Businesses sexing up teens a la Miley Cyrus
Lots of people seem to be in an uproar over the sorta topless images of Miley Cyrus in Vanity Fair Magazine that hit newstands this week. I keep hearing all this talk about how outrageous it is to force kids to grow up too fast or to sex up their image too soon.
Geez. Couldn't we have said this about Britney Spears? Or Jodi Foster? Or Brooke Shields?
I'm all for kids staying kids as long as possible (I still worry about my 18-year-old niece crossing the street by herself even though I know she's heading off to college soon), but if we're going to start pointing fingers, maybe we need to take a good hard look at all that's being marketed to our kids and what we seem to be lapping up as consumers.
That photo on the right is from Loews Hotels in an ill-timed press release sent out Monday (thanks to HotelChatter for alerting everyone to it) to lure teens and tweens to "spa" at the chain. Nothing wrong with that, as HotelChatter points out, but get a load of the adult-like offerings:
Like at the Salon Moulay at the Loews Lake Las Vegas, the Mini Moulay Little Spa Day offers kiddies under 12 a:
Lil' Miss Mani or Pedi (a manicure or pedicure with soak, shaping, buffing, hand or foot massage and polish), Princess Updo (an elegant up-do perfect for special occasions) and Tiny Touchups (a mini-makeup application with lip gloss, blush, body shimmer and perfume).
The total cost is $160 and includes little munchies and even a mocktail. Don't worry, a parent must accompany any child under 16 years of age into the spa or salon, as well as sign a waiver.
A mocktail? Is that really necessary? Do parents really want to associate drinking with fun for kids since I'm sure they'll discover that all on their own when they get to high school? $160? I can't remember when I spent that much on myself and I work for a living.
Emily Goldfischer, Vice President of Loews Hotels and mother of two, said in the release, "More than ever, pre-teens and teens are adopting the more grown-up fashions and attitudes of their 20-something counterparts. Because moms don’t want to see their little girls grow up too fast, this collection seeks to establish a nice balance, offering fun, kid-friendly spa treatments that retain a ‘let’s play dress-up’ quality."
ooph. I hear what she's saying. I can almost see the "play dress up" part. But I can't help but feel like there's something off about it. When you add mocktails and massages into the formula, it makes me think it's not really something a kid really needs. What happened to tea parties at home and Big Wheels?
Marketing to kids is a huge business. According to the Tourism Intelligence Network in Quebec, spending by tweens has doubled every decade for the past 30 years. In the U.S., tweens control or influence about $260 billion in spending. According to a BRANDchild study, tweens influence 80% of their parents’ brand purchases.
And what do these kids want? Take a look at what's selling? Racy clothing in the malls. Sexy dolls (Bratz, anyone?). Video games with adult themes like violence. When it comes to music, let's take another look at all those Mouseketeers bringing sexy back. TV? Popular teen shows like The OC and Gossip Girl routinely showcase partying, drinking and sex.
So to bring this back full circle, this whole shock and dismay over Miley Cyrus isn't new. Our teens and pre-teens are bombarded every day. Whether it's little Hannah Montana now or Britney Spears then, everyone will get outraged and then we'll move on. And then something else will happen and we'll get outraged all over again even while we continue to send the message to businesses (and buy the message) that sex sells.
(photo from Loews Hotels)
Comments
Whatever happened to natural beaty... or "beauty is only skin deep"? All this makeup and spa treatments and being "pampered" is frivolous and stupid at any age. Women who do this kind of stuff are pathetic, as are men who want their women to look completely fake like they just stepped out of an all-day spa appointment. Parents who encourage their children to be so materialistic, wasteful and decadent should be ashamed of themselves. The obsession with spas and pampering is example #1 of why this country is going to you-know-where in a handbasket!
Posted by: Anne | April 30, 2008 2:12 AM
Forgive me if I begin to lecture, but I'm becoming riled up, here. What we (and I include myself in this) forget is that no one - NO ONE - cares about our children in the way we do. The people with the shiny, glitzy hotels and advertising are out for the money. The Sales and Advertising and Marketing people involved simply have no interest in the children except as Market Share. If you were to confront each of these sales/marketing/PR/advertising people one-on-one, you would probably enjoy the company of most of them right up until the shrug and blow-off, "So? Let THEM [the buying public] decide how to spend their money."
In the case of the Cyruses, I think Miley's parents may have been sucked into Annie Leibowitz' whole artistic persona and overlooked the fact that Ms. Leibowitz regards people - even child people - a shapes and forms and interplay of light and shadow. The protective instinct is missing in her.
Posted by: Granny | April 30, 2008 9:44 AM
I almost want to agree with that PR woman. The services offered at that Las Vegas spa seems a lot more age-appropriate than the selection described in this story in Philadelphia magazine about pre-teens getting bikini waxes and facials.
DD: Yuk. Bikini waxes for pre-teens? What is this world coming to?"
Posted by: Liz Kay | April 30, 2008 10:18 AM
If there's one thing we need more of in this world, it's more ways to teach our kids to be more concerned with looks and being pampered, as early as possible!
It seems to me with the sort of surge of transmogrifying children into characters from Sex And The City comes this idea that parents are their children's "friends" more and more, while the "parents" aspect of it all is being eliminated almost completely. I barely missed this trend with my parents, but a lot of my contemporaries now complain and actually feel guilty about being brought up spoiled; rather, completely unprepared for the sometimes crushing disappointments life brings them.
DD I would also bring to light the MTV show "My Super Sweet 16" as an example of what's completely wrong with us as a society at this point. Getting pampered on vacation is well, less offensive, but no parent should really be giving their kids mocktails unless they're over (hell I don't know) 16? I mean, are we talking Mudslides or virgin Cosmos? I'm thinking way too much about this.
DD: Evan, I can't even bring myself to watch "My Super Sweet 16" because I'm afraid I'll put my foot through my pretty TV screen. My parents were never ever my friends, but they were certainly always my parents. Back then, I always wished my parents were cooler about stuff (I wasn't allowed to date, no Friday night parties with the cool kids, no beach week my Senior year & definitely no mock-booze. Hey. My dad was a retired Lt. Col. He was STRICT.), but now I thank them for it. When I had more sense, I figured out what I could and couldn't handle (drinking, partying, etc.) So thanks Mom and Dad.
Posted by: Evan | April 30, 2008 12:28 PM
I get so grossed out by this sexing up of even younger and younger girls. And we wonder why there are so many pedophiles. It's all really sickening and breaks my heart.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 30, 2008 6:24 PM
i love you
Posted by: Anonymous | September 12, 2008 4:34 PM
im 9 years old i like and i like miley
Posted by: dakota wilson | November 13, 2008 8:39 PM