Just What Your First Grader Needs… A Padded Bra
Get your barf bags ready, people. The braintrust that brought the world Bratz dollz are at it again…
Bratz Twin Babyz Lingerie Dollz
Phoebe “Sugar” is described as “sweet and mild” and dressed in a fluffy pink jacket with pink and black underwear, while Roxxi “Spice” is described at ‘wild and spicy” and has an open fake leather jacket and skimpy red and black lingerie. Both dolls have baby milk bottles hanging off chains strapped to their legs.
Click to enlarge
I’m not sure if these things are being sold in the US or not but in Australia, sales are expected to reach one million this year. WTF???
But WAIT! Grab another barf bag. It gets worse…
Target stores in Australia are also selling Bratz and Barbie padded bras for little girls starting at size 6 and if you look at it in the photo below, the first two sets on the left and in the middle are very mature looking. In fact, it’s not unlike lingerie that I own. But it’s for little kids which is just gross.
The padded Bratz “bralettes” were among more than 30 different junior bra styles starting at size six on sale at a city Target store visited by the Herald Sun yesterday.The Australian Family Association warned parents against sexualising their children. “We have a growing problem with pedophilia and people viewing children as sex objects,” spokeswoman Angela Conway said. ~The Herald Sun
LITTLE GIRLS SIZE 6, people!
Click the image to enlarge
The sets in the middle and to the left are very similar to lingerie that I own except that they’re for little kids. It’s disturbing…
The spokeswoman for Funtastic, distributor of Bratz dolls said “The idea of the padding is for girls to be discreet as they develop.”
I can’t believe any self-respecting woman would propagate such a line of BS.
Target also stood by the underwear line. It provided “fashionable items that give girls modesty and style as they go through development changes”, a spokeswoman said.
Does anyone actually believe that load of crap?
The Australian Family Association is right to warn parents against sexualizing their children. I mean honestly, who would buy any of this stuff for their kids? Flame me if you must but I’m going to be uncharacteristically judgmental for a moment…
The people that buy and thus create a market for this kind of stuff are incompetent morons.
DO YOU HEAR ME? If you are buying this stuff for your kids, you really are an idiot. Grow up and BE A PARENT.
There is simply NO EXCUSE. It’s not cute. It’s not funny. Children are children. They are NOT little adults and they should NOT be sexy (unless, of course, you are in favor of child sexualization, in which case, I hope you’re reading this from jail.)
If you are as incensed as I am (and you should be) contact Target Australia and let them know your objections to padded bras for little girls.
You are not alone. Your voice matters. Make it heard.
You’ve got to be kidding!!!
I swear, what’s wrong with these people?
Who is buying this stuff for their kids? There has to be a market or they wouldn’t be making it, right?
I don’t want to boycott Target - I love Target, but padded bras in a 6X is offensive.
That is plain disgustingly inappropriate! I’m speechless!!
[...] Just What Your First Grader Needs…A Padded Bra » [...]
This makes me want to cry in frustration.
Heaving gusty sighs over here. Puberty is hard enough to navigate - for both parents and kids - without all the artificial acceleration that we’re seeing.
How sad! I finally realized last night what I truly hate about the Bratz Babies. First they had the hoochie ‘Bratz’ teens, for pre-teens to play with & emulate. Now, they’ve got the Bratz Babies, so that these pre-teens can ‘play’ 16-yo baby-momma, since they’re all dressed up like that, anyway. Yay - now, they’ll have the underwear to go with the whole thing, play-acting what they want to be when they grow up.
Sigh…
I refuse to ever by anything that comes from Bratz. I may be a liberal person, but those dolls are dresed like hookers, and WHY would you want to by your little girl a hooker doll?!?!?!?!?
My daughter is NEVER getting anything of the sort, and if anyone ever buys it for her….it goes DIRECTLY in the garbage….mean mommy or not. *shrug*
Thats so wrong.
size 6??? my FOUR YEAR OLD wears a size six
My daughter loves those Bratz. So far, I have let her have the dolls that people give her because to make an issue might make her more interested in them if she’s anything like me, but the padded bras have gone way too far! Who in their right mind would buy these for the kids that would fit in a size 6? My daughter was only 5 when she fit in a size 6 and didn’t wear ANY bra, let alone a padded one! They should have a special pedophile alert that gets sent to the police when you buy one! Yikes!
It’s totally sickening. I wanted to do a post about this kind of thing, since I was called a prude at the beach the other day when I commented that bikinis on children were wrong. But I don’t have time! I *do* dress my daughter conservatively, and I guess that makes me a prude. I just can’t believe any self respecting parent would buy those baby bratz. or worse–give them as gifts!
I wonder if the person who called you a prude would let a 6 yr old wear a padded fricken bra… Ugh.
