, 2008 8:39am PDT

  well, it does seem traumatizing; however, who are we to criticize another culture? it is a great honor for these little girls and their families? I'd say many Hindis would say the same about child beauty pageants.

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  Posted by Ariel B Thu Oct 9, 2008 9:01am PDT

  This is why i am always happy and proud to be an American

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  Posted by Jett Thu Oct 9, 2008 9:17am PDT

  How can they know if she'll have perfect teeth if she's only 3? What happens if, when she turns 8, half her teeth are missing, and the other half grow in crooked? I'm just saying... :)

  But really, it is sad for her. My Christian prayers are with her.

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  Posted by Cranberry Lips Thu Oct 9, 2008 9:33am PDT

  Over 26,000 children in the world die every day from starvation and diseases. There's one kid, who won't, at least for now. Who's to say she won't die of starvation when she becomes and adult and can't find a place to work and nobody to support her? I can't find a whole lot of information on the Shakya gpldsmith caste, but the Shakya caste is a pretty well of caste. In fact, Buddha was from that caste.

  The kumari thing is just as bad as marrying girls off when they're 8 years old, foot binding, female circumcision, kid beauty pageants, or making your 5-year old take antidepressants. There are a lot of things we do here, in the US, that are appalling to other cultures. Everybody does their own thing and everybody has their own problems and hardships. I can't judge anyone because I'm not there. I don't know these people and I don't know the children. All I can do is learn, and try to live and do my best to help people.

  Oh yeah, the reborn babies freak me out. They're just as scary as clowns.

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  Posted by Crabmommy Thu Oct 9, 2008 10:16am PDT

  Colleenabean,

  Indeed the exact specifics of the kumari test are shrouded in secrecy and conjecture. But my reference to the goat head test derived from the AP article I quoted, even as subsequent versions of this story questioned what really happens when the child is chosen. As you point out, I'm not a reporter but a motherhood blogger. As such, I like to pose questions about children and motherho and if there's controversy in it, so much the better for generating good discussion. This isn't culture-bashing; it's questioning. I brought up cultural relativism even as I don't buy into it, in order to be even-handed. Anyway, horoscopes, goats' heads, whatever the criteria for selection, the kumari concept is controversial in and of itself. Human rights activists and MPs from Nepal have pushed to abolish the practice, so evidently it's not just western Crabmommies who don't like it.

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  Posted by stupid kid Thu Oct 9, 2008 10:18am PDT

  I LOVE YOUR NICKNAMES CRABMOMMY AND CRABKID.

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