Professional Reading #11

(2011, April 11). Abercrombie Bikini Top Controversy Sparks Debate on Parenting and Child Fashion. CBS New York. Retrieved from: http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/04/01/abercrombie-bikini-top-controvery-sparks-debate-on-parenting-and-child-fashion/

I have been looking for articles on this subject ever since a coworker told me about this. The clothing line, Abercrombie & Fitch, popular among tweens and teens, released a padded, push-up bikini top intended for girls as young as seven and eight years old. The thought of a seven year-old girl walking around with a padded push up bikini top is severely disturbing to me. Why are we sexualizing our children? What parent feels that it is appropriate to teach their young girl that she should be wearing a padded bikini, what lesson is that teaching her? I can guarantee that seven year-old boys could care less whether girls their age have large breasts, so who is this for? Is it for themselves and their own self esteem? If that is the case, how terrible is it that seven year olds feel they need to be sexy in order to feel confident.

This article claims that girls see their friends wearing these tops and want them for themselves. Susan Shapiro Barash, author of the book, "You're Grounded Forever... But First Let's Go Shopping: The Challenges Mothers Face with Their Daughters and Ten Timely Solutions" discusses that Gen-X mothers are more concerned about their appearance than their Baby Boomer mothers, which leads to them allowing their daughters to wear sexier clothes at a younger age. I don't typically read comments at the end of these articles, but these ones were pretty interesting. Most of them were from Gen-X mothers who were upset by Barash's comments stating that their daughter's appearance as well as their own is not of the utmost importance to them. These women argue that if begged by their daughters to allow them to wear a padded bikini top, they would have no problem saying no. Glad to hear it.