Beyoncé sexing up children's clothing
Categories: Kids 5-7, Kids 8-11, Media, Kid decor & style
Check out this ad for Deréon Girls and you will notice sweet-faced little girls wearing high heeled pumps, feather boas and bright red lipstick. This ad campaign might be called "where the playground and prostitute meet." If you can manage to look past the inappropriate accessories and somewhat suggestive poses, the clothes themselves aren't that bad. Maybe a little on the tacky side, but not overtly sexual.
Just what message are they trying to send here? It is never to early to begin dressing like a fashion-impaired adult? Had they presented the clothing line in a more age-appropriate way, would parents have reacted with "well, that's just not sexy enough for my kid?"
Seriously, does sex really sell when it comes to children's clothing?
Recent Posts
- Weekend Fun and Games (7/03/2009)
- Kids and Extracurriculars - When Do You Let Them Quit? (7/03/2009)
- Twitter Follow Friday on ParentDish! (7/03/2009)
- Lush Lashes (7/03/2009)
- Abigail Breslin Makes $13 a Week (7/03/2009)















Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Bey 5-14-2008 @ 10:28PM
Da makeup and da way the kids r set up reely is disturbing as hell. the clothes tho dont look bad becuz it has a hip hop trend and they do seemed to be coverd from head to toe. i would go crazy if i saw just one inch of skin dat wasnt from short sleeves. however, i do feel dat these clothes are practically inspiring little girls to act lik teenagers alredy, and whether innocently or not its wrong. i think dat the way middle schoolers today act and dress is extremely scandalous and i would b heartbroken if i started seeing my little sisters (ages 5 & 6) concerned about looking a certain way other than "pretty" or "girl". if i hear the words "bootylicious" come out of there mouths, im boycotting beyonce and other of these "in-trend" fashion lines for girls.
Reply
pochantis 5-15-2008 @ 9:40AM
house of dereon clothes are ugly the purses are too, the childrens dereon clothing are worse. this singer should stick to singing. i dont want to encourage my girl to grow up any faster than shes going to. i just hope she has enough sense not to buy these (overpriced) low budget clothing. if beoynce wanted to do something good for our youth, she would of followed behind sarah jessica parker and put out a pretty girl line in steve and barry's
Reply
Robin 5-15-2008 @ 11:53AM
I can't stand most of the clothes for little girls. I have a hard time finding jeans for my 10 year old. Most of them are low cut. Other pants have words on the butt. Why would anyone want their daughter to wear pants that encourage people to look at their butt? With all the retro look these days, I'm waiting for the chastity belt to come back into fashion. I'll take two!!!
Reply
Robin 5-15-2008 @ 11:59AM
I wonder what pedophiles would think of this line of clothing?
Reply
linda C 5-15-2008 @ 9:30PM
They love it!
Emily 5-15-2008 @ 12:52PM
The clothes don't show a lot of skin, but they are unsettling on a little kid--they still kinda look like street-walker clothes. The shoes are probably also not a good idea for kids. My mother would never have let me out of the house dressed like that.
Playing dress-up in Mom's feather boa and high heels is one thing. Actually manufacturing hooker-heels for six-year-olds is disturbing. Even worse, parents will actually BUY these ridiculous things and let their kids go out in public dressed like prositutes.
I'm a school teacher. A few years ago, I had a little eight-year-old student who was very "fashionable." She wore kid-sized versions of the clothes I saw on high school girls--shiny flared pants, frilly tops, and little stack-heeled ankle boots. The clothes were relatively modest and she didn't look trampy, but I was still concerned that she was trying to look older than she was. When I thought about it though, I realized that when I was her age back in the 80s, I would occasionally wear outlandish clothes too--my favorite outfit was a metallic fuschia sleeveless turtleneck with a metallic electric blue mini-skirt and sweater set (not sure what shoes I wore with it...probably fuschia ballet flats or something, and I always wore opaque tights under the skirt so there wouldn't be a lot of skin showing). Mom always let me out of the house in the outfit, so I guess it didn't look too skanky.
