Sexy kids (toddlers and infants)
In light of the recall for padded kiddie bikinis (via Salon Broadsheet):
Today in dispatches from obvious-land: 7-year-olds don’t need padded bikinis. That’s what the British clothing line Primark learned after it was lambasted by children’s advocacy organizations for introducing a sparkly pink-and-gold bikini, complete with cleavage-boosting cups for the tween set. Primark removed the top from the racks yesterday, apologizing and donating any profits from the teeny-weeny bikinis to a children’s charity.
I turn your attention to these past posts on the same subject matter:
September 11, 2008:
Selling adult sexuality to toddlers
September 24, 2008:
Virgin waxing and botox babies: the cash keeps flowing
October 8, 2008
Gemma just sent me an article about this this morning! Was going to send it over 😉
Comment by Lani — April 17, 2010 @ 6:15 pm
I’m wondering who exactly thought that this was a good idea in the first place. I’m also wondering how it made it though the minimum half a dozen people that it takes at a mid-size company to get a design out there as a product without anyone saying, “Do we really need the padding?”
Childhood in the states is shrinking rapidly. The signs of this are everywhere: padded kiddie bikinis, way more preteen prostitutes (ever go to the mall?), busy and therefore absent parents that leave decision making to the kids, and middle class to affluent preteens already worried about college.
I was home alone a lot as a preteen, helped my parents with domestic chores while they were at work, and I was allowed to drink a bit, date and have some kinds of sex (so long as I told my parents about the former and followed a don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy about the latter). This was odd enough back then to make me have to plead with a psychologist and various teacher not to call CPS. I was speaking with a girl who was in a similar situation and had similar responsibilities and privileges. What struck me as odd was the fact that her teachers just shrugged and thought it was commonplace without even demanding an explanation. I think the big difference is that when I was a kid I had to prove that I was this little adult whereas now the culture supports and encourages (expects?) kids to be pint-sized adults.
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Comment by corporate photographer — December 24, 2010 @ 1:09 pm