The Beyonce backlash builds; Plus: She’s pregnant? Hide the baby clothes!
My column on Beyonce’s new brand of pedophila chic continues to transcend partisanship in a good way. A few examples:
Dear Michelle:
You and I could not be farther apart in our politics, but I am totally with you on this issue. Your column on Beyonce’s clothing line appeared in today’s Kansas City Star. I have granddaughters whom I don’t want to be tempted by this stuff, much less wear it! Hopefully by contacting Macy’s and other retailers we patronize, we can get their attention. I hope so. Thanks for the article.
Sincerely, Janelle Lazzo.
***
Hi Michelle
As it says in the subject line, I am a devout liberal (a gay Jewish one at that) and have on many occasions, disagreed vehemently with your opinions.
However, I just read your article “Beyonce’s New Brand of Pedophilia Chic” and you could not be more right about this. Just seeing the picture of that advertisement made me disgusted. Not even your description in the article prepared me for the pictures in the actual ad. One point I think you missed in your article is how truly damaging these images can be for kids. Seeing these glamorized young slappers, as they would say in England, contribute to the whole body image problem we have in our society that affects young women. It breaks my heart whenever I think of some young girl thinking that she is too fat. I cannot even begin to tell you how annoyed I am at my gay friends and the body image obsession that has infected our community. (I’m 280 lbs. and when I hear my swizzel stick thin friends say their too fat, I just slap my belly and say “Excuse ME???”)
You also brought up A&F and honestly I have no problem with them (at least in their regular stores. I do not know about the ads in the kids version of their store), I just wish they would admit what their advertising is, which is softcore homoerotic porn. That I have no problem with, but I guess I didn’t need to tell you that.
Take care,
Charles Bright***
Ms. Malkin -
I have rarely responded to editorials, but I want to applaud your column regarding provocative children’s clothing and advertising. I wrote a letter to the Kansas City Star and I hope it is published. In fact, I hope many other parents rise up and display their outrage at how our children are being used.I believe there needs to be a national movement to curtail the pervasive sexualization of young girls in our society - literally offering them up to willing pedophiles and pornographers who traipse about in the guise of “artistic” photographers. These innocents have no reason to be portrayed as or perceive themselves to be “sexy” - most of them don’t even know what that means, and that is called exploitation.
Please write more about this subject if you can. The responsibility for the safety of children begins with the parents and how they help youngsters to develop, how they allow them to dress and how they teach them modesty and appropriate behavior.
Thank you, again, for being one courageous voice and for calling a major “star” to task for her irresponsible, deplorable actions. Just a note - I am not a right-wing conservative offering a knee-jerk reaction. I am a liberal who’s emotions on this subject have been seething for quite some time and who has raised three children to well-adjusted adulthood.
Sincerely,
Rhesa Dane
Jenice Armstrong at the Philadelphia Daily News weighs in, tying the latest prom dress gone wild story to Beyonce’s collection:
Remember the turn Jennifer Lopez’s career took after she attended the Grammys in that green Versace gown opened practically all the way down the front?
Now it looks as if tween sensation Miley Cyrus is one of the latest to get sucked in. Hannah Montana’s alter-ego may be only 15, but I’ll bet she had at least an inkling what she was doing baring all that skin in her controversial Vanity Fair photo spread.
It also doesn’t help that the fashion industry cooperates, despite growing criticism about oversexualization of girls’ clothing. One of the latest companies blasted for this kind of thing was Beyonce’s House of Dereon, which unveiled a print ad campaign for a line of children’s clothes featuring elementary-aged girls all tarted up, wearing pouty facial expressions.
I understand that the little Beyonce wannabes were outfitted like that to show they’re playing dress-up. But the question I have is: dressed up like what? And for what purpose?
Surely, the House of Dereon, which Beyonce heads along with her mother, Tina Knowles, doesn’t have to tart up little kids to persuade parents to buy over-priced jeans outfits. But this shows how girls are getting the message earlier than ever that being sexy is what matters above all else. So, is it any wonder that, by the time they’re high- school seniors, some girls resort to what Marche [Taylor] did?
On a related note, Beyonce is rumored to be pregnant. Let’s hope she doesn’t do for infant apparel what’s she done to little girls’ clothes.
Agh.
***
For those of you who are Macy’s customers looking to voice your opinion on the retailer’s decision to carry the House of Dereon girls’ collection, here’s contact info.
And for those of you looking for House of Dereon contact info, here:
Customer Service
www.dereon.com
eFashion Solutions
888.810.3884 201.601.4236
Monday - Friday 9am - 9pm EST
Saturday 10am - 5pm EST
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Bravo. The masses gather, drum and hopefully the company listens.
Awesome job Michelle! The way kids dress now a days makes me SICK!
A straight up K.O.
My daughter (13) just giggled and said they looked stupid and that beanie has to go!
as a new parent i don’t see the appeal of dressing your daughter like a street whore.
but that’s just me.
Problem is, many of these young girls (and boys and women and men) are too fat! The “body image” issue is in itself a distortion. Most Americans have an eating disorder alright, but it’s certainly not starving themselves. Why is it that every mention of our obesity epidemic must be countered with an example of some poor woman who goes to the other extreme?
