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Since the second draft of Mo'Reece and the Girls, the playwright has included an epigraph:

"This is discrimination, pure and simple, the soft bigotry of low expectations."  –George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in 2000.

In the deepest parts of the ocean, under thousands of pounds of pressure, "expectations" shift, distort. Even the lowest can drift away out of reach by the steady motion of a current, while others, casting shadows through murky water, morph from obvious fantasy into the only way out. From that dark zone, having fallen off the edge of the continental shelf, all dry lands--Italy, Greece--appear equally distant, equally the beach upon which one might still wash ashore.

So I want to add to Bush's statement a second reflection on "low expectations," from Denise Riley of Pensacola, Florida, speaking about a year after Bill Clinton passed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act:

"Ms. Riley recently warned her mother, 'Whatever I have to do to keep a roof over my head and keep my baby fed, I'll do it.' When her mother said this would surely not include bank robbery or prostitution, Ms. Riley offered no assurances. 'I said, Mama, whatever it takes.' " –New York Times, June 6, 1997.

What does it mean when meeting even the lowest of expectations requires doing "whatever it takes?"

"Preteen Model Mariah"

There is an interesting phenomenon on youtube of which I was previously unaware--mothers or agents using the site to show photo montages of their preteen models.  I assume older models use this marketing tool as well, but for our purposes the preteen montages are particularly interesting.  Though obviously not something Mo'Reece would have access to, it highlights a lot of the issues around sexuality and age that are highlighted in the play. 

When you look at these montages, they are always marked as "Preteen" and often have a childish theme to them--in "Mariah Lollipop" (great title) choo-choo trains run around the edges of the screen, and hopscotch squares flank the photos.  But the pigtails, the lollipop, the school girl skirt do not sit comfortably on the innocent side of the line.  Go to youtube and type in preteen model tv.  If you want to watch just one, check out "Preteen Model Mariah" below. Comments on what you find?  

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