Beauty is big business. Companies vie for consumer loyalty, and the sooner they can convince girls that they need products and treatments to look and feel pretty, the more profits they can bank on. Forget junior high--beauty marketers are now going after girls in elementary school. According to a study conducted last year, 55 percent of 6- to 9-year-old girls said they used lip gloss or lipstick, and nearly two-thirds said they used nail polish.Sweet & Sassy, a salon and party destination based in Texas for girls 5 to 11, includes pink limo service. And Dashing Diva franchises often offer virgin Cosmos in martini glasses along with their extra-virgin nail polish, free of chemicals, for a round of services for a birthday girl and her friends. Then there's Club Libby Lu, where little girls can dress up like Britney Spears and pretend they're paparazzi-stalked celebrities. Oy. What happened to silly cone-shaped party hats and pin the tail on the donkey? [New York Times]
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2 comments:
My 4-year-old likes to say she's 6. Sometimes she wears some makeup someone gave her for her birthday. I often make her take it off if she's going somewhere. Usually her lips look like a clowns.
Her hair kind be kind of a big deal- but today she asked for a pony tail because she didn't want to brush it.
They have these kids salons in my city, but she won't be having birthday parties there.
Wow, the pressure on girls to be sexy just seems to be ever growing! I'm really glad I found your blog and think you're doing awesome work! I'm an Online Editor at New Moon Girl Media, a company that provides ad-free, by girls/for girls platforms in print and online where girls can be themselves, connect, and speak out. Come check us out!
(I'm also particularly glad to have found your awesome program because it's right up my alley - I'm the creator of In Her Image: Producing Womanhood in America, a multi-media initiative that helps to spread media literacy, consumer freedom, and body confidence.)
Kudos and keep up the good work!
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