“If she’s 13, then I’m 13 too” I always see this on Twitter
and Instagram of some guy who posts a picture of some girl that’s 13 but she
looks like she’s 20. It is crazy that in this society girls who are 13 have on
“skimpy” clothing and “booty shorts”. Like c’mon society let these children be
children! I remember when I was in the 12
th grade and I was working
at JcPenny in the children’s department. My guy cousin grabbed these tiny
little girl shorts and a two-piece bathing suit and he said “see this is why we
have pedophiles because people dress their little girls like
grown women”. Now
this statement was pretty extreme, but he had a point. Why do people dress
their little girls in clothing that makes them look so much older? Let these
little girl play with dolls until they get tired and want to stop. Don’t force
this grown up clothing on them. You dress you children and even if you don’t I
doubt if these little girls who are 7 or 8 only want to wear “booty shorts” and
“skimpy” clothing. I can’t speak for everyone but I truly do appreciate my mom
and the way she dressed me. The way you dress your daughter can affect the way
that she grows up to be. Not saying that clothing can dictate the way a child
grows but clothing can make them seem more mature than what they truly are.
Just a few days ago my mom and I seen a little girl about four years old and
she had on these tiny shorts and a little t-shirt. It looked as though she was
walking around in Target with just her underwear on. All we could so was shake
our heads in the disbelief. It is not just with females though it is also with
males and how their mothers are dressing them like teenage boys rather than
little boys. Kids now a day doesn’t have flowers on their shirts or trucks on
their shorts. Maybe I am taking this whole clothing thing out of content, but
our parent’s generation dressed their children like children rather than mini
adults.
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| http://www.roomoffun.com/she-is-12-years-old-i-don-t-want-to-live-on-this-planet-anymore_900.html |
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| http://fashionstrends.org/little-boys-fashion/ |
ReplyDeleteThis post reminds me of a controversy at Toddlers and Tiaras, where one of the mothers dressed up her daughter for a movie character competition; she dressed up her five year old as the hooker from Pretty Women. It was seen as cute, and the mother told the people that were reacting negatively to it to “calm down.” Even as a child, I remember being obsessed with Ariel, and I wanted to look like her i.e. basically wear a bra everywhere I go. Of course, my parents wouldn’t let me do that. It’s normalized. It’s okay to let or encourage your preteen to dress adult. I also recall a time last year, when I worked at Spirit Halloween, that a young girl was shopping for a costume with her mom. She was shopping for some pretty small clothing, and her mom was helping her pick it out. Her mom held up a pair of very small shorts. Her daughter said it wasn’t “slutty” enough. This is a thing that leaks into the media, as seen with various Nickelodeon sitcoms like you mentioned in the picture above.
I agree that there is an issue with men saying things like “if she’s __age than I’m ___age” however I respectfully disagree with your statement about how little girls should be dressed. I think that the real problem is with the way our society sexualizes girls. I see no problem in a little girl wearing a two-piece bathing suit, or shorts that are deemed “short-shorts.”
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was in high school I got sent home because my shorts didn’t pass the “finger-tips test.” Being that I was a 5’5, 105 pound girl, I had long thin legs, and long arms. In order to find shorts to pass this test I would have needed to wear capris. I think that we should start by criticizing the way men/boys see girls. My legs were in no way a distraction to my learning. If some perverted senior couldn’t pay attention in chemistry because my shorts were “too short” than he should have been sent home- not me.
Here is a good article about sexist dress codes- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jamie-rifkin/why-sexist-dress-codes-ha_b_7130272.html
In regards to the “if he/she is __age than I’m __age” situation, I find it interesting that I see girls my age talking about Patrick Dempsey or other older actors, saying “if he’s 40, I’m 40,” however I rarely see men my age saying that about older women, only younger.
I agree with this to a certain extent. Yes parents do have a responsibility to regulate what their children are wearing, BUT I believe it the children who chose to dress this way. Me and my friend laugh to ourself how the freshman class of highschooler look our age. We either say we look 12 or something isnt right with them. These young women are wearing make up, hair extension and clothing to "supersexualize" themselves. They are setting themselves up to a standard to look like grown women because that is what is advertised to them, Not only that, they admire celebrities who dress in a sexy manner. Parents play a big ole in this, when they don't regulate what their children are dong but it start with the child's mindset of beauty and acceptance.
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