Don’t let retailers pander to your children
A friend sent me a link to the Shaping Youth blog on “media and marketing’s influence on our children.” In a recent post, Amy Jussel, Founder and Executive Director for Shaping Youth, takes Target to task for an advertising campaign featuring the Target bullseye logo positioned between the spread legs of a male model, and points to “the tasteless toddler tee Hooters Girl in Training” as examples of overt and inappropriate sexual content in advertising. (It’s unclear from the post, but tThe shirt does not appear to be is not sold by Target.)
I have a six-year-old daughter, and I am appalled at the cheap tawdriness of the merchandise marketed to her. In the clothing departments of nearly every major retailer, girls can find a wide selection of slutware — tight, low riding, hip hugger pants; skimpy halter tops; Madonna-esque outerwear that looks like lingerie; and so on.
Move over to the toy section and you’ll find Bratz, a collection of slutty dolls deliberately designed to look like they are high and stupid. Nice role models!
The problem for boys is similar, but not sexual. That’s because boys are not supposed to look sexy. They are supposed to look cool. The proliferation of camouflaged clothing in the boy’s department is nauseating. The message: War is good. War is cool. I’ve seen first graders show up at the elementary school in full camouflage with boots. What are parents thinking?
It’s all part of the sexing up of America. It’s good to see articulate, informed voices like Shaping Youth. What can the consumer do?
- Boycott inappropriate products and retailers
- Spend a little more and shop better retailers that don’t contribute to the problem
- Write letters to retailers expressing your distaste for these products
- Start a blog
- Don’t buckle to pressure from your kids
- Recognize that Target, Wal-Mart, Mattel, and the other trash mongers are not good parents. That’s your job.
The alternative is to dress your girls like hookers and your boys like mercenaries and then wonder why we turn out violent and oversexed.
6 Comments so far
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Just to clarify, the Hooters tee is NOT sold at Target. Amy got that from my blog, which I got from a post at Feministe.
Lisa
Parents for Ethical Marketing
Lisa,
Thanks for the clarification. Have updated the post accordingly.
Joel
Joel,
I’ve also been astonished at some of what is presented as fashion and toys for our 10 year-old daughter. We discovered another strategy for reducing interest in such junk when we turned off the television for several weeks, eliminating the ads for Bratz, et. al. We had already had lots of conversations about what’s appropriate or inappropriate about a role model or clothing, but without the ads we’re doing a better job of walking the talk. She now purchases some of the programs she likes for her iPod, rather than putting up with ads, which opens up another opportunity to talk with her about ethical shopping.
Kirsten
Joel, I agree with you 99.5 percent. While not a parent myself, I have a niece and nephew on whom I try to impart some lessons in critical thinking when it comes to consumerism. (Usually when my sister isn’t looking. She’s getting better, though.) I like to get them books or science and craft items for birthdays and holidays. Anything that will get their minds going, because I know they’re bright kids. My nine-year-old nephew used a B&N giftcard to getbooks by Jules Verne and I couldn’t have been prouder.
Regarding the Target bullseye, though, I have an entirely different take. I don’t see it as sexualized as much as a poorly executed attempt at replicating a famous sketch by an Italian dude who put a guy’s bits in the middle of a circle.
See http://tinyurl.com/2lzbhh for reference.
Sue
Sue,
That’s amazing! It didn’t even occur to me, but I think you’re right. Have you read Lawrence Weschler’s “Everything That Rises: A Book of Convergences”? http://www.addall.com/detail/193241634X.html It’s all about repeated themes in art and photography. See also: http://hydeparkassociates.com/blog/?p=180
Joel
Haven’t read those — I’ll check ‘em out. I just have a knack for remembering and identifying visual patterns. But I did listen to “Think Visual” by the Kinks, though!