The age at which advertisers are starting to target children is becoming obscenely young. Corporations know that girls aged 12 through 19 comprise $75 billion worth of “disposable income” and one third of this goes to clothing and accessories. But a formerly overlooked group of big spenders are America’s 27.6 million “tweens,” the 7 to 14-year-old female age group. "It's a group comfortable spending money," according to Darrell Rigby, director of consulting firm Bain & Co.'s retail practice. "They spend their parents' money and they spend their own money. Teen girls have a lot of purchasing clout."¹ For this reason, many stores are beginning to use sexuality to appeal to this age group. Low rise jeans are being made for young girls, which require smaller undergarments. American Eagle Outfitters, J. Crew, and Express are just some of the stores which are making very mature underwear for young girls. Yet the most questionable of these companies is Abercrombie and Fitch.

      Abercrombie and Fitch has recently been selling thong underwear and bathing suits for young girls. Some of the pairs of thong underwear have the words "eye candy" and "wink wink" printed on the front. The backless underwear comes in sizes for girls ages 10 to 16. Although the smallest size can fit younger girls as well. A ten year old being “eye candy,” or something that is good to look at, is disgusting enough, but a ten year old winking about something she most likely does not understand is truly repulsive.

      The exploitation does not end with thongs for kids. Padded bras for girls as young as six are also being sold. Tiny matching lingerie sets of lacy bras and panties in many children's brands including Bratz, Saddle Club and Barbie, have recently been aimed at girls who are barely old enough to attend kindergarten. A very popular toy called “Bratz Babyz” now includes a sexually provocative baby doll clad in leather and lingerie. The padded Bratz "bralettes" are among more than 30 different junior bra styles currently being sold.

      More and more, young girls are being sexualized for profit. There are real makeup kits made specifically for 6 to 9 year olds by Mattel and Bonne Bell. Disney has lip gloss and nail polish kits with their licensed characters on the packaging. Proctor and Gamble is looking to start a Cover Girl range for 8 to 10 year olds by making the use of makeup resemble playing a game.

Some designers are even using 12-year-old girls in their shows to display their “perfect bodies.” Parisian designer Stella Cadente used 9 year old models who were dressed rather provocatively in her 2001 runway show. Not only is it astonishing that a prepubescent body is considered perfect (and a source of anxiety for grown women), it is also shocking that people would allow children to be used as objects to sell products. 

      Women’s magazines are also being marketed to young girls. People magazine has created Teen People, which has over one million subscribers. There is also the teen version of Cosmopolitan magazine called CosmoGIRL and Vogue magazine’s Teen Vogue, which both pull in over one million subscribers each. The messages which these magazines give to young girls are extremely misleading. They mix blatant adult sexuality with cheesy articles intended for adolescents.

      While CosmoGIRL offers friendly advice on getting rid of zits, they also have ads for products like for Levi's Superlow jeans, which shows a man pressing his face against a women’s crotch. Most of the subject matter which these magazines deal with is definitely sexual in nature. And while young girls are surely curious about this subject, they do not need to be bombarded with it. It seems as though these magazines are merely preparing girls to get hooked on their vapid content, to ensure their readership in the future. While Cosmopolitan has very similar topics about sex and body image each month, CosmoGIRL seems to use the same formula. The March 2008 issue of CosmoGirl includes Romance Red Flags, Workout Moves You’ll Love, Pretty Dresses, Hair and Makeup and even a section on how to kiss correctly.

      Teen Vogue’s main concern appears to be getting young girls hooked on expensive fashion. They feature clothing by designers such as Marc Jacobs, Vivienne Tam, Miu Miu, Anna Sui, Katayone Adeli and Alberta Ferreti. Surely, the average American teen could not afford clothing by any of these designers. Although they do include an ad for breast enhancing tablets. “For $229.95, you too can grow bigger boobs, feel more beautiful and sexier than ever and have more self esteem, more confidence.” (Although you may want to wait until you are done with puberty, because they might grow more on their own.)

      ELLEgirl tells its adolescent readers to employ a daily routine of sunless tanner, weekly hot oil treatments for their hair and daily manicures, plus regular tooth bleaching and face masks.

      These magazines are not designed to empower our young women; they are created to get them feeling like they need to improve themselves physically through the consumption of expensive products. We are never too young to be indoctrinated. In fact, the younger the better. Young people lack critical thinking skills and haven’t learned to question the world around them. Children are pure and don’t know that the world is full of corruption and deception. They take whatever they are presented to be truth. They are perfect targets for ruthless advertising.

www.RethinkingBeauty.com