I don’t understand the Bratz dolls, nor the padded bras in size 6. Marketing has truly sunk to new, low levels. I agree with you that it’s not about modesty. It’s about money. If companies made money NOT to sell that crap, they’d spin some other line to support it. Trying to sell it as “modesty” is really just BS.
There are some things that should remain sacred, like the innocence of childhood. Children are entitled to that.
Children are not little adults, it’s true, and not only should they not be sexy, but they need to have appropriate choices made for them by their parents. It’s so clear to me that this kind of business is fall out from the free-to-be-you-and-me / let-children-decide-who-they-are-and-make-all-their-own-choices mind set which was so popular among parents a generation ago. Parents need to make choices for their children even if it means resisting the peer-pressure of their peer group. Even if it means hearing “I hate you, daddy!” Children cannot grasp long term consequences. We need to help them with this sort of business.
Thanks for exposing this and thanks for the Target link (used, btw). On the other hand, I’m feeling kind of sick.
Who are these parents? And who were THEIR parents?
sheesh.
I just threw out a shirt from my SIL that had princess and espn or something weird on it - brand new don’t care.
So, just imagine what I’d like to do with those bras.
I’ll be writing. Oh don’t you worry about that.
I’ll be writing, too.
I was at a 7th birthday party yesterday, and the birthday girl received 6 bratz dolls. It was horrifying.
I sent my complaint in… let them know this stuff if just disgusting.
The padding is to help girls be discreet while they develop? WTF? So now we need to shame girls into believing that they need to hide their developing bodies? If they want them to be discreet, why stop at padded bras? Why not go for the burka?
It’s obvious to me that being discreet is NOT the intention behind marketing padded bras to 6 year olds. I consider myself a fairly liberal person, but this is just sick.
Yes, I’ll be sending a letter to Target. And no, my daughter will never have a Bratz doll anywhere near our house, or it will be thrown away.
done.
Ah, this is terrible. I think in Europe they don’t even sell bathing suit tops for little girls (and not because the beaches are topless). I’m worried about why they think girls start developing at 6 - egads.
Thanks for the heads-up and the link. You bet your ass I used it to let them know I was appalled that they would play so fast and loose with something as important as the safety of our children. Not that mine would get anywhere near a padded bra or those mini-whores known as bratz. She doesn’t even get shirts that say things like “sweet.” (and as Amy pointed out above, I think bikinis for little kids are not right either. Mine won’t be having one of those any time soon, I’ll tell you!)
OK… they’ve gone WAY too far with the padded bras. That’s just sick.
I must admit, my 4-year-old daughter has these Bratz babies and loves them. Someone got them for her birthday. Whatever… so torch me. They’re just dolls. I’d never allow her the slutty bra though!
I’m sure if you picked through my daughter’s things some people would object to some things and other people different things. We promote children having a childhood in our home which includes drawing the line at certain movies, etc. My daughter (6) has Barbies (the kind who have clothes on, not Halter-top Teacher Barbie) but she doesn’t have My Scene or Bratz dolls. She always asks for Bratz stuff but I just tell her no. I hate Bratz, I say. She doesn’t understand why but she knows it is a no go. And now the bras? I am speechless!
I will find the address for Target headquarters and send an email or letter to them this week!
What a coincidence, I just blogged about my disgust at the clothes sold for girls just the other day! http://foldmylaundryplease.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!FD9AD75120A088E4!7 71.entry
I write about it in my blog, but I’ll state it again here. A petition was started that will be presented to different clothing retailers around the nation. Please take the time to show your support for their efforts by leaving your “signature” in the comments. As of right now, they have 425 comments, so don’t think that your comment won’t help because it will! Please spread the word so that other moms and dads can have a chance to make their opinions heard.
By the way, I sent in a thing to Target telling them that I feel padded bras for little girls is highly inappropriate.
I can’t believe I left off the address to find Moms and Dads for Modesty!
http://www.everydaymommy.net/everyday-mommy/2006/9/5/moms-for-modesty. html
Done. Here is the text of my email:
I am writing to say that I find the sale of Bratz padded bras for children objectionable. Of course, I have the power to not buy them and I won’t; however, I would hope that your company could be persuaded to see that it is unhealthy and unwise to market these items to our young daughters. My daughter is a size 6. She is in first grade. First Grade. She does not need a bra, much less a padded one linked to a line of overly made up female characters who take the name of “brat” upon themselves. I don’t want my daughter emulating in one single way anything this line of toys/clothes promotes.
I LOVE it!
Great job :)
My daughter’s bday is coming up shortly and she asked for a Bratz doll. When I asked her why she wanted one she simply said because her cousin has several. Wow. Profound. This same cousin dresses like a mini Britney Spears and has an attitude you might find in the hood.
I sat her down and told her in no uncertain terms would she be receiving a doll like that from me or anyone else. And then of course, I bribed her with ice cream and changed the subject. It’s just damn disgusting that I even had to have the conversation in the first place.
Sorry I’ve been away. But I’m back now!!Thanks for checking on me.
