Walmart and Bad Fashion Choices
By Chuck Hyde, Editor of StandBesideHer.com
In a little reported story this week, Wal-Mart stores had to pull one of it’s products from it’s shelf due to public pressure. The product is a pair of panties sold in it’s juniors department which had “Who needs credit cards” on the front and “when you have Santa” on the back. There was an outcry on the internet that an item of clothing like this would be sold to little girls. Understandably mothers were upset about the message to young girls that they don’t need their own money when they have a sugar daddy.
The interesting part of this is that the message really could have been taken both ways. It could have been seen as cutesy if printed on a t-shirt, for example. But when put on panties it is hard to see it as any other way than suggestive.
I have to say that while I am not a fan of some of the sites that were protesting Wal-Mart, I am fully behind their outrage. A lot of the sites protesting this are feminism sites and their main issue with it is the message to young girls that they don’t need to be self-sufficient if they can have a man support them. You will not often read where I agree with hard core feminists but I can say that I don’t want my daughter to get this message either. Our daughter is being raised to have traditional family values but at the same time to have a strong self esteem and to believe she can be what she wants. My wife and I believe that a girl that has been given a strong sense of self has a much greater chance of succeeding in life and a considerably smaller risk of facing difficulty (unwanted pregnancy, assault, etc.) when eventually away from us. A young lady with a strong self-esteem is, in our opinion, much better equipped to say no to what she does not want and to avoid placing herself in dangerous situations. The message on these panties runs contrary to that upbringing.
There is another issue here though, the fact that too many young girls are dressing like adults. While this did not get as much play in the media, there was a definite undertone of it. I suspect that this is what had a lot of the mothers who were protesting it upset. For the life of me, I cannot think of a saying that would be appropriate on the underwear of a pre-adult girl. Too many times on store shelves and on girls themselves we see suggestive and quite frankly, for wont of a better word, trampy clothing. We have been shopping for clothes for our 7 year old daughter and have seen clothes in her size that we would not let her wear when she is in her teens. Don’t even get me started on lettering on the seat of pants. There is only one reason for that to be there, to draw a person’s eyes. The bottom line is that no ones eyes belong on the rear end of a teenager.
Don’t think were prudish either. What we will and will not let our daughter do as she gets older has been a discussion increasing in frequency because she is in fact getting older. We believe a child should be able to express themselves harmlessly. We have no issue with dyed hair, it’s a harmless form of independence. Piercings and tattoos on the other hand we feel should be limited because we feel a child is not mature enough to make a decision that they have to live with the rest of their life. The same goes with clothes. A teenager is not mature enough to understand what sort of statement they are sending with their clothes and we believe that sexually suggestive clothing has no business on the body of child too immature to understand the consequences of adult sexual behavior. I have to believe also that sexually suggestive clothing makes a girl more of a target for predatory men. I think that we are only inviting trouble when we let a child dress in suggestive clothing that is too young to resist and/or fight off a predator. The bottom line is that while I do not believe that girls need to be in floor length dresses and turtle necks, they can express themselves and be independent without dressing sleazy.
With all of this though, we are missing the real issue. The real travesty here is why Wal-Mart is selling these clothes in the first place, because people are buying them. As much as Wal-Mart has become everyone’s favorite punching bag and the root of several economic ills in the U.S., at the end of the day they are just a business trying to make money. They are not an evil entity trying to lead our young girls astray. While I believe that they should have some conscience as a corporate citizen, they have to answer to their stock holders. Ultimately they only sell this stuff because we, as a society, are buying it. For a host of reasons, mothers trying to recapture lost youth, parents not able to say no to their children, or parents simply not paying attention to what their children are doing, this trash is being bought. In fact, not only is it being bought, it is being bought in sufficient quantity that the stores are willing to risk public condemnation to sell it. As long as there is a market, stores will continue to sell this type of clothing to young girls. The market is not only young girls either, boys are targeted for clothing too mature for them, I chose to focus on young ladies though because of the Wal-Mart story.
So condemn Wal-Mart if you want for selling these clothes. I do. But, for those of you who allow this clothing in your home, take a moment to consider the potential consequences. For those of you who already set limits, I thank you and, eventually, I think your daughter will also thank you. That’s what’s on my mind.
About The Author: Chuck Hyde is editor of StandBesideHer.com. He is also a husband and father of two teenage boys and a younger daughter. His family lives in the northern Midwestern rural United States, where they enjoy camping, fishing, and other outdoor activities together. Chuck is a Registered Nurse in an inner city emergency room and has had a lifelong addiction to politics.
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