The fight over babies in bikinis has always struck me as more of an adult problem. I bypass the two-piece bathing suits in the kids' clothing store in favor of a one-piece for my daughter because I don't want an adult thinking "that" about my kid ... not because I think they'll turn a 6-year-old into a sexpot. But one look at the pictures of tarted up tots on kids' clothing company Submarine's website, and it's hard not to think "this is selling sex."
Dressed up in two pieces, it isn't the bikinis that are the problem. It's the provocative poses held by pre-pubescent girls. Girls with more makeup than a Kardashian holding a starfish on a bare tummy so it points down to her privates, girls with a pink wig and an expanse of skin cropped so the question of whether she's got a bottom suit piece on is left to the imagination.
Just take a look at some of these pictures, and tell me they're kid-appropriate:
So, how many little girls do you know who wear wigs and makeup to the beach? And how many moms do you know who ask their kids to pose with puckered lips and sultry stares? The girls may not know what they're doing, but the person who set up these shots sure did. And going by Submarine's description of its clothing as something they make to satisfy the demand of "trendy parents and their daughters" from around the world, they think this is what Moms (and Dads) want.
Sexy kids. The very thought makes my skin crawl. I don't know about you, but I want to put that phase off for as LONG as possible.
What Submarine has created is not technically child porn -- at least not according to the legal definition, which only covers images of minors that involve “sexually explicit conduct” or "graphic or simulated lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area." But it's certainly sexy. If Submarine is trying to convince moms that two-pieces are OK because little girls aren't thinking about sex, it's just an adult construct, they're failing miserably.
Do you think these photos are kid-friendly? Do they make you want to buy a bathing suit for your kid?
Images via Submarine
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Comments 112
I indeed thinks these pictures go too far! The suits themselves are adorable, but instead of these 'Toddlers and Tiaras' type portraits, why not just show kids in their natural environment, aka the pool or beach. Maybe have a bunch of girls standing together in a group shot, giving the peace sign (or holding beach items), laughing and being 'normal'.
no way. DD for now wears one pieces or tankinis
I think I just threw up. This is gross.
So disgusting. Another product of our culture which increasingly sexualizes children. And no I would not allow my daughter to wear a two piece unless it was a tankini.
It's not the bathing suits that are the issue. It's the adult make-up, hair and provocative posing that are the issue. A kid on the beach in those suits wouldn't look like this.
These photos are ridiculous. It still doesn't make change my decision to buy my daughter a 2-piece. I won't buy them from this website though. I think that this whole debate is absolutely ridiculous. If my daughter wants to wear a 2-piece and it looks nice on her then I will buy it for her. My daughter doesn't even know the word sexy and I would never say that she looked sexy. That is ridiculous. But you know that is just my humble opinion. Everyone has the right to their own opinion.
that is just wrong, where are the parents of the models? i would have a problem with that, a very big problem