This is a segment from the Today Show, where consumer reporter, Janice Lieberman, discusses the way little girls are being overly sexualized in the mass media. If you think this is bad, you should see how oversexed the Bratz dolls are.
Abercrombie and Fitch were also under scrutiny for attempting to market 6 year-olds with thong underwear that state "eye candy" and "wink wink." Abercrombie's response on the issue was that critics were chastising them for false perceptions about the underwear being too offensive, because they were actually for 10 year-olds. This merely made Abercrombie look like fools. Besides, why in the world do 6 or 10 year olds need to wear thong underwear that state such overtly sexual messages? No CHILD should ever be thought of in such a sexually provocative way.
Sadly, marketers are selling kids ideologies about sexual maturity and beauty and parents are buying into it.
Marketers claim that, "motivated representations" are not intended to be taken at face value, yet they are cashing in on selling "young girls products" that offer empty promises of achieving the beauty and perfection of their favorite idols, like Hannah Montana.
According to a recent study, tween consumers spend roughly $200 billion a year. This makes it extremely appealing to marketers, who are selling self improvement that is not actually intended to "improve" the girls, but to make corporations more money.
This can be detrimental for girls' self esteems.
Since children around the ages of 6 to 12 are in Piaget's concrete operational stage of cognitive development, they ARE able to logically reason concrete ideas, but still LACK the capabilities of comprehending abstract images, like separating representations in magazines and on TV from images in actual reality.
Since this is a very important stage in determining a child's identity, girls are more likely to internalize the images and buy into the ideologies that their value lies in their appearance. This is especially true with the Bratz dolls, who send the message that "less is more", with their very sexy clothing and thick makeup.
As girls grow, exposure to these images can haunt them and often influence concerns with body image, sexual explorations at a younger age, and dangerous dieting habits, like eating disorders and skipping meals, etc.
If you truly love your little girls, then actually let them be "little girls." They have the rest of their lives to be adults when they grow up, so why rush it?
Abercrombie and Fitch were also under scrutiny for attempting to market 6 year-olds with thong underwear that state "eye candy" and "wink wink." Abercrombie's response on the issue was that critics were chastising them for false perceptions about the underwear being too offensive, because they were actually for 10 year-olds. This merely made Abercrombie look like fools. Besides, why in the world do 6 or 10 year olds need to wear thong underwear that state such overtly sexual messages? No CHILD should ever be thought of in such a sexually provocative way.
Sadly, marketers are selling kids ideologies about sexual maturity and beauty and parents are buying into it.
Marketers claim that, "motivated representations" are not intended to be taken at face value, yet they are cashing in on selling "young girls products" that offer empty promises of achieving the beauty and perfection of their favorite idols, like Hannah Montana.
According to a recent study, tween consumers spend roughly $200 billion a year. This makes it extremely appealing to marketers, who are selling self improvement that is not actually intended to "improve" the girls, but to make corporations more money.
This can be detrimental for girls' self esteems.
Since children around the ages of 6 to 12 are in Piaget's concrete operational stage of cognitive development, they ARE able to logically reason concrete ideas, but still LACK the capabilities of comprehending abstract images, like separating representations in magazines and on TV from images in actual reality.
Since this is a very important stage in determining a child's identity, girls are more likely to internalize the images and buy into the ideologies that their value lies in their appearance. This is especially true with the Bratz dolls, who send the message that "less is more", with their very sexy clothing and thick makeup.
As girls grow, exposure to these images can haunt them and often influence concerns with body image, sexual explorations at a younger age, and dangerous dieting habits, like eating disorders and skipping meals, etc.
If you truly love your little girls, then actually let them be "little girls." They have the rest of their lives to be adults when they grow up, so why rush it?
No comments:
Post a Comment