Man takes pictures of 8 year old girl at pool

A 63 year old man took pictures of young girls aged 8 to 10 at a town swimming pool because he found them sexy, as reported on Yahoo.
My thoughts turn to the Abercrombie and Fitch padded top bikini, as I discussed in a previous post. Anyone that defends the "parents choice" in buying such a bikini and that defend A&F for producing this kind of sexy garment for children should think about the children being affected and exploited, not a retailer's greed for money and attention or the few parents that don't put the welfare of their children first. It is this kind of acceptance to sexualize young girls that give perverted men the ammo to look at young girls sexually.
Let's remove any connection of sex and young girls out of the public perception that it is ok. It is NOT ok. Retailers should not be producing garments that sexualize young girls of 8, 10 or 12. No one in their right mind should endorse it. Parents should not buy it. If Abercombie and Fitch have not yet pulled this exploitive bikini from their shelves, I hope they do now and if not I hope the public will boycott this store.

Jan

What's Too Young for Pierced Ears?

I saw a segment on the Today Show about an appropriate age to get girls' ears pierced. I was shocked to see the choices provided. Infant, 6 or 8. I think all these are too young. I have always told my daughter who is 6 that she could get her ears pierced when she is 16. I think 6 and 8 are way too young and I'm shocked there were no options for 13 or 16 in this poll. I don't think a young child of 6 is responsibile enough to handle piercing which needs to be cleaned and rotated daily. At 6, girls are still playing dress up. Give them clip on earings that they can enjoy wearing with no threat of infections and feel grown up without being grown up.

Earings are a sophisticated jewelry. I think girls should be in their teenage years for this but at least in a double digit number when they are old enough to be more responsible and more mature. Does a six year old really need to wear earings to feel pretty? What does this say about creating body image issues and self esteem issues? Am I going too far? I don't think so.

Why is society in a rush to make girls grow up faster. Let ear piercing being a right of passage and something to look forward to at a later age. It may seem trivial to make a stink about ear piercing but add up the "things" that are becoming more acceptable in our society and it quickly becomes pushing girls to start trying everything earlier in life and slowly our society changes what we find acceptable.

For instance the Abercrombie and Fitch padded bikini top, as I spoke of in an earlier blog entry. Put that out there and most parents are horrified but some parents defend it and will buy it.  Wait a few years and the shock value will fade and it won't seem as bad. In fact look at showing a bra in public. Years ago on Seinfeld, it was a joke when Elaine gave her friend, who often went braless, a bra to wear so she wore it with no shirt on with an open blazer. It was funny because it was unrealistic that anyone would actually walk down the street wearing a bra with no shirt. Then Maddonna came around sporting see through tops and pointed bras. She was provocative and parents were outraged. Now it's totally acceptable to show bra.

A week after I saw this poll on the Today Show, my daughter came home and told me her BFF just got her ears pierced and asked if she could get her ears pierced. This was a tough conversation because I will not allow her to get her ears pierced at 6 but when her BFF got her ears pierced, it's hard to seem fair and it's a hard fight. I just thought to myself, are you kidding me? Why? Why? I told her I got my ears pierced at 16, her cousin got her ears pierced at 16 and she will get her ears pierced at 16. But this also gives me insight into the tough road ahead of trying to keep my daughter young and innocent when friends at school are allowed to do things at a young age that I feel is inappropriate.

What age do you think is appropriate? Infant, 6, 8, 10, 13 or 16? When did you have your ears pierced? Please comment below or email stephandjanblog@gmail.com.

Jan

Dinner plan: Tonight is easy. Left over ham with crushed pineapple, mashed sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamin, and corn.

Women- Let's take a stand!

On the front page of USA Today there was an article about a film study that was quite disturbing.  It is time that mothers and women everywhere start taking action and demanding respect for ourselves and the women of our future, our daughters!  It showed that "67 percent of men had speaking roles in films as opposed to only 33 percent of women."  Females were used more in films for eye candy and not for speaking roles!  What are we trying to tell young females of today?  You are just eye candy don't speak!

The article also said, "the sexulization of teen girls in the movies was the most troubling finding to researchers....that female TEENAGE characters were more likely to wear sexy, provocative clothing 40 percent than other women- even more than girls 21 to 39 and teenagers were more likely to appear partially naked!  The data speaks to an overemphasis on beauty, thinness and sexualization of women at younger and younger ages! The study, to be released today, also found that 29 percent of teen girls were called attractive by another person in the movie vs. 18 percent of women ages 21 to 39 and only 8 percent of women 40 to 64."

"This is sending a powerful message that it's important for girls and young women to be sexual objects from a very early age."  It is time that women take a stand!  It disturbs me that men look at my 11 year old as a sexual object and that women as a whole are thought of more as eye candy than as having a voice!  It seems to me that it is more of a men's world today than it has ever been!

I want my daughters to be respected for their minds (intelligence and personality) not just for their looks!  It is time that women everywhere start taking a stand!  We want respect for ourselves, we are not just eye candy and women 21 to 64 are still attractive!  We need to protect our daughters from thinking that by the time that they hit 21 they are not as attractive as a teenage girl!  We also have to emphasize   that women have a voice and can be attractive for having a mind!  It is time that women get together and start a movement for change!  We are no longer allowing our young girls to be pieces of meat! We are all attractive but more importantly we want respect for our intelligence!

Steph


quotes "USA Today by Nanci Hellmich"