Inappropriate Kids' Halloween Costumes

Yesterday while passing out candy to little ghosts and goblins in my neighborhood, a little boy about 6 or 7 came to my door and I didn't immediately recognize his costume. He wasn't dressed up as Harry Potter or any of the Star Wars characters or SpongeBob Squarepants or any other recognizable character, so I asked him what his costume was. He pushed his little shoulders back, stood up straight and proudly informed me he was a pimp.

Yes, a pimp. And he was wearing the bling pictured below.
A few years, but more likely a few seconds later, I recovered my ability to speak and just said, "well, isn't that cute!"

W.T.F.? Huh?

Then I was reading the Huffington Post and learned that tween idol Miley Cyrus's 9-year-old sister was all decked out as a dominitrix at a recent Halloween fundraiser.

By the way, the worst part of this picture, in my opinion, is the Mattel sign behind Miley's little sister. Mattel, the maker of Uno, Polly Pocket, Fisher Price, Barbie and Hot Wheels. Of course, maybe mini-Miley was attempting to dress up as Black Canary Barbie, but Black Canary Barbie is not for kids, so I hope not. So here's a 9-year old completely over-sexualized at a party sponsored by the largest toy maker in the country.

What in the Hell is wrong with parents?

How do these Halloween costumes just happen? These are children. Little children at that. They do not have any way to make or purchase their own costumes so there had to have been an adult involved. They don't sneak out dressed as Elmo and change clothes at a friend's house (not that I ever did that). Mom and Dad must have been involved in these costume decisions.

When I was a kid, Halloween costume negotiations went something like this:

Me: Mom, I want to be Wonder Woman. Can you buy me a costume?

Mom: How about you just wear one of my old dresses and a wig and go as me?

Me: Okay.

So how did the conversations go in the households of these kids?

6-year-old boy: Yo, Mom & Dad! I wanna be a pimp. Go buy me some threads!

9-year-old girl: Mom & Dad, I want to look like a dominatrix street walker this year. Can you make me a costume?

Mom & Dad: Sure! It's never to early to oversexualize the kids.

Why didn't these parents say no? Where was any thought as to what was age-appropriate? What happened to parenting?

Now I know it's easy for me to criticize because I don't have kids, but most of my friends do and not one of them would let their kids dress like this. They all had adorable age-appropriate costumes, as did the vast majority of the kids who stopped by my house yesterday.

Kids grow up way too fast these days as it is. I just don't see the need for them to be older than they are on Halloween too.