Toymakers, Stop Sexualizing Our Children
It is a well known fact that toymakers and other business entrepreneurs tend to heavily market for the ‘tween’ to teenage demographic. This cohort is dependent on parents (read, no major financial responsibilities), yet have enough access to cash to have significant buying power.
Another adage, which is sadly true: sex sells. When sexualized marketing techniques are used on adults, it is one thing and a matter of an adult making a responsible decision to like the product or not. When sexualized marketing is actively and consistently targeting our children, we have a major problem.
Yes, parents should hold the chief responsibility in assuming what toys, media and clothing their younger children may get hold to; that is the fact every parent should understand when giving birth to a child.
The problem is that we are a highly commercial society, not all parents actively dissuade their children (especially daughters) from being sexualized at too early an age by media and last but certainly not least, hours upon hours of a kid’s life is spent away from parents, at school.
At school, there exists peer pressure. Young pre-teen girls sometimes wear pants that say “Juicy” on the but and have exposed jmidriffs. Somehow, this sexualization makes them ‘cool’.
They emulate dolls that are known as bratz, which through 1) media marketing 2) cartoons 3) clothing paraphernalia 4) mimicking the dress of highly public media figures of older age (Britney Spears, Christina Aguilerra…), we have a culture that seemingly worships skantily clad and exposed 11-year-olds born. These girls think that to be popular and ‘hip’, they should feel sexual and act accordingly.
These are not appropriate dolls:
So we wonder why we have the problem with sexualization? Yes, there are lazy parents, but there is also a constantly decreasing line of common-sense and decency with business ethics. The daughter is the bottom line, and if that means making girls think they have to be little ‘sluts’ to make that dollar, P.R. folks and marketing executives are saying, ‘so be it’. They are flooding our society with so many sexualized things that it’s becoming impossible for children not to be exposed, at too young an age or before parents deem their children ready to even discuss such things. That’s a major problem.
There is really no way to actively combat this; boycotts really will not work (too widespread and teens have too much liquid buying power) and one cannot hide their child away from friends and peers; they will be exposed. At the 11-year-old to 15-year-old age, droll parenting lectures tend to be in one ear and out the other.
There needs to be more discussion of this issue on the national level, and companies that go overboard in targeting the developing sexual whims in small children should be outed in public media. It will take public attention and quorums to curb this dangerous trend.
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Author: Karen Gray
Karen Gray is a student of journalism at LMU and international events columnist for the CW.
4:24 pm
Although I disagree with you on most things and your grammar leaves much to be desired, I agree with what you say in this article.
“Young pre-teen girls sometimes wear pants that say “Juicy” on the but”
I’m not sure which is worse: the pants that say “juicy” on the butt or the pants that say “pink” on the butt. It used to be just a high school thing; over the past several years I’ve been seeing them on elementary-age children.
“They emulate dolls that are known as bratz”
For years now I’ve seen those “Bratz” doll commercials during Spongebob Squarepants (yes, I’m 19 and I still watch Spongebob, leave me alone) and they just disgust me. As a girl who’s been a feminist since age 10, the first time I saw those “Bratz” advertised, with their bee-stung lips, masks of makeup, and skimpy outfits, I thought to myself “What kind of message are these dolls sending to young girls? That you have to wear loads of makeup and have Angelina Jolie-puffy lips in order to be attractive or feel good about yourself? That you have to display your body for all to see?”
“There needs to be more discussion of this issue on the national level”
Agreed. We need to crack down on the corporations and enforce stricter standards when it comes to marketing to children. Sexualizing children’s merchandise should be considered a form of child exploitation and punished as such.
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7:11 pm
first can i say that “JUICY” and “PINK” are brand names … O.O
you want them to change their names??? you think brand names are bad but the ones they sell at cheaper stores say things like “KISS THIS!” or whatever is better?? silly silly people.
