O-mama - Opinionated Moms

I am a mom of two boys - 8 and 6. I am going bats**t over this entire thing. Why do companies think we need to sell "sex" especially to 7 and 8 yr. old girls. Trust me, they will get there fast enough. Probably faster than any parent wants our kids to - boys and girls alike. Remember, we were all kids once too but I think today it happens even faster. Having companies like A & E pushing this along doesn't help any. I think an A & E boycott would be great. If we all told ten+ friends and so on, the word would spread. Post it on your FB pages, etc. Let's get the word out there. A & E is awful!!

Words in this situation just do not seem to be enough and as an addendum to my original comments, I do not think that a "month long" BOYCOTT of Abercrombie & Fitch would be out of the question. :-)

my jaw dropped when i read this story. this is disgusting... truly! i am shocked that Abercrombie & Fitch would put a padded swimsuit on the market for young girls. but then again, they do have half naked teenage boys and girls in their advertisements so maybe shouldn't be surprised after all. This is just another example that it is our responsibility to teach our girls to respect themselves and to NOT be looked at sex objects...b/c clearly SEX sells!

AND my 14 year-olds comment was "What kind of parent would make their kid look like a prostitute"? He's 14 and HE can figure it out...

This is just SICK! And I don't even have any girls. I've been teaching my boys (3 of them) to respect women and to avert their eyes when they see a woman dressed less than fully. Do I seriously want to have to tell them that they shouldn't be even looking at little girls because THEY are dressed too immodestly?

MCKat, a most excellent response. I remember being twelve going on sixteen. I'm sure that was challenging enough for my mom. To start that process at 7 or 8 is beyond ridiculous. I would like to remind everyone that this is the same store who sold the t-shirt reading "Who Need Brains When You Have These?" across the chest. A&F have now firmly convinced me to never step into their stores or go to their website. I'm sure they'll continue to make money, but I'll be damned if it's mine.

My 5-year old daughter wants, as she calls them, "breasties" like her mommy. She'll put stuffed animals in her shirt, towels--the other day she put pine cones in her shirt to give her breasties. I get it. She wants to be like me (yes, I am deeply humbled by this). I don't mind her doing things to act like an adult. It is so child-like that it doesn't come across as sexy, but--like a 5-year old. Like makeup. I let her play with my makeup. I'm not worried she's going to start wearing it in 6th grade. She puts it on like, well, the 5 year old she is. Eye shadow goes from the bridge of her nose across her eyelid, up her eye brow, and on to her temple. Blusher goes everywear. And lipstick is an inch and a half wide. No one is going to mistake her for being a 5 year old. I'm fine letting her dress up and do things to look like me. Throughout the whole process it is clearly a child acting like a child, and still looking like a child. There isn't a sexy bit about it. But buying her a padded anything, or a bra, or thong underwear--that's no longer playing at being older, that's acting, doing and wearing older (including sexy) things. I don't want her aging a minute before her time. There's time for her to act like a 12/16 year old when she's 12/16--not now, when she's barely five. She often asks me when she'll get breasties like me. I tell her when she gets older, and goes through puberty to become a woman. She tells me she wants to do it now, but I remind her God made her body perfectly for her, and her body will grow as best for her. It would be nice if business would support our goals to let kids be kids, instead of searching for always the almighty dollar. But as moms, we can always put our kids' interest at the top. I hope no one buys this latest offering of A&F, and they learn a lesson. But I'm not holding my breath.

Absolutely "ludicrous". And we wonder why so many of our children are so messed up; to say nothing of their less than responsible parents. :-)

WOW! And I thought the nursing doll tops were way out of normal! I think a padded bikini for a 7 or 8 year old girl borders on child abuse. To offer such a top, let alone for parents to buy one, is close to being a "pimp." I am not an old fuddy-duddy, but please let children be innocent children - not adults in a child's body.