Oy, who would flame you for this? You speak the truth sister.
Good lord, it gets harder and harder to raise children doesn’t it? I keep hoping that soon we will have had enough and the pendulum wull swing back to a kinder and gentler time. It can’t get much worse.
Sickening and unbelievable. There is nothing modest about it.
I’m just shaking my head. You bet your bottom dollar I’ll be writing.
Thanks for this great tip & for signing the Moms for Modesty petition. I officially no longer shop at Target.
I think you are missing the point. The padded bra actually could be a device promoting modesty. My daughter began developing at age 8 and I have to admit that I am uncomfortable about her nipples being suddenly noticeable through her clothing. She didn’t even notice the change, however. I do agree, though, that the padded bras being defended by the manufacturer as intended to provide modesty is most likely a crock. You can bet your bottom dollar that they are perfectly happy to sell them to skinny pre-teens (who may actually still wear a size 6) who just think they are grown-up, sexy, or cool.
They got a nasty email from me. I sure hope they read it. They ought to be ashamed.
My DD wears size 6. She’s in First Grade. I had a helluva time at the beginning of the summer when she needed a bathing suit - I couldn’t find one I thought appropriate. Finally got one at the Carter’s outlet, but she outgrew it by the middle of the summer. Fortunately got a Lands End suit affordably on closeout. I go crazy when I see the little girls in her school going in wearing miniskirts that barely cover their little behinds. She knows she won’t be going out of here dressed like that on my watch. And she has known for some time that any Bratz thing that comes into this house is a dead Bratz thing. I’m writing to Target about this - already had to gripe at them about having to hand over my personal information to buy a single bottle of Pediacare decongestant at the advise of my pediatrician - I can see having to do that if I want more than one box of the adult stuff, but one bottle of Pediacare?
Damn if it doesn’t make me sound like an ultraconservative, which I’m not.
I have two daughters who are over 18 now. But, in raising them I was constantly confronted with “Mom, why can’t I wear that? (referring to their friend’s outfit of low riding jeans, bra tops, and more skin showing than necessary for a 13-year old).
My answer always was that I care more about them and what happens to them than apparently their friends’ moms did. It was hard for them to conceptualize the notion that if you dress like a slut, you will be unwittingly telling people that you are, in fact, a slut.
Fortunately, they listened. As they grew older, they understood. And to this day, while they don’t dress like the Amish women in my town, they are capable of dressing with style and panache without giving the outward appearance of having no respect or self-esteem.
I am outraged by the very thought of Target selling bras for children and when I finish this post, I’m going to express my disgust directly to the CEO and anyone else I can.
Thank you for sharing.
I LOVE Target but really, what in the HELL are they thinking? Will have to give them an asschewing here soon!
It almost…aaaaalmost…makes me wish for boys.
Told ya!
Remember when I bitched to you about the padded bikini bathing suits?
Yep. Back to school shopping, enter the dread La Senza girl (gag) and there’s a million little padded bras.
Over my dead body.
Daughter got a bra, but you can be damn sure it wasn’t padded.
This kind of stuff makes me sick. What are we teaching our daughters in their tender growing years? That they’re not good enough and better start padding it up?
Bleh.
I rarely try to copy another’s comments but Waya said it all. I honestly am speechless and a lot saddened.
I sent my email of disgust to Target tonight. THanks.
Nooooooo! Not Target! I can’t believe they would do something like this, but since I don’t have girls, I’m never in the “girl” section. I only shop for women. This makes me sick.
I have a gift certificate for target… and I don’t think I’ll be able to bring myself to spend it. I may have to give it back to the person who gave it to me and let them do it. I WILL NEVER SHOP AT ANOTHER TARGET AGAIN. And I will be certain to let them know exactly why.
Ack, what? Ick. Oh my god. I’m speechless. Wait, no I’m not. This is disgusting. My kids are all under 5 and, well, they’re boys, but I was a girl once. It was hard enough being a little girl turning into a young woman without the added pressure of a PADDED BRA in first grade. Foul.
Thanks for the heads up on the bras. I have been disgusted for many years about the lack of modesty in clothing for little girls (I have 3, Lord help me!) This is a slap in the face to women everywhere. I love Target - really love Target!!!!! But I will shop at WalMart if they choose to support this trend.
I sent them an email. I could not find them(the bras) online. I intend to go to my local store this week, grab every child-sized padded bra and take it to the manager’s attention - I will hand them to him/her, take out my Target card and cut it up. It should make the point.
BTW - No child that wear’s a size 6 should even need a bra.
Now I need to find a new store. Is Kmart doing anything offensive?
Thanks for the contact info. I sent an email to Target.
I don’t know if they have them in the US yet. They DO have them in Australia with no plans to stop selling them.
I was hoping we could make a pre-emptive strike before they start selling them here by showing them that American moms are not having it.
Thanks for taking action!
You and me both, sista