There’s been heavy coverage in the media recently about the launch of a children’s underwear range that is, quite frankly, disturbing.
Kylie Minogue has put her name to a provocative line of children’s underwear, that is so adult in its design that it could more aptly be called lingerie. Hickory will sell the range through department stores such as Target.
It’s not the first time Target has introduced such inappropriate lines as these. Only last year there was community outrage over the sale of padded bras and the like in its stores. On the Sunday Sunrise program last week footage of the Kylie Minogue lingerie was displayed. In fabrics ranging from electric blue satin to delicate lace and see through bras and underwear, you would expect such items to be designed for adults with only one thing in mind. But shockingly, these items are for children as young as eight years of age.
Theres already been much debate about the early sexualisation of children in the media and among groups that focus on childrens interests. What message does it send to children, and adults, when kids are the target of such sexually provocative underwear?
What are your thoughts on this issue? Would you buy these garments for a child? While supporters argue that children want to be ‘just like Mum’ and that this is no different from playing dress-ups, I disagree. To me, dressing up is my daughter wrapping herself in an old scarf or slipping her feet into a pair of oversized shoes. More importantly, dress-ups are a form of role-playing, and is it really appropriate for children to role-play in clothing with sexual connotations? I don’t believe so. When my daughter imitates me, it shouldn’t be in a sexualised manner—not only is it inappropriate for her age, but she shouldn’t be exposed to concepts of sex or flirtation.
The second thing that concerns me about this particular range is that Kylie Minogue has put her name to it. With Minogue having such a massive following from girls, is it going to be easy for parents to say no to their eight year old daughters who want Kylie Minogue underwear? It may have been easy to explain that padded bras aren’t for six year olds but convincing children of the inappropriateness of an item with the name of their favourite singer may not be so simple. Do you think celebrities have a moral obligation when considering placing their name on a product? What would you do in this position?