Let Girls Be Girls

While shopping for some stuff for my boyfriend, we decided that Rosalynn needs summer clothing. She really doesn't have very many t-shirts and not a single pair of shorts. So while gawking at stroller prices we found that we had walked all the way into the toddler boys section. Nik found shirts he liked right away, including one that had a picture of microphones and guitar headstocks. Then we found some shorts, not too much different from the shorts I just bought for myself and picked up three pairs of them. We moved into the toddler girls section hoping to find more of the same, maybe in some different colors. Instead we found shorts that would barely cover her diaper, shirts that had a low neck line and bikini bathing suits. Did I mention my daughter is only 16 MONTHS old?

Yeah, hoochie mama clothing is being marketed to my daughter who cannot even speak yet and just learned to walk. The shorts really bothered me, why did they need to be so short? Of course they were all pink. We brought the stuff we did like (the boy stuff) home and my boyfriend's mom looked clearly disgusted when we showed her the clothing. "Why would you do something like that?" This coming from the woman who bought my daughter the ugliest pair of sneakers I have ever seen in my life and puffy sleeved shirts. Does it really matter which gender of clothing my daughter is wearing? I still buy clothing from the boys section and most of the girl stuff I buy looks like boys clothing.

After the the experience of Target trying to turn my toddler into a sex object, I read an article in Philadelphia magazine about moms taking their pre-teens to get manicures, pedicures, hair cuts and even bikini waxes and eye brows waxed. I can understand pedicures, my preteen niece got one when my sister got married (she actually got skulls on her big toes) but that was a special treat. I guess these moms are making these kind of spa treatments for their daughters on a weekly basis. Some moms even claimed it was a bonding experience (gag). While another made their daughter get bikini waxed before a casting call (even more creepy). Feministing noted this was something that only effect 1% of the population, but I don't agree with that. The oversexualation of young girls is happening at every level of society. Even in the same way with these types of beauty treatments.

It's really scary to me. I never want my daughter to grow up and have to deal with all of these issues. I just want to hold her tight and protect her from pedophiles and mass marketing.