Forcing girls to grow up too fast has become a cottage industry in the United States with Walmart now jumping on the bandwagon by planning to introduce a new cosmetic line that targets tweens with lipstick, blush, mascara and even an anti-aging cream.
In spite of numerous studies showing the harmful effects of sexualizing young girls, the fashion industry continues to target them and retailers in search of profits continue to give them ample shelf-space.
The latest example is a new beauty line called GeoGirl that offers cosmetics and anti-aging products to tweens, which is the first to specifically target "Generation Z."
"Meet the girls of Generation Z," says an ad for the new line on the Household and Personal Products Industry (HAPPI) website. "They are happy, optimistic, confident, communicative, compassionate, collaborative and highly-creative. This generation also has a highly-raised environmental consciousness.
"Enter GeoGirl, a new cosmetics line debuting at select Wal-Mart stores in March. The 69-SKU collection of beauty products includes makeup for face, lips, cheeks and eyes plus skin and body care, with pricing from $3.98-$5.98 suggested retail."
The product line is "texting-friendly" with product names such as QTPi (Cutie Pie) blush, T2G (Time to Go) cleanser, iCU (I see you) eye shadow and TiSC (this is so cool) body mist. The line is made with natural ingredients such as white willow bark, chamomile and lavender, and the packaging is recyclable.
According to GeoGirl, "the product packages themselves were created to fit in smaller hands and apply to smaller features."
While it might sound harmless at first, a 2007 report by an American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force that studied the sexualization of girls in the media as well as by the fashion and cosmetic industries has harmful effects. Forcing girls into looking and acting more grown up than they really are results in undermining their confidence and making them feel dissatisfied with their bodies, which can result in a negative self-image. It has also been found to be the source of several common mental health problems such as eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.
"We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development," said Dr Eileen Zurbriggen, Chair of the APA Task Force. "The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy development."
The Task Force suggests that parents have a strong influence in this area and could be wittingly or unwittingly contributing to the problem by not educating their daughters about the distorted view of women that is being presented in the popular culture.
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