The other day a cute little 8 year old girl came by my house wearing a cute little white tank top with A SPARKLY PINK PLAY B*Y BUNNY LOGO EMBLAZONED ACROSS HER CHEST!!!!!
Oh wait, was I yelling? For crying out loud, why on earth would a beautiful innocent little girl be wearing something that screams, “Look at me, I’m a sex object in the making?”
I asked her if she knew what the bunny on her shirt was.
“No, what is it.”
“Oh, well it’s a logo from a magazine called Playb*y. Do you know what that is?”
“No.”
“Well,” I paused, trying to figure out how to put this delicately. “It’s a magazine that has pictures of naked ladies that some grown up men like to look at.”
“Oh, gross!”
At first I wondered, “What are her parents thinking buying her a shirt like that?”
And then I realized that they speak very little English, they are first generation Americans and it’s likely they don’t know what the shirt is either.
It occurs to me that maybe they bought it at a secondhand store and that it wasn’t meant to be a little girl’s shirt.
But why would grown up women wear it either?
I can’t decide exactly who I am angry at. It is the manufacturer’s fault for making such a shirt, or the retailer for carrying it, or a society in which the p*rn industry thrives in the first place? Whose fault is it that a little girl like her can so easily find herself sporting such a symbol?
I’ve never considered myself an over the top advocate of modesty. (I breastfeed in public for crying out loud.) I have let the Girl wear two piece suit when she swims, though not the ones that look like grown up bikinis, and I have been known to wear outfits that show some skin at my waist, back when it was skinny. I’m not advocating burkas for women and little girls, but when did it become okay for little girls to wear trashy provocative clothing? When did looking sexy become something that anyone under 16 was thinking about? I don’t even know how to go on with this topic. It seems self evident to me that this is wrong but I haven’t yet figured out how to take it from the point where I am livid to something constructive.
That’s where you all come in. What do you think about little girl clothes that are slutty? And what do you think should be done about it?
11 thoughts on “Where do I send this rant.”
I am not sure what to do about it except not buy it for my own daughters but I think it is horrible. Girls have to grow up to fast as it is in our society. We should let them be little girls as long as they can be. I wish I had answers but I wanted to back you up on how bad it is to dress little girls like grown women that we would not really want to be friends with in the first place. Just let them be little innocent girls for as long is possible.
I think, in the case of this little girl, you did exactly the right thing by educating her on what she was wearing.
We aren’t hyper modest here either but I encourage my girls to be little ladies and not ladies of the evening. I too find myself surprised from time to time by what I see little ones dressed in. Sometimes this culture that we live in breaks my heart.
Kate
As the mother of two daughters ages 5 and 8, I am appalled at the kind of clothes marketed to young girls. I, too, am not sure what to do about it except to continue to educate our girls about what we feel is and isn’t acceptable. This is an issue I’ve been mulling over for a very long time. How do we teach girls to be modest without going to the other extreme? My girls both like cute, trendy clothes even at their age so we are constantly explaining our reasons for and against certain clothes purchases. It’s a constant battle.
I also have a daughter although haven’t come up against this issue that much as she’s not too fussy about what she wears and is happy for me to choose for her. However, I agree that a lot of girls clothes have designs that have a ‘sexy’ appearance which is inappropriate for children. Maybe writing to the manufacturers isn’t a bad idea. If they get enough customer disapproval it might just make them think about their designs?
I think any sensible woman feels the same way. It sounds like you handled it well.
You might like this catalogue of posts on the same topic:
http://lizditz.typepad.com/i_speak_of_dreams/2007/07/a-tremor-of-mod.html
Well said! Personally, I would find who the appropriate agency would be to contact —
Why did Playboy authorize the use of it’s logo for children’s clothing manufacturers?
Who sells and promotes these clothing items?
It is so refreshing to hear from other women who are civically-minded; women who speak up about social issues, the welfare of children and community, and take a proactive stance.
Have you registered your blog with BlogHer? I think you’ll find an audience with many others who share not only your love of writing (which, I must tell you, has helped me more than you know) but your attitudes about social issues/womens issues.
Good to know there are responsible women and mommies out there!
I dress my kids modestly – although not to an Amish extent – and am always sort of shocked by the things other kids wear. What exactly are their parents thinking?
I knew a young woman who had the playboy bunny tattooed on her. She was, not surprisingly, skanky.
I feel you on this one… I don’t have a little girl yet, but I saw a shirt in the little girl’s department that said “How many licks does it take?” I could NOT believe my eyes. I wanted to tear them all off the shelf.
Good for you… I’m so glad you had the balls (hah) to tell her what it meant.
I absolutely agree! I whole heartedly believe in standing up for what you believe is not right. Many people think I have gone a bit far, but I won’t even eat at Carl’s Jr. aka Hardee’s due to the fact that they promote garbage like this. Ex: they have a commercial with Hugh Heffner trying to “decide” between multiple different burgers and he says “he just can’t decided which one to have”. Not to mention he is surrounded a group of these playmates. Its disgusting and I can’t believ so many people in our society will stand for these things. I for one will not and will not allow my children to partake of the junk either.
Thanks for the post!
I agree with you, and in this situation I think you did the best thing by telling her gently what the bunny represented.
I absolutely agree! I whole heartedly believe in standing up for what you believe is not right. Many people think I have gone a bit far, but I won't even eat at Carl's Jr. aka Hardee's due to the fact that they promote garbage like this. Ex: they have a commercial with Hugh Heffner trying to "decide" between multiple different burgers and he says "he just can't decided which one to have". Not to mention he is surrounded a group of these playmates. Its disgusting and I can't believ so many people in our society will stand for these things. I for one will not and will not allow my children to partake of the junk either.
Thanks for the post!
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