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Loading...French Designer Releases Sexy “Loungerie” For Young Girls
A company called Jours Après Lunes decided to join what seems to be a relentless quest among fashion designers to sexualize girls at a younger and younger age. Their new line of “loungerie” is drawing fire because it’s basically lingerie, with perhaps a little more coverage, worn by girls aged 4-12. The advertisements show little girls reclining in bras and panties, some wearing sunglasses, others bedecked with pearls. They’re wearing mascara, their hair is carefully done and they’re all smiling at the camera in a way that is — well, troubling. And also sad.
The story broke on the blog Fashionista earlier this week. Dhani Mau wrote, “What’s disturbing about Jours Après Lunes is not just the fact that it’s lingerie for people who probably shouldn’t be old enough to even know what lingerie is, but the photographs on their website. The little ‘filles’ are styled like grown women with Amy Winehouse hair, sunglasses and pearls and there are a few instances of Thylane Blondeau-esque seductive gazing and reclining poses.”
Thylane Blondeau, as you may remember, is the 10-year-old girl who recently appeared in French Vogue, where she posed in an extremely suggestive way. Viewers were taken aback, and with good reason. Ximena Ramirez, commenting on the controversy for Care2, wrote, “Having a young girl model isn’t the problem here. It’s that Blondeau clearly isn’t being styled as a 10-year-old girl. She is really being made up to look like an adult – a sexy, pouty, sultry adult – whose purpose is to sell some sort of product to the real adults who are flipping through the magazine.”
The creator of Jours Après Lunes defended the line in an interview with The Lingerie Journal, where she rejected the idea that these were little Lolitas. Her materials, she said, were not transparent, and there was no lace. The issue for many, however, was less the amount of coverage than the sheer sexuality that the girl models exuded. Grown women struggle with the images of seductresses in every magazine and catalog; we can only imagine what ads like these will do to young girls’ self-esteem.
Related Stories:
10-Year-Old Model’s Mother Responds to Controversy Over Sexy Pictures
10-Year-Old Model’s Sexy Poses Ignites Debate on Sexualization of Young Girls
Watch What You Watch: Girl Scouts PSA Encourages Girls to Examine Media Critically [VIDEO]
Read more: advertisements, fashion, girls, modeling, objectification, sexuality, sexualization
Photo from mikebaird via flickr.
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
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Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.
Recent Comments from Causes
I would have thought it was the other way around...
Good to know! :)
excellent exposition
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223 comments
+ add your ownParents are the ones that hold the purse strings. Just don't buy this trash.
I looked at the pictures and they made me so sad. A pedophiles dream no doubt. What ARE people thinking? What is in store for children so used? And her mother doesn't have a clue as to why anyone would think this wrong. Times have certainly changed, but not all change is for the betterment of humanity. This sexualization of children is simply wrong no matter what moral code you live by. This is an egregious example but far from the only one. I have yet to see a professional or collegiate sport on television that does not contain a number of shots from a photographer lying on his, or her, back trying to look up the skirts of cheerleaders whether they are standing on someones shoulders or not. What has that to do with the game? Not a thing. Never has, never will. And they do it at women's college basketball games too. Just watch, every game will have several of those shots. I like women, don't get me wrong, but I find that degrading to the gender. Not empowering.
Allow children to be children, they grow up too quickly as it is. And to sexualize young children is just wrong...We have a responsibility as mature adults to protect them from this!
Wow. Just... wow...
REALLY????
Hell... when I was 8 years old, I wanted another kitten and a horse, not a drawer full of adult appropriate lingerie! I was too busy practicing my scales and arpeggios for my next piano competition.
That's so disturbing... really...
I'm 17, and last Summer was the first I began wearing bikinis.
I never showed cleavage until high school. I never wear make-up (I don't really shave, either), and I do own some lacy lingerie, but I didn't when I was younger by only a couple of years.
I'm sincerely disgusted by this and very fearful of the future.
Things just keep getting worse... *hopes for a new wave of feminism*
Just what we need with all the incest in the world
This is disgusting
This is pitiful
I have a teen daughter I don't let wear this type of underwear. I definitely wouldn't purchase it for a 10 year old...but that's just it...it's not just the store. Inappropriate items are sold EVERYWHERE. It's easier to do OUR jobs as parents to see what our kids spend their allowance on (if they earn one) and what clothing items they may borrow from friends.
How can children learn to respect themselves when they are disrespected by the ones who are supposed to protect them from this type of exploitation?
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