Greggornation  

They call it “Corporate Pedophilia.”

It’s when corporate America sells out by pimping material to our kids that they know is slowly destroying them.

This 8-minute ABC video is a must see. The video not only reminds us of the American Psychological Association’s research about the harmful effects of the sexualization of young girls, but it also shows you some great examples of this in the media today in tween role models like Miley, Katy, Ashley Tisdale, Amanda Bynes, etc.

http://abcnews.go.com/assets/player/walt2.6/flash/SFP_Walt_2_65.swf

Jaws dropped when she emerged from the dressing
room wearing a sheer black sheath with a single
strap.

“You look absolutely fabulous,” her mother said, then
gasped, after eyeing the stunning head-turner.

“She did look good in it … but it wasn’t age
appropriate,” recalled Diane Goldie, who nixed the
purchase for her 12-year-old daughter, Grace.

Billions of dollars are on the line in the fashion
industry which targets the 8-to-12 set known as
tweens. But it’s a line increasingly blurred between
cute and hot, adorable and sexual.

In addition to spending $30 billion of their own
money, American tweens hold sway over another
$150 billion spent by their parents each year. It was
just about a decade ago that the marketing and
advertising industries popularized the phrase “tween”
to sell 8- to 12-year-olds everything from
entertainment to clothing.

“You go into a juniors department, you have a rack of
clothing that is appropriate for an 11-year-old next
to a rack of clothing that isn’t,” said Alex Morris, who
recently reported on tweens and fashion for New York
magazine. “It’s certainly blurring the lines. … It’s
making it harder for parents to set boundaries.”

New research released by The American Psychological
Association earlier this year found that sexual
imagery aimed at younger girls is harmful to them
and increases the likelihood they will “experience
body dissatisfaction, depression and lower self-
esteem.”

The entertainment industry isn’t making it any easier.
A few years ago, Miley Cyrus played the sweet Hannah
Montana on the Disney Channel. Now she’s in black
leather hot pants. She’s 17. Other teen stars have
done similar things. Britney Spears’ bubblegum pop
image morphed into provocateur. Ashley Tisdale went
from “High School Musical” to “Cranking It Up.” And
Nickelodeon’s Amanda Bynes is now on the cover of
Maxim.

“The easiest way for a celebrity to transition from
being a child star to an adult star is the pathway
through their sexuality,” said Morris. “Children are
attracted to this kind of look, it’s what they see Mylie
Cyrus wearing, Demi Lovato wearing, Lindsay Lohan
wearing.”

It’s also what Gossip Girl’s Taylor Momsen is wearing
on the pink carpet as the face of Material Girl, the
newly unveiled clothing line created by Madonna and
her 14-year-old daughter Lourdes. Critics say the
line is perfect for a woman in her 20s but far too racy
for girls in elementary or middle school.

Says Momsen, “It’s very much about putting your own
look together to be yourself.”

While searching for their own look, tweens are
strongly influenced by the celebrities they idolize.
Grace, whose image is “something edgy, but also
looks high fashion, like urban chic,” was on a
shopping spree when she grabbed a chunky sweater
that exuded that aura. “It’s the one on the Glamour
cover! Like what Taylor Swift was wearing!” she
exclaimed.

Fashion’s Sexualization of Tweens

Some fashion watchers say the pendulum is swinging
back, away from trashy 12 and closer to sweet 16.

“I think we are having a return to modesty,” said Ann
Shoket, editor of Seventeen magazine, the oracle of
fashion for teens and the tweens who follow them in
lock step.

“The girls that (teens and tweens) are looking up to,
Miranda Cosgrove (“iCarly”), Victoria Justice
(“Victorious”), Selena Gomez (“Wizards of Waverly
Place”), these are teen stars that are good girls. You
would never see them behaving badly or rolling out
of a club,” said Shoket.

Madonna and Diane Goldie agree it’s a mother’s
responsibility to guide a young daughter to make the
right choices.

“I don’t have to be her friend. I’m her parent,” said
Goldie. “We can be friends when (she is) 30, but for
now we do have the back and forth.”

Madonna told ABC News that a mother’s job is to “say
‘no!'” She added, “I’m very strict about the way my
daughter dresses. We have arguments about how
short the skirt is … is there cleavage?”

Lourdes said she pushes the envelope, knowing her
mother won’t hesitate to push back. “I mean obviously
I don’t agree with all of her decisions. I know it’s
coming. But I might as well try and see what
happens.”

Seventeen’s Shoket says that attitude is only natural
for girls in a crucial stage of development. Said
Shoket, “They are starting to develop their own sense
of personality, and what feels right and it’s about
pushing boundaries.”