Threats to Girlhood
Threats to Girlhood
Estimates indicate that cosmetic maintenance, from hair and nails to face creams and mascara, costs the average image-conscious ‘diva’ more than $449,000 over the course of her lifetime.114 Nearly half of all children in the United Kingdom use brand name as part of their purchase criteria when shopping. 115 Currently, children as young as seven months old are exhibiting brand preferences and request brands based on the characters on the package or product.116 2 to 3 year old children develop particularly strong attachments to characters and often begin requesting specific brands and products bearing these characters before they are even able to ask for them by name.117 The consumer culture being driven and reinforced by advertising is persuading children to feel “that they will not be happy unless they have the toys and clothes that other children think are cool.”118 The images of spoiled teens depicted on television, from “My Super Sweet 16” to “Teen Cribs,” radically “raise the bar for what’s considered over the top.”119 Childrens spas, which would once have been considered over the top, are becoming increasing popular across the US.120 114 “The Beauty Breakdown: What a Lifetime of Cosmetic Maintenance will Cost a Modern Diva.” Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/187758 115 National Consumer Council. “Shopping Generation.” July 2005. http://www.aeforum.org/aeforum.nsf/d5335c270a1f94d380256ef3004240f2/454e900c39c957418025703b 004108ed/$FILE/shopping_generation.pdf 116 Beder, Sharon; Varney, Wendy; and Richard Gosden. “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood.” New York: Pluto P., 2009. P. 29. 117 Beder, Sharon; Varney, Wendy; and Richard Gosden. “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood.” New York: Pluto P., 2009. P.29. 118 Beder, Sharon; Varney, Wendy; and Richard Gosden. “This Little Kiddy Went to Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood.” New York: Pluto P., 2009. P. 36. 119 Bennett, Jessica. “Generation Diva: How our obsession with beauty is changing our kids.” Newsweek. March 30, 2009. http://www.newsweek.com/id/191247 120 Bennett, Jessica. “Generation Diva: How our obsession with beauty is changing our kids.” Newsweek. March 30, 2009. http://www.newsweek.com/id/191247; Diane E. Levine, and Jean Kilbourne. “So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and
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