I'd say my main concern with this article and the photos is the dangerous-looking shoes and the provocative poses. The clothes might be okay.
Reply
Tara 5-15-2008 @ 1:33PM
Girls should be girls - and by that I mean little girls. My daughter adores fashion, and has an amazing fashion sense, but I draw the line between fashionable and slutty. There really is no way to allow them to dress like mini-adults at the age of 8, then suddenly try to bring the hammer down when they turn 13. Your messages have to be consistent and be about self esteem and self respect, start when they're young girls and follow them throughout all stages of development right through adulthood. Dress-up is for home and playtime, not for going out in public. Sexual come-hither poses are not for children. I'm not sure why this appears confusing for some, except to say that they are blurring their own lines between what is appropriate for girls vs. women. Some grown women need to stop trying to re-live their own childhoods through their daughters. Get over yourselves, grow up and get past whatever baggage you've dragged into adulthood- let your girls be innocent for the few short years they get to have it that way. Geez. Are you their moms or their pimps?
Reply
LMARIE48 5-15-2008 @ 4:19PM
I can't stand Beyonce and know this jusifies it even more! Slut!
Reply
Liz 5-15-2008 @ 7:14PM
I believe that some children's(girls) clothing isn't age appropriate.
I think some girls are trying to grow up to fast. They try dressing like popstars or girls twice their ages. Little girls should dress cute & be able to express their personalities. However, they shouldn't wear tons of make-up or adult like clothing. I just gave birth to a little girl & i wouldn't feel comfortable when she turns 10 & is trying to dress likes she is 20. But, with all this influence in the media, I know it;s hard to keep your child from growing up to fast.
To all parents: GOOD LUCK & follow your guts about how to raise your child. You know whats best.
Reply
Linda C 5-15-2008 @ 7:25PM
"AS POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC FREEDOM DIMINISHES, SEXUAL FREEDOM TENDS COMPENSATINGLY TO INCREASE." -ALDOUS HUXLEY. 'Tis truly a brave new world.
Reply
m 5-15-2008 @ 7:44PM
Im tired of the sexy CHILDRENS cloths, and we wonder why our teen pregnancy rate is so high, why cant we dress our CHILDREN like CHILDREN for as long as possible...they grow up soon enough, I dont like it encouraged by their clothes designers, Let CHILDREN be CHILDREN...GET IT...PARENTS...CHILDREN!!!
Reply
kdubest 5-15-2008 @ 7:50PM
dese clothings are cute there not at all slutty. hows it slutty? half of ya is just mad because beyonce is da best of da best nd does big things. its nice that she wants little kids to be like her. all ya haters tlkin mad smack about beyonce just be out because wt ya gotta say dnt make diff. beyonce will do her nd u just do u. cuz wit or witout da children fashion line she still stay fly nd rich nd beiin da best
Reply
joanne 5-15-2008 @ 8:45PM
Sex sells. Period. It has nothing to do with morals, good taste, or character. God has been replaced by the Almighty Dollar. Anyone who supports this clothing line is insane.
Reply
Becca 5-16-2008 @ 12:24AM
and wow. you guys are lame. neing a slut has nothing to do wit how you dress....its how many times you spread them legs. just because your dressin kinda provacative doesnt mean you HAVE to give into sexual desire. it all depends on how you were raised so please leave beyonce alone. ITS JUST CLOTHES! you guys arent finding the right clothes because your not going to the right places. your offically making me sick with all your idiotic comments.
hating....thats allll it is.
Reply
jess 5-16-2008 @ 2:39AM
i have 4 kids and there is no way in heck my kids would dress that way. Its just so disturbing some of the clothing they sell for children and it doesnt begin and end with this line of clothing, sadly.
