French company sells lingerie to girls 4-12 years old

I’m hoping we’re all sharing the same collective thought: What the f…… When my friend Lauren Johnson sent me this link, I had to check out the website for myself because I didn’t want to believe it. But yes, this is really happening. On the Jours Après Lunes website, young girls wearing only bras and underwear pose wearing sunglasses and heavy makeup, in an online photo gallery of new clothing line. Obviously far from the age where they might need bras, the “loungerie” line is meant for girls as young as 3 months old (although, luckily the infants wear onesies). Proud to be the first designer brand dedicated to what they call “loungerie,” Jours Après Lunes calls itself an “innovative” and “unexpected” brand in the current realm of teenage and children’s fashion. However, most people prefer “appalling”. Paul Miller, Associate Professor of Psychology at Arizona State University in Phoenix wrote his thoughts in an email to ABCNews.com: “This kind of marketing does sexualize young girls, it does serve as a model that inspires very young girls to think that minimizing what they wear and revealing as much of their body as possible is appropriate, and ‘fashionable’ and ‘cool,’ and that this is the way that they should think of themselves. The cultural message goes beyond ‘lingerie’ but to girls’ self-image, body image, and what it takes to build a ‘good’ image of one’s self.”

Unsurprisingly, Jours Après Lunes’ did not return calls from ABCNews.com requesting comment.

Unfortunately, this is only the latest kiddie fashion craze to cause public outrage. A few months ago, 10-year-old French model Thylane Loubry Blondeau made headlines when she appeared on the cover of Vogue France. To many, her high-fashion posing put her in an exceptionally mature position that was too sexual for her age. Also around the same timeframe, clothing retailer American Eagle came under fire after marketing a push-up bra that promised to add two cup sizes to girls as young as 15. “Girls want to look pretty, but they do not want that icky sexual attention,” Ann Soket, editor-in-chief of Seventeen magazine, told ABC News. “They just want to feel good in their clothes, they just want to feel pretty, and that’s what these bras are about.” Many child development experts disagree with Soket. The American Psychological Association recently created a task force to respond to the “increasing problem” of the sexualization of girls in the media. It was found that this sexualization can influence the well-being of girls. Shari Miles-Cohen, Senior Director of women’s programs for the American Psychological Association, told ABCNews.com, “We don’t want kids to grow up too fast. We want them to be able to develop physically, emotionally, psychologically and socially at appropriate rates for their age.” Personally, I’m all for giving people the freedom to dress and express themselves as they please. However, I don’t think girls in such a young age bracket will voluntarily want to wear lingerie unless they were being influenced to feel it was necessary. This puts a lot of pressure on them at a really young age with a huge amount of attention going into their appearance, in years where they should be focusing on more important age-appropriate things.

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.