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Strollerderby
JC Penney pulled this shirt when parents complained.
It’s been a banner year for inappropriate girlswear. Padded “push up” bikini tops. Butt-perking shoes. Tops declaring the importance of beauty over brains. Now Halloween season is upon us, with girls’ costume options ranging from (sexy) alien to (sexy) zombie. This trend is horrifying — but it’s not really surprising.
Attractiveness has always been the prized virtue of females in our society. It’s been a constant struggle for girls to get as much credit for being smart as being pretty. But this has been complicated by the triumph of the “bad girl” archetype. As explicit sexuality (i.e., porn) has become more accessible and accepted, its aesthetic has seeped into the mainstream. In the past, there were demure “girls next door” and prim “ice queens.” Now, nearly every female celebrity works an overtly sexy look.
Little girls want to look like big girls — especially the ones they know are celebrated by the world at large. They are eager to define their identities according to what is expected and appreciated. Which is what makes the increasing flow of messages that oversexualize girls and undermine their intelligence so disturbing and so dangerous. When a mom on the TV show Dance Moms complained about her 9-year-old gyrating on stage in fishnets, the coach countered, “But she loves it!” How can a parent combat the flow of products AND a daughter’s appetite for them?
The wrong message or harmless humor?
Lately it seems like there’s a controversial new shirt for children being produced every week, particularly shirts for girls.
The boom of inappropriate shirts has bothered me but I am also pleased by the immediate response of outrage by parents everywhere. It means we’re concerned and critically thinking about the messages being sent to our children.
However, unlike the ‘Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels‘ shirt or the ‘I’m too pretty to do my homework so my brother does it for me‘ shirt, the new ‘Allergic to algebra’ shirt being sold by Forever 21 isn’t really bothering me. Continue reading »
Harriet The Spy
Earlier this week I posted about female characters who foster girls’ confidence, imagination, or at least give them the opportunity to think. So when I opened my twitter window this morning, I was pretty pleased to discover that my feed was peppered with posts tagged #childhoodfeminstheroes. I hate that the word feminist is so polarizing. But whether or not you identify with the word, I think we can all agree that strong role models are undeniably important for girls.
To me, a #childhoodfeministhero is anyone who helped you see the wide world of possibility or helped you to achieve your dreams, whatever they might be. The Twittered ones I featured below come from movies and TV, though not always from the most obvious places. But they also come from real life: family members who provided support and taught by example. Did your personal hero get a shout-out? Add her to the list!
As a UK politician recently pointed out, the media situation for our girls leaves something to be desired. The pickings are slim, and the girls who are featured often reinforce exactly the same values—ones we’d rather not highlight. There are some exceptions: Dora the Explorer is everyone’s go-to, and Ni-Hao Kai Lan takes the same model and translates it to Mandarin. There’s Strawberry Shortcake with her hottie 3D makeover. And the new Samurai Jacked-up My Little Pony has some good stuff going for it. But I find it hard to get past the problem of sugar-and-spice associations.
I’d like my daughter—and my son—to see strong female characters who don’t seem all cut from the same cloth. If you’re looking for something a little different, you may not be able to get it on your current television channels. But we are lucky to live in an age of almost unlimited media access, with most of the whole history of movies and TV a google or a download away. Take advantage of this and broaden your family’s horizons with these 10 finds, featuring a wide range of female characters who don’t fit the mainstream mold.
![sketchers 300x300 Parents Outraged About Body Shaping Skecher Shoes For Little Girls [VIDEO]](http://cdn.babble.com/strollerderby/files/2011/05/sketchers.jpg "Parents Outraged About Body Shaping Skecher Shoes For Little Girls [VIDEO]")
A pair of body-shaping Sketchers marketed toward teens
First there was the California mom injecting her 8-year-old daughter with Botox so she can win beauty pageants, now I find out about leg and butt-toning shoes aimed at girls as young as 8-years-old.
America! What are we doing to our little girls?
The brand Skechers has introduced a new model of their popular “Shape-ups” shoes – previously targeting adult women – in sizes small enough to fit little girls. Some even come with Velcro straps.
The shoes are featured in a sassy commercial (seen below) starring young girls as pop stars. The girls are followed around by three boys dressed in costumes representing ice cream, a hot dog and a cupcake. In one part of the commercial, a girl wearing Shape-ups confidently walks away from the boys/food. Continue reading »
Is this doll a clue to her owner's future?
Before I had a daughter, I was in denial about the overwhelming power of the American Girl franchise. When my daughter got one as a gift, I experienced a brief and mild mourning period for my ability to stem the tide. Then I discovered that American Girl is not just a doll. She is, for better or worse (definitely worse for the wallet) the cultural currency of the female 4-8 set. I’ve seen the relief on girls faces when they discover their mutual bond: You have one. You get it. You’re one of us. As skeptical as I am about “must-have” marketing pressure and the idea of commodities having emotional value, I have to admit I see the good side of this much more clearly than I thought I would.
With their characters and stories, American Girl dolls have meaning beyond the generic doll. They also lend themselves to that taxonomy thing girls like to do, the one that’s at the root of all those women’s magazine quizzes: Which type are you?
Once a year, before the sch
ool year starts, my daughters go shopping with my mom. It’s their annual treat, a chance to buy new clothes from a real store. The rest of the year, we get our clothes second-hand from swaps, hand-me-downs from friends, and the occasional trip to Goodwill.
There’s something magic about starting the year off with some fresh new things. Watching my mom carry on this ritual with the girls brings back all my memories of school shopping during my own childhood, too. I love the little fashion show the girls put on when they get home with their loot.
All of this is to explain why my six-year-old has a leopard print miniskirt. It was a gift from their Nana during their annual pilgrimage to LL Bean, and I couldn’t bear to take it away from her. Ditto the bikini that showed up from a different relative on her birthday last year.
You’d think wearing a tiny bikini or a leopard print skirt would make my first grader look strange, but she’s just doing what all the kids around her do. Sexy clothes for girls this age have become the norm.
Lori Garcia 
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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