Let me start by saying that I am 100% against Victoria's Secret and their new underwear/bra line for middle school aged girls. They call it "Bright Young Things" It will include lace panties, thongs and printed sayings such as "Feeling Lucky?" and "call me" Again, it's aimed at middle school aged girls which would be ages 11-14. This is disturbing and disgusting to me on so many levels.
I learned about this through facebook. Several of my friends have been posting about it and posting letters and posts from parents to Victoria's Secret. I'm glad those parents wrote those letters. I agree with what they are saying. After reading all these posts and after much thought, some other things started bothering me.
Victoria's secret is a huge company. They don't just think up a clothing line for no reason. They do their research. Most companies of this size come up with these ideas based on demand and need for a product. They wouldn't waste their time on a line of clothing that would NOT sell. They want their line ot be a success. They spend a lot of time finding out what's going to work and what won't. Their goal is to make money. What/where do you think they got the idea that this line would sell?
Victoria's secret is not the only ones to blame here. There is a reason they have come to the conclusion that there is a market for thongs that say "call me" on them for middle school aged kids.
I have a 5 (almost 6) year old daughter and a 16 year old son. I am well aware of what kids are wearing today. To school and everywhere else. I see it every day and so many times I have been disturbed by it. I have been vocal about taking a firm stand against this when it comes to choosing my daughters clothing, now and in the future. A lot of parents dress their daughters in dresses and skirts and send them to school. I won't and don't. In fact my daughter doesn't even own a dress. When kids are at school they do things like go out on the playground. I have been witness on way too may occasions where a little girl hangs upside down on the monkey bars and her skirt falls over her head and exposes her crotch to all of her classmates. I find this to be inappropriate. I was at my daughters school once and a young girl with a FULL LENGTH dress on was laying on the sidewalk drawing with chalk. She rolled over and lifted her legs in the air and exposed her crotch to everyone who could see. I have seen younger girls, babies even that are dressed so cute in their little dresses and when they bend over or they are crawling around, everything that shouldn't be exposed is. I don't want anyone seeing those parts of my daughter so I choose to dress her in pants and shorts. The way (most) people dress their daughters is disturbing to me.
I have taken this same stand on bikinis. I have seen babies, toddlers and elementary school aged girls wearing bikinis. I won't allow my daughter to wear a bikini. I find it 100% revolting and wrong. A lot of people see it as cute. I see nothing cute about it. What I find most disturbing is that it's seen as cute when they are young but when they start to develop, it's seen as revealing too much. Parents allow their daughters to weat bikinis from birth and then when they get to a certain age, those same parents say it's not appropriate. They say it's too revealing, suddenly they see it as exposing too much skin.
I have to talk about cheerleading too. I hope my daughter never wants to be a cheerleader because until she gets older, the answer will be "NO WAY!" Even when she is older, I am going to have serious issues if she wants to partake in cheerleading. I'm not at all sure why cheerleading even exists. I find it odd that females jumping around in short skirts, shouting, waving pompoms and jumping in the air is somehow a way of cheering on the football team. That however isn't my point here. The point is that we have these young girls dressed in skirts that clearly show way too much and if that wasn't bad enough, they jump in the air doing splits and exposing their crotches. They do this on display for a crowd of people. Seriously, i thinks it's creepy. Take a moment to think about how cheerleaders are viewed by men and young boys/men. They are seen flat out as sexual objects. The outfits alone are seen as sexual and it's well known that men have sexual fantasies about cheerleaders.
A few years ago my son's school had an end of the year pool party. The girls had to wear t-shirts over their bathing suits because they "showed too much" yet that Friday night at the local football game, 13 year old girls wear in their short skirts, wearing make-up looking like women, looking like one of the top fantasies and sexual desires of men and boys around the world, jumping up in the air and bending over showing their crotches as butt cheeks and that is accepted. That is seen as fine. Let me assure you that there is plenty of males in the crowd watching your daughter do that split and they are thinking "I'm feeling lucky" and "I should call her" and they don't have to be wearing a lace thong with the writing on it.
A sexy nurses costume is almost the same outfit as a cheerleaders. I am pretty sure if you 5 or 11 year old wanted to dress up as a sexy nurse, your answer would be "NO" but the cheerleader outfit is fine.
I have also been witness to young girls of all ages wearing clothes that are too tight or too revealing. From jeans to shirts and everything in between. These girls are dressed more like women than girls.
Keep in mind that underwear and bras are worn under clothing where it cannot be seen. Dresses, skirts, bikinis, too tight or too revealing clothes, clothes that make your daughter look like a woman and cheerleading outfits are worn over the undergarments and they are for everyone to see. So as I see it, a lot of you will allow your daughters to prance around in these clothing items and you don't see anything wrong with it but find it disturbing that Victoria's Secret would come out with the "Bright Young Things" line. Again I ask where do you think Victoria's Secret got the idea that this line of clothes would sell? Again let me state that I am against the production and sale of thongs and bras that are lace and say things like "Call Me" and "Feeling Lucky?"
Now correct me if I am wrong here but until these girls are 18, isn't it the parents responsibility to say what their daughter can and cannot wear? Even if these girls go out and buy these panties and bras, it's our responsibility as parents to know what they are wearing and allow them to wear it or not. I wouldn't buy these underwear for my daughter and if i found them in her drawer, I'd throw them out.
At first I had no intention on even commenting on any of this other than to say I didn't agree with Victoria's Secret. But I kept reading all the posts and it occurred to me that several of you that were posting, are also the ones who let their daughters wear bikinis and or have daughters that are cheerleaders and I found it strange that you are so outraged with VS. Victoria's Secret didn't just pull this idea out of their ass. They see what girls are wearing, they know what parents are buying for their daughters and they know what age those girls are. If you are willing to sexual your Daughter, don't be surprised when a company decides to profit from that.