Reply
Sorceress 5-16-2008 @ 5:39AM
This is nothing new. I see nine year olds dressed like nineteen year olds all the time here. Frankly I blame the mothers for allowing their daughters to dress like little street walkers.When they are teenagers it is ok to wear large hoop earings, heels and makeup, but until then dress them according to their age group. I think "little" girls look so cute in their ribbons and crinolines, leave something to look forward to when they become teens, like high heels and tight skirts.
Reply
Molly6 5-16-2008 @ 8:08AM
As a mother of daughters, I've had to deal with low cut jeans and midriff baring shirts for 6 to 8 yr olds and try to dress a 13 yr old! So I don't think this is cute at all. And while I hoped their adult line caught on, I hope this sinks to the depths of the ocean like a lead ball. I think it disgusting to dress little girls sexy. Oh, doesn't the sister have a little girl? That must be where this comes from. I don't want monsters looking at my little girls as sex objects. If it doesn't offend them to have a gross man looking at that baby's little bottom like he'd like to touch it, they need to rethink that, just like they need to rethink this clothing line.
Reply
marykandra 5-16-2008 @ 10:38AM
Okay, the only 'slutty' thing I see in this are the shoes and the make-up, and some of the poses. But let's face it guys, there's MUCH worse clothing lines out there. There's micro mini skirts for kids, low cut tank tops, you name it. But I don't see any of it in here. The only thing I can think of that you have a problem with the actual CLOTHES is the fact that they put designs on them.
Yes the make-up and shoes were a little too much, but unfortunately that was a bad move. Take those out, and take the designs off, and you have typical non-slutty everyday kids clothes. Take a look at some of the clothes in the Hilary Duff line, or even just a normal kid's line and then come back and say these clothes are revealing.
Reply
skii 5-16-2008 @ 10:51AM
http://www.babyscholars.com/dressupclothes.html
I think it's intresting that Beyonce is attacked for her ad, when there is nothing sexual about the actula clothes. The accesories yes, but the same boas, and feathered "jeweled" heels can be found in any toy store because that's what little girls have played with for generations. No matter what, little girls look up to their mothers and older women and want to be like them. Heck we encourage it by giving them "life like"baby dolls to practice "momming" with when they are toddlers, and complain they grow up to fast? Obviously nobody expects you to let you kids walk out the house like this, if you do it shows obvious problems with your judgement. In this ad, the little girls are obviously just playing around. They just have higher quality dress up accesories. And yes professionals did their makeup. Do you think little girls want to look like clowns? Obviously the children are models (whole nother issue guys), they know how to really use makeup. The overt sexuality in this ad is there because you want it to be. Please tell me what's sexual about a little girl playing a piano. Or the ones behind her pretending to be in a band, or sitting in a chair (just like kids do), or even just posing to take a picture. what was she supposed to do? If they didn't pose, they wouldn't be modeling.
Reply
skii 5-16-2008 @ 10:52AM
http://www.babyscholars.com/dressupclothes.html
I think it's intresting that Beyonce is attacked for her ad, when there is nothing sexual about the actula clothes. The accesories yes, but the same boas, and feathered "jeweled" heels can be found in any toy store because that's what little girls have played with for generations. No matter what, little girls look up to their mothers and older women and want to be like them. Heck we encourage it by giving them "life like"baby dolls to practice "momming" with when they are toddlers, and complain they grow up to fast? Obviously nobody expects you to let you kids walk out the house like this, if you do it shows obvious problems with your judgement. In this ad, the little girls are obviously just playing around. They just have higher quality dress up accesories. And yes professionals did their makeup. Do you think little girls want to look like clowns? Obviously the children are models (whole nother issue guys), they know how to really use makeup. The overt sexuality in this ad is there because you want it to be. Please tell me what's sexual about a little girl playing a piano. Or the ones behind her pretending to be in a band, or sitting in a chair (just like kids do), or even just posing to take a picture. what was she supposed to do? If they didn't pose, they wouldn't be modeling.
Reply