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Pennys Pad Up
21-04-2010You might have all heard recently that Penny's came under alot of scrutiny for selling bikini's for young girls. That's not the problem; the main problem is that a number of bikinis in their new range were padded. Bikinis aimed at girls aged 7 - 9. I don't know what others think of this but personally I think it is a step too far by the high street king.
With sexual images and references becoming more and more dominant in everyday life it is becoming harder for children to stay children for long. Adverts screaming sex, TV shows sexing things up, children’s fashion becoming a smaller version of adult fashion, the music industry in every possible way implying sex and all that it entails, I could go on.
But the padded bikini for 7 year old girls, even by our society’s standards is off the radar. With the increasing problem of paedophilia and the growing child pornography industry Penny's have deemed it ok for these girls to sexualise themselves long before their time. I was honestly gobsmacked by the entire debacle.
Ok I remember stuffing my bra when I was younger and sticking out my chest thanks to the wonders of Andrex toilet paper, but that was something else. That was my own curiosity, my own experimentation. Admittedly it went very awry following one trip outdoors when the heavens open and it started raining heavily. My new Andrex puppies (sorry for the pun) rapidly became more like slush puppies. Lesson learned. But these padded bras are teaching these impressionable young girls that it is important to market your sexuality. Even if you do not have it yet.
I might be coming across a bit heavy handed on this one, but I think we need to let kids be kids for as long as possible. There is no need to sex things up, childhood is a time for barbies and power rangers and it should stay that way.
Tags: meanderings PR stuff
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