I have a little boy, and it follows that my mom friends mostly have other boys. I’m not as aware of the issues that mothers of little girls have. At this point, (my son is almost 8), it seems like they have it easier than we do. Little girls are calmer, they play quieter and stay still for longer periods of time, and they even seem to bug their parents less. (Not that I’m complaining, my son is awesome and amazing.) The grass is always greener, and I know I’ll be grateful that I have a boy once he hits his teen years. This story reminds me of some other advantages of having a boy.

Apparently Elizabeth Hurley has created some bikinis for little girls (an extension of her bikini brand for adult women) that are drawing criticism for being too sexy, basically. I don’t see the big deal, but again I have no clue and am out of my element even discussing this. The same might be said of Elizabeth Hurley, since she has a little boy and no girls. Some child protection watchgroups are up in arms:

Actress Elizabeth Hurley calls her line of swimwear for girls “fun” on her website. But parents along with a child protection charity in the U.K. have had a different reaction — they’re accusing Hurley and her brand of sexualizing young girls.

“It is very disturbing to see some inappropriate items in this swimwear range,” Claude Knight, the director of the charity Kidscape told the Daily Mail.

Knight points out pieces like the “Mini Cha Cha Bikini,” an animal-print two-piece for girls under 8 and the “Collete Bikini,” a suit that is held together by a gold ring and is meant specifically “for girls [ages 8-13] who want to look grown up.” According to the company’s website, “This bikini looks fab with our cheetah ruffled skirt.”

Siobhan Freegard, founder of the community Netmums told the Daily Mail that she knows “a number of mothers who are concerned about the sexualization of their children and would be horrified by their daughters dressing like mini-strippers.”

And, their concerns are validated by science. A recent study found that girls as young as 6 think of themselves as sex objects and want to be considered sexy. In an earlier study, Psychologists named clothing as a factor that encourages these youngsters to objectify themselves. This research was particularly disturbing given that “almost a third of girls’ clothing for sale at 15 major retailers [had] sexualizing characteristics.”

Knight told Sky News that Hurley shouldn’t take all of the blame now. Rather, the fashion industry should stop making clothes for kids that are so adult-like.

Jen M.L., a mother of two who blogs at “People I Want To Punch In The Throat” agrees on that front. In a HuffPost blog, Jen says she is “horrified” by clothing selections when she takes her 4-year-old daughter shopping. She recounts a specific Easter shopping trip when “there were several dresses that looked like they should come with a complimentary pole and hooker heels!” But, Jen doesn’t blame the industry entirely. She also writes that consumers — parents specifically — should stop buying and supporting the production of such items. “If we’d just stop buying this misogynistic whore-wear maybe companies would stop trying to sell it to us.”

With regard to Hurley’s line, a spokesperson told the Daily Mail that the collection has sold “extremely well.” He added, “Most of our customers are repeat customers who report that their kids adore the designs.”

[From The Huffington Post]

A search on “bikinis for little girls” shows that suits like the ones in Hurley’s line are all too common. The difference I’ve found is that other bikini lines for girls don’t show the little girls modeling them, they just show the suits on mannequins or laying on a flat surface. So in that respect I can see why they’re being criticized. Plus, they’re using animal prints straight out of Jersey Shore. I don’t think this issue is unique to Hurley’s line at all, as the article mentions, it’s just how the clothing industry is headed and it’s a disturbing trend. Whatever happened to one-piece bathing suits and superhero costumes? I had a Wonderwoman bathing suit when I was a little girl. I thought I was badass.

I asked one of my friends who has a nine year-old daughter to comment on this story. She wrote “It’s not bad at all. Don’t ban the suits. Ban the perv that looks at em funny.”

As an aside, I tried to go to Elizabeth Hurley’s bikini site to get some more photos for this story, and it was down with a server error.

Elizabeth Hurley is shown with her Ken doll fiance, Shane Warne, on 5-23-12. Credit: WENN.com

Elizabeth Hurley’s animal print bikini line for little girls: inappropriate or normal?

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Elizabeth Hurley’s animal print bikini line for little girls: inappropriate or normal?

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