Sex sells?

As the new(ish) mother of a little girl, I find myself faced with so many choices of clothing for her. She's only a year old, but wearing 24 month sized clothing. As I look through on-line catalogs and in magazines I see things that simply shock me. Not so much aimed at her age, although the 24M stuff sometimes borders on shocking to me. I see tiny little girls wearing little less than bras & panties or logos that are *way* too easily mis-interpreted (actually, just interpreted - I think the intention is there). Now, I can hear some out there saying, "You're just a prude or not 'in style' - there's nothing wrong with it." However, I disagree. I have no problem with Rachel wearing little girl dresses and knee socks - even thought that has become fetish-wear - simply because she *IS* a little girl. However, I draw the line when little girls are wearing things that *I* would consider too 'sexy' for everyday wear for myself. I also hate having my child be a poster for a particular brand. I mean, I love the quality of certain brands, but I love them even more when the only identification is on the tag - not plastered all over the article.

Its not just the clothes either. The TV shows, costumes, and movies are becoming so very sexualized it is difficult to know who the audience is meant to be - children or adults. A blogosphere-friend of mine just reviewed the current wolf animated movie. I trust her judgement & she mentioned that within the first 15 minutes the female dogs were 'strutting their stuff' in front of the males and the 'alpha' male was strutting around & getting comments from the females about being hot & such - I'm sure there was some panting & drooling going on as well. That may sound innocent enough, but is it really necessary in a children's movie? Here's how I see this playing out... Innocent children watch this male-female interaction and mimic it among themselves. Soon, an adult sees it & thinks its cute. The adult drags out the video camera (or phone) and posts to YouTube or FB. Then some pervert gets his/her hands on it and feels sexually stimulated by these innocent children's mimicry of an animated seduction scene. I realize that perverts can take any video or image of a child & turn it into something gross, but when the primary intent of the initial scene (from the movie) is seduction, it just makes it that much easier and worse in my opinion.

At the same time, local events have brought sexual abuse in the clergy to the forefront again. I am NOT saying that any child 'asks' for sexual abuse. I definitely know better than that. However, I do believe that innocence is lost much sooner these days. Immodest (sometimes blatantly sexual) clothing and behavior make children easier targets for thes sexual predators. There is NO excuse for any sexual abuse, but in my opinion neither is there an excuse for teaching our children these immodest values. Things are much different now than even when I was growing up (I'm 29). I knew the rudiments of sex as a child from living on a farm. Animals had 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends' that 'spent the night together' to make babies. This understanding lasted a *very* long time (thanks mom & dad). This is what I want for my children. I don't want them corrupted by society's unwavering facination with sex, power, and money.

At this point, I find myself second-guessing my own actions with my children. While as a whole society has become very much more sexualized, we have also emphasized 'wrong touches'. It makes certain things you must do to keep your children in good health, seem questionable. If someone asked either of my children if mommy or daddy had touched them, they'd say yes. When you're wiping poop off wiggly hineys (and other assorted body parts), there's a lot of touching going on down there. When you have a little boy, there's a certain amount of checking that must be done on occasion. Its definitely not done with any sexual intent, but if the wrong person asked in the wrong way, it could appear so. So on the one hand, society causes our children to be (over)sexualized too soon, but it also makes parents paranoid about doing basic cleaning & maintenance of their children's bodies.

I guess the point of this post is that I think society has done us ALL a disservice. The Sexual Revolution has spun out of control. Public health officials are recommending children as young as 9 (male & female) get vaccinated for an STD (the HPV vaccine). Clothing manufacturers are producing clothing more fit for a brothel than a play-room. Animation studios are producing shows with more adult content and less innocence. As parents and members of society as a whole, we MUST stand up for our beliefs. Its not about religion or even morals as much as it is about protecting our children who are the world's future. I just pray that its not too late!