The French have been whipped pretty hard in the United States since, oh, about the time of the 9/11 attacks. Some Americans have resented the French for failing to support our war efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remember those “freedom fries”? Good grief!

I have not joined that chorus. I will, though, applaud the French senate for voting to end children’s beauty pageants.

http://news.msn.com/world/video?videoid=6003a601-048f-0f8c-f811-9c0675ed2b86&from=en-us_msnhp

I’ve long thought of these kiddie pageants as being — how to say it — vaguely perverted. The sight of these little girls prancing around provocatively, with their hair pulled up and their eyes laden with makeup frankly makes me want to hurl.

It is unnatural, unwarranted and unappealing.

Forgive me for saying this, too, but every time I witness a kids’ pageant, a certain name keeps popping into my head: Jon Benet Ramsey, the Colorado girl who also took part in these events and was murdered in a case that drew international attention. Some folks speculated that the killer might have held some disgustingly lustful urges before killing that little girl.

I have no clue as to whether France’s idea of outlawing these pageants ever will become law in that country, let alone catch fire in the rest of the world.

I hope it does.