Good to know that liberals and conservatives can all agree on protecting children from sexual exploitation.
Hopefully, motherhood - especially if she has a daughter - will open Beyonce’s eyes to what we are concerned about.
EQ,
Honestly, I think she’ll use it as a means to market more of her crap. The only thing her eyes open up to is the sound of the cash register.
I dunno. Didn’t seem to help Beyonce’s mother–who designed the clothes–much.
Beyonce is the poster child for bad choices. She is married (?) to Jay-Z, who is rumored to beat her up on a regular basis. She’s a rich and successful woman, so she’s obviously got quite a lack of self-esteem. I suppose if you can’t make good choices for yourself, then you can’t make good choices when it comes to other parts of your life (like your clothing line).
Glad to see you are bringing people together on this issue, Michelle! I think a good old-fashioned “Power to the People” action toward Macy’s in particular would be a good idea. Put so much pressure on them they’ll have to pull the line.
MM thanks so much for keeping me up to date on what not to do when my little girl gets to be this age.
Sad exploitation.
On May 16th, 2008 at 12:28 pm, tre said:
Good to know that liberals and conservatives can all agree on protecting children from sexual exploitation.
————–
from your lips to God’s ears.
Someone should ask Michelle and Barak if they will be dressing their daughters in the House of Dereon girls’ collection? should be fun to watch.
Next thing you know they will be driving Pimped out…
Barbie Jeeps
The fact that more than a few libs agree with you on this provides some glimmer of hope for our otherwise declining society.
I cant pass this up though….
This article is an obvious fake. There’s a devout gay jewish liberal mentioned above. Since that kind of thing, according to other liberals, has the same possibility of existance that i have of being struck by lightning while wearing a clown suit doing the electric slide on top of the empire state building…a jew, thats not an evil republican? i call shenanigans!
/sarc off
I couldnt resist
When a idea to protect our kids comes forward it is not unreasonable to expect all views of the political spectrum to unite. Protecting our kids should be a issue where partisan politics should be so far down the list that you need the Hubble telescope to find it.
Beyonce photo in today’s NYPost Page 6… She’s steppin’ out conservative style in pressed chinos, oh so chic and grownup…
she an idiot…
Yes, according to our illustrious government officials, Sylvester Stallone is OBESE! We really must do something about these fat slobs that forget little details like that huh?
If people can afford to eat until their hearts pop, what RIGHT does the government have to step in? What responsibility do I have to pay for their medical treatment? While this may be an issue to some people, personally it is pretty far down on my list.
The number on the Macys site is not their number anymore. The number for Merchandising is 646-429-6000.
I’ve got three young daughters, and they won’t be wearing clothes like this on my watch.
But is it really surprising that someone like Ms. Knowles would try to make cash by dressing pre-teen girls like tramps? The seed of acceptability has already been planted in those young minds through some of their playthings.
I’m so glad I can sew. No slutwear for my children!
Could somebody explain what is so objectable about the clothes the little asian girl is wearing? I agree that younger people are dressing much more provocative these days, but this ad doesn’t really raise the bar any. anybody?
No, I can’t explain. I guess we are running out of things to scold others for. Pedophilia chic?….Please!
She is dressed for the club, not preschool.
Oh, by no means. I can certainly think of several DOZEN more things to chase people down about.
Somehow, dressing up small girls as mini-prostitutes seems to warrant at least a little attention. Your dismissal of the issue out of hand shows that you must be OK with it.
Sick.
#26, its obvious you don’t get out much…thats not club attire.
Touchè, Michelle. Touchè.
It’s a weird society we live in. Ten year old girls are expected to act like 21 and 40 year old men are expected to act like 16. WTF.
and #27…if she were wearing a mini skirt and a bra, ok, but she is not. pants and long sleeve shirt??? i guess you’d rather see her in a burka?
Hopefully as a new parent you would place value on protecting your daughter and I did not take that from your post. I hope I misunderstood your words.
It is nice to see one thing that some liberals and conservatives can agree on. I was shocked when I saw that picture thinking who would dress their little one like that but then I thought about the clothes at Macys and wonder what happened to just regular little kids clothes? Now they all want to look like little street walkers-and no for all the clowns who are on here saying we want to put them in burkas, we just want kids clothes to look like kids clothes, not like street walker clothes. And anyone who thinks putting heels like that on a 5 year old is nuts.
so I guess this line won’t be in the HSN channel anytime soon?
Business does not operate in a void. Before this line of ‘clothing’ was trotted out, there was marketing reseacrh & focus groups which to somone, indicated there are a numbers of PARENTS out there who would actually buy this stuff for their children. Think about that.
terrig, i agree with you about the heels, inappropriate, but the rest of her outfit (the asian girl) you have a problem with? longs pants? long sleeve shirt? beanie? how much more should she cover up? just curious..
Scooter the lib nit picking. It is clear that Beyonce and her “fashion designer Mom” have little or no concern about proper apparel and moral norms for kids. But Scooter plays the typical lib split hair sgame.
