Parenting website Mumsnet is doing everything in their power to prevent our young girls from growing up too fast. The site has launched a campaign Let Girls Be Girls, and they have asked retailers to help them in their quest by not engaging in what they call “corporate pedophilia“.
The campaign calls out retailers on over sexuality our youth by offering ‘Sexy’ slogans on young girls’ clothing, pole-dancing kits for tweens, Playboy-branded stationery sets, [and] padded bras for prepubescent girls.”
Mother of four and site founder Justine Roberts explains:
“The idea behind our campaign is to encourage retailers to sign up to a simple pledge that commits them to selling only products which do not sexualize children. Most of us think that children’s underwear shouldn’t mimic adult lingerie, and that padded bras for pre-teens are not appropriate. We think clothing shouldn’t feature slogans which are likely to be read as sexy, provocative or flirty, and lots of us feel that little girls’ shoes should not have high heels.”
Justine adds that overly sexual clothing will:
“introduce children to the world of adult sexuality, when elsewhere we are rightly encouraging them to resist the pressure to become sexually active at a young age. It tells girls that the most important quality they need is ’sexiness’ and that female sexuality is all about pleasing others, and encourages a culture in which children are viewed as sexually available.”
It seems impossible to discuss this topic without discussing tween Hollywood. Miley Cyrus’s young sister, Noah, has been popping up in the media outlets lately not for any specific reason besides to express shock that her parents let the 9 year old leave the house in the outfits she does.
Tom Narducci, senior consultant National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children agrees that allowing children to dress provocatively can have serious repercussions, saying:
“The NSPCC’s position on this is that by normalizing sexualised clothing, and by normalizing sexualised behavior, it opens up young girls to being exploited. There are documented court cases where the defense of the perpetrator was that the victim was wearing provocative clothing and behaving in a provocative way. They were blaming the child and using that as a defense. The perpetrator was saying ‘I couldn’t help myself’ and using that as some sort of justification for what they were doing.”
The American Psychological Association also points out that early sexualization of children can lead to destructive patterns like eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression.
If that’s not enough to scare any parent, I don’t know what will. It’s one thing for children to dress up at home all in good fun, but overtly sexual messages and inappropriate outfits aren’t “cute” or “funny.” It’s dangerous.
Aside from all of that, why are kids in such a rush to grow up, and why are we allowing it? There will be plenty of time for the complicated mess of sex and relationships and the opposite sex when they’re older, but for their safety and well-being, just let little girls be little girls.
