Cult of Youth, Infantilisation, Fashion

[ailbhe]

Thoughts:

Little girls and young teenage girls wear clothes which adult women can't without "trying to look young."

Adult women dress in these for advertising purposes with an explicit sexual message.

Ew.

Things which come immediately to mind are very short skirts with white ankle socks, school uniforms, babydoll dresses, etc. There are more but I haven't thought properly about it yet. But I know I've seen other instances of women, mainly in sex-sells-products type adverts, dressing like little girls in order to appear more alluring, presumably through vulnerability, but ew. I think it's to do with the virgin-whore thing. Ew ew ew.

Also: do little boys wear things which adult men don't usually wear? Or do boys and men wear basically the same clothing, so there isn't the same message-sending ability? I can't think clearly about it, right now.

Comments

[vinaigrettegirl.livejournal.com]

juggzy wrote one of the most coherent and angry essays on the subject of the 'kinderwhore' look I've ever read. If you go over to 'I Blame the Patriarchy' (http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/2008/07/17/now-baby-can-wear-heels-in-bed-just-like-mommy/) you can start reading yet more.

Yes, it's perverse, yes, it's deeply degrading to women, yes, it's part of making children vulnerable and sexualised in a totally inappropriate way, yes, it panders to and degrades male sexuality, I could go on forever. yes, ew.