#37, answer me then, minus the heels, what is wrong with the asian girls outfit? you have the problem with it, so tell me what wrong with long pants, long sleeve shirt and a beanie?
To compare her to the “worst prom dress of 2008″ is laughable.
They will go after Little Miss Sunshine next!
I just hope the Beyonce clothes are not sold and ALL kid pageants are immediately shut down. Thank you.
Scooter36:
They don’t need to wear burquas…but they don’t need to look like Jon Bonnett Ramsey either….
It is about sexualizing children.
It is about the most “un-feminist” thing you can imagine.
It is damaging to children to be viewed in this manner. Damaging to there self worth as little people. Little important people.
Go take your “what do you want them to wear a burqua” or “you don’t get out much” comments somewhere else.
Here, they fall flat as you have.
They should be allowed the dignity to look, behave, and be treated like little girls. Not some eye candy for a some sick individual.
They should be allowed the dignity of being able to be children.
They deserve that from us at a minimum.
#40..then maybe you can tell me what is wrong with the asian girls clothing..thats all i really wanted to know. Pants, long sleeve shirt, beanie? Other than that, I agree, kids should dress as kids, save your hatred for someone else.
My hatered? WHo pooped in your Cheerios this morning?
Aside from your rude take on my OBSERVATION…I will dignify your questions, since I feel it necessary from sparing yourself the broken record bit…
WHat is wrong with her clothes?
If you saw a 22 year old woman walking down the street in this outfit…what would be going through your mind?
I rest my case.
#35
I certainly wouldn’t think she is a prostitute like you would, and thats great, answer a question with a question..I think one of your 40 housecats pooped in my cheerios. REEEER!!!
I have a dog…i don’t like cats.
DId i say prostitute?
Something wrong with your noodle dude.
I hear Holly Hobbie has been revised!
Would those “angels” look better in this?
http://www.agkidzone.com/hollyhobbie.action
Correction: WOULDN’T those “angels” look better in this?
#45 you still haven’t/won’t/can’t answer my question….
#48 -
Scuttlebutt.
Its quite simple really.
If a 22 year old woman was dressed like this (nothing wrong with a 22 year old dressing like this btw)she would more than likely catch your eye. Right?
There are some really sick puppies out there. Now, if they already like little girls, what message do you believe this is sending? What message does it send to society where little girls look 22 instead of 6.
If you don’t believe there is anything wrong with any of those outfits…then that is your opinion. We disagree.
Why cant these girls be allowed to be kids, not 22 year olds? Would the world come to an end if Beyonce had a little girls clothing line that was more toned down?
The way these girls are dressed are just completely inappropriate for their ages.
If you don’t see this. Well, good for you. I would speculate you do not have a child, much less a little girl, niece or younger sister.
Now, do you need me to draw a picture?
And there it is. Why can’t people ask for a little moderation in the children’s clothes without the burka BS? Of course no one wants their daughters in burkas.
The answer to the pornification of our children is not Sharia. Extremism is not the solution to extremism.
Five year olds should not be dressed in leather, cummerbunds and have make up. Shooter if you cannot see that you are being willfully ignorant. This is about the sexualization of children and it’s wrong. The cloths this Asian girl is wearing belong on a 22 year old going out to a nighht club not a five year old.
Feebie, Scooter is a lib. Libs believe anything goes. If it feels good do it.
Most of them grow up in their 30’s, but many continue to be juveniles until death. I’d wager that Scoots owes his entire existance to government or mom and dad’s income.
Can I just say that I am so happy that I am pregnant with a boy?
I have a 10 year old stepdaughter, but my husband and his ex-wife do a good job of making sure she doesn’t look like a “prostitot.”
Michelle,
I just saw you on Fox dealing with this issue. Many, now will be informed by you being there. Good job as usual. This is the first time I have seen it on Fox.
L
The kids in these ads are going to need chiropracters for the rest of their lives.
How stupid!
ScoopPC11- Love that term, “Prostitot”, is it original? Certainly encompasses the entire problem and style in one word, good one.
Question- do pedophiles really prefer children tarted up like this? I would think that having a child who is totally innocent and whom they can corrupt would be what they are looking for. Not knowing any pedo’s personally, I am not certain where one would go to find this kind of info.
Whats that ol saying? Anyone under thirty and not a liberal has no heart…any one over thiry has no brain?
Oy, give me a brick wall.
I would guess it depends on the pedophile, JoAnn, I suspect they have individual “preferences”.
The preference part isn’t all that abnormal, though the context of pedophilia surely is.
Amongst adults in normal attraction men and women have their preferences, e.g some guys like women who look like like “hos” and others prefer a clean, makeup-free look. Some women prefer men who dress nicely - maybe always wear suit & tie, others like the T-shirted “Stanley Kowalski” look.
My guess is that somebody or some institution, somewhere, actially has done a respectable study related to your question. Pedophilia has been very widely studied. But I have no idea where such a specific study would be found, much less it’s finding/conclusions.
Interesting question, though.
Not original at all, unfortunately, and it’s sad that it has become such a phenomenon that the term even exists. I think it was even used on “King of the Hill” recently.