you guys are also silly for thinking your child [ girl or boy ]can be affected completely and you have no faith in your child being an independent girl. i’m pretty damn sure i’ve been a fan of britney when she FIRST came out. i was SOOOO young. i looked up to so many sexy woman/girls like Lola Bunny, Lara Croft, Jessica Rabbit, Britney Spears, pin-up girls. i currently STILL love britney spears and i LOVEEE Dita Von Teese and have always loved the burlesque style and what not. that does not make me a whore. it made me aware of sexuality. I am no where near a whore… im never dressing any way to show my body off, im never EVER even THINKING about being with a guy and having sex. i think these women made me be happy in my own skin and realize that i can be strong and sexy at the same time without being sexually active. no, im not sexually active. so you parents are soo ignorant and you have no hope or faith in your child, apparently. MAYBE you guys should teach them about sex and educate them the CORRECT way. I grew up with a family who likes to not talk openly about things… yet, i have learned from watching movies constantly. not the BEST way… but by me being smart, taking health class & seeing DOZENS of films, hearing word from other people… i made my OWN decision. not the best way to go. i’d rather have been educated from an early age. you guys are just SO quick to judge. by the way, may i mention i used to copy britney spears’s dance moves and i still do and i’m NOT a “slut” as you guys would like to say.
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4:30 pm
Agreed with your Claire and Karen. It is just pretty pathetic and I find it troublesome that networks approve of shows like Bratz, let online media/clothing company that promote these lines of clothing that have girls looking like little harlots.
There was some story about how they were trying to even get Miley Cyrus’ little sister to model a…get this… a line of lingerie aimed at children. I wish I could remember where I was reading it, but the outrage these things cause is well-warranted. No decency.
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5:00 pm
I honestly don’t think a toy is going to turn any little girl into a slut lol its all for fun and that is what we should all strive for in this life
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5:08 pm
The toy won’t necessarily do that, Razii, but the culture it builds into and promotes will do it. The fact that young children are dressing in ridiculously slutty outfits and are even DISCUSSING sexuality in more adult terms at elementary age is a problem, especially when we have companies actively contributing to it by exploiting kids.
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5:45 pm
please Adam call me Irreverend and companies don’t do anything but sell something. smoking ads didn’t influence me at all when i was younger but i smoke now, please explain that.
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7:23 pm
i’ve worked with fifth graders in the past 2 years. i was in a theater program that helps these kids learn about theater and to actually have them put their own show. in those 2 years i have NEVERRRRRRRRRRRRR seen a young girl dress “slutty”
wearing victoria’s secret PINK outfits? yes. wearing abercrombie? yes. wearing hollister? yes. but im pretty damn sure they were tee shirts and sweat pants/hoodies.
skirts occasionally but i never saw “slut” in them ever and i will NEVER EVER say that about those kids. dont you wear shirts, sweat pants, hoodies, dresses or occasionally skirts??
they were the sweetest and just so innocent. i’ve connected with them a lot and to hear something so disgusting come out of someone’s mouth just breaks me.
yeah, maybe THOSE kids haven’t dressed… as you say “slutty” but i walk by an elementary school EVERY morning while walking to class & i have never ever ever seen such a site.
and you guys are worrying about these things, meanwhile you have kids in elementary kids saying things like “that’s gay” when they have NO idea what the word means and it really is SUCH a hurtful thing to say.
but i’m sure you christians don’t care for the gays [ sorry, im being a bit judgmental here because i know a lot of christians who do support gays & gays who are christian. ]
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11:33 pm
well when I was around 13-14 girl were normally clothed when I left school we could hear that 7-8 yo girl wears thong ?
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4:12 am
whille i agree it’s a problem saying it’s the tou frabricants fault is being naive. it’s the entire culture that have shifted and it is part of the movement that have made kids grow up faster. society as a whole is to blame here. a whole egenration of parent not capable of saying “no you are not old enough” have caused this problem
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12:21 pm
Liberals love these sorts of things and use them to indoctrinate children into their radical lifestyles. They have literally teamed up with the corrupt corporate chieftans to sell this garbage to an unsuspecting public. These democrats shillers demand that you become subservient to them, whether it’s at the store or the voting booth. They suffer from a power complex. But their problem is that you won’t go quietly into the night. Things were fine so long as you were a sheep. But dissention is treacherous. Dissention is liberalism’s worst enemy. And since you won’t play along with their totalitarian tactics you immediately make yourself an enemy of their state.
Our nation was born out of dissention. Dissention that flew in the face of totalitarianism. Liberalsim is totalitarian; akin to its father marxism.
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12:25 pm
Change “liberal” to “conservative” and “democrat” to “republican” and you’re talking about the same group of people: politicians. There’s only one party in this country, no matter what the ballots look like.
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9:26 pm
Please stop leaving comments in my name. You make others think it is me leaving the comments, because when you use the same name it is impossible for them to differentiate right off the bat. Please select another name or if your name is like mine, add an initial so people can tell us apart when we’re leaving comments. Thanks.
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