Until this year, buying Cassidy a swimsuit has always been fun. I've always enjoyed finding her the perfect suit for our pool or beach excursion; from palm trees to little red ruffles, green and white stripes to a 70s throwback "love" theme, her suits have always been adorable and age-appropriate.
Sadly, leaving the toddler section, which runs to 5T, brought about a whole new world in swimsuit-selecting. After searching all over the Capital District and online for a suit that properly suits my 6 year-old - and doesn't cost $40 - and finding too-slim pickings at Target, Walmart, Children's Place, Macy's, JCPenney's, Boscov's and Sears, I have decided upon several requirements when selecting a suit for my child. It must:
1. Be a one-piece. While tankinis might be okay for adolescents and bikinis might look fine on college-aged women, I cannot think of any reason that my child's midriff needs to be showing. She's 6.
2. Have no V-neck. Similar to my reasoning behind my first requirement, I see no reason why my child needs a plunging neckline to accentuate her chest. I want no attention drawn to anywhere other than her sweet smile and contageous giggle as she's splashing in the pool. She's 6.
3. Not be gaudy. I'd like to teach my child something about tastefullness, and prefer to see her in something floral, summer-themed, or with a tasteful color pattern. That means I will not buy a suit with any references to BFFs or cheap-looking images of fake chains or diamonds, not to mention skulls and crossbones. She's 6.
Call me prude or uptight, but I am really sick of seeing young girls marketed to as though they are preteens, preteens marketed to as though they are teenagers, and teenagers marketed to as though they are mens' playthings. Such irresponsible marketing extends to boys too, but with one daughter and another on the way, I am feeling more susceptible to it than others. I'm really sick of walking by Abercrombie and seeing a 10-foot square poster of a very young teenage girl with so much skin showing that I feel yucky having seen the ad (not to mention choking on cologne fumes as I pass by). I'm really sick of seeing my 12 year-old students wear shorts so short that the bottom of their buttocks shows. I'm really sick of walking by the PINK part of the Victoria's Secret store seeing preteens shopping for pushup bras with cute polkadots covering the barely-there cups.
Whatever happened to teaching our children about decency and classiness? Why in our society are qualities like self-respect and modesty considered old-fashioned?
I would like my daughters to grow up viewing their bodies as so special and important that they find value in looking feminine without revealing their skin and curves to the general public. I would like them to have the courage to cover up in a way that brings them and their family honