On the heels of a certain racy children’s clothing line being launched, parenting website Mumsnet is doing everything in their power to stop little girls from growing up too fast.
As part of the website’s campaign Let Girls Be Girls, they have asked retailers to help them in their quest by not engaging in what the Aussie’s call “corporate paedophilia“.
Site founder and mother of four Justine Roberts explains their campaign:
“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 sexualise 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.”
Tom Narducci, senior consultant National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children agrees with Mumsnet, saying:
“The NSPCC’s position on this is that by normalising sexualised clothing, and by normalising sexualised behaviour, it opens up young girls to being exploited. There are documented court cases where the defence 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 defence. The perpetrator was saying ‘I couldn’t help myself’ and using that as some sort of justification for what they were doing.”
If that doesn’t rattle your bones as a parent, we don’t know what it will take to get you to realize that allowing innocent girls to wear provocative clothing is just wrong. There’s a difference between letting them dress up in your home and letting them march around in public in hooker wear.
The American Psychological Association also points out that early sexualization can lead to eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.
Bottom line, be a responsible parent and let the childrenz enjoy their youth. They’ll have plenty of time to dress up and be sexy when they’re older.
Do U agree???
[Image via AP Images.]
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