Is Abercrombie & Fitch Really Marketing a ‘Push Up Bikini’ to Seven Year-Olds, as CNN Reports?
When I saw, on CNN’s news crawl, that controversial retailer Abercrombie & Fitch was marketing a “push-up bikini” to 7 year-olds, my outrage-O-meter immediately hit the red line, and the network’s on-air report did little to change that. What kind of sick freak sells padded bikini tops to 7 year-olds?
As it turns out, not Abercrombie & Fitch, who, nonetheless, have changed the marketing materials for the tops to omit the term “push-up.” While the age group they are marketing to is still debatable, it’s not felonious.
According to CNN’s report, the “Ashley Push Up Triangle,” since re-dubbed the “Ashley Striped Triangle,” is “made for girls as young as 7.”
The report goes on to quote blogger Rebecca Odes, who says “How is this okay for a second-grader?”, then trots out sociology professor Gail Dines to denounce the tops as “dangerous.”
Here’s the segment, from CNN:
The problem is, none of the sources quoted explained how it is that this product is being marketed to 7 year-olds. I took a look at the Abercrombie Kids page for the tops, and while it doesn’t give an age range, the size chart begins at 56-58 inches tall. That’s almost five feet tall, pretty big for a 2nd grader. I’m not an expert in this sort of thing, but Jeanne Sager, a blogger who noticed the same thing I did, pegs the Ashley as a product for ‘tweens:
According to the Abercrombie Kids size chart, that’s for girls 56 to 58 inches tall with a 27.5 to 28.5 bust. The average girl won’t hit 56 inches until she’s 11 or 12. Not 7 or 8.
Do I need to spell out the difference between a 7-year-old and her 12-year-old sister? A little girl with boobs is icky. I’m not putting my 5-year-old in a bikini any time soon — forget the push-up issue.
But a tween who is beginning to fill out is pretty dang normal. And one who wants to can be filed under “not news.”
Having such a product marketed to 11-12 year-olds is grounds for legitimate debate, but it’s also a far cry from “sexing up” little girls. While concerned adults view this issue through the lens of sexual predators, they seem to forget the degree to which puberty can be a competition for young people. Ear-piercing, makeup-wearing, shaving, dating, all have hotly-debated age markers. Sager also goes on to make the case for comfort.
To be fair to CNN, they weren’t the only ones to report the story this way. At least one other cable outfit, Fox News, reported that A&F was marketing the top to girls as young as eight. The confusion appears to derive from the fact that the overall Abercrombie Kids brand is intended for 7-14 year olds, but as Sager points out, that doesn’t mean everything in the store is meant for those ages.
Objections to the product, even for girls of 11 or 12, are still reasonable. It’s up to parents to help their kids through the minefield of development, and outside pressures to speed things along can be an unwelcome hindrance. Whether a push-up bikini for a 12 year-old is a good idea or not, it’s unfair of these news outlets to report that Abercrombie & Fitch is marketing it to 7 year-olds, a hideous idea that requires no debate.
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.
