It's the big little girls

On a popular social networking website, there’s a group that calls itself, ‘Act your age, you 12 year old ****’. Active commentators on the group’s page are quick to decry girls who act older than their age.
Also facing the group’s ire are parents who allow their little girls to wear high heels, mini-skirts and makeup. Every single generation of young adults tend to look down at the tween set, claiming that childhood was much more innocent when they were ‘that’ age.Given this mindset, it is easy to understand the furore that rises when companies create products that cater to these ‘grown up little girls’.
Physical growth
An interesting fact to note is studies show that physical growth among kids happens much faster these days. Half a century ago, the average age for the onset of menarche was around 15-years-old - today it has plunged to 12, and sometimes even 9-year-olds. So when ‘adult’ products, such as cosmetics and brassieres, are created to cater to little girls, it is a clever response to the earlier onset of adulthood, or is it a deplorable act of sexualizing the wee ones?
Lingerie and lipsticks
Little less than a month ago, the French lingerie designer Sophie Morin introduced a line of lingerie that catered to girls aged between four and 10. The advertisement campaign for this line depicted little girls reclining on loungers dressed in bras, midriff-bearing tank tops and panties. The public outcry and anger that ensued left the designer in a state of shock. Newspapers declared that the styling of these adverts had “crossed the line from being cute to seriously creepy.”
Similarly, when the 10-year-old French child model, Thylane Loubry-Blondeau posed for an international fashion magazine in makeup and stilettos, a media frenzy ensued. However, the French folk seemed unperturbed. In the words of Carol Mann, a French sociologist, “There is no real teenage culture in France, no Hilary Duff. Somehow, one goes straight from childhood to a semblance of adulthood.” Case in point, the fashion house Agnes B has a line for young girls ever since 1984, the line helps little girls dress in sophisticated and sexy clothes, matching their beautiful mothers.
However, growing up too fast isn’t just a French trait, as examples of it can be seen in America and England too. Earlier this year, Walmart had launched a line of cosmetics for the under-12 group. The line is called ‘Geo Girl’ and comprises lipsticks, blushers, and disturbingly, even skincare creams that prevent ageing. While all little girls play around with their mother’s lipsticks from time to time, this line is meant for daily wear. Joe Carden, the VP of Walmart spoke about this range, “These are real cosmetics with natural ingredients that will create return purchases and create a true beauty consumer.” Or in other words, it’s just a clever ruse used by Walmart to cash in on the tween market (currently estimated to be worth 2 billion dollars). This news set blogs aflame, as most felt that cosmetics used at such a young age would ostensibly lead to a generation crippled by poor body-image and low self-worth. Similarly, in England, the clothing retailer Primark came under severe flak for having introduced bikinis with padded-bras for little girls. After being subjected to the country’s ire, the bigwigs decided to stop the sales of the bikinis in question.
Just like Suri Cruise
Around a year ago, Gapkids (a part of the GAP brand) came under fire for creating high heeled shoes for little girls. High heels among children were popularized by Suri Cruise. The fashionista toddler’s ever-indulgent mother, Katie Holmes, claims that Suri’s dressing up is just a harmless ‘game’. However, when Suri first stepped out in high heels, she set a toddler trend which brands like Gapkids latched on to. Despite doctors stating that wearing high heels that early could lead to complications in bone-growth and posture, the market for kid’s high heels continues to grow. Parent groups in UK have been outraged with the brands that create these shoes. A spokesperson for a Britain based concerned parents group has gone so far as to say that, “Some of the shoes I’ve seen on sale look more suited to a lap dancing club than the feet of a young girl.”
And in India
While in India, no such contentious products have been introduced for kids, the young ones aren’t entirely immune to growing up too fast. ‘Sheila ki Jawaani’ is now more popular than any nursery rhyme and TV advertisements leave nothing to the imagination. And who can forget the case of child-comedian Saloni, who chortles along to adult jokes in various comedy shows, not refraining from cracking a few non-vegetarian one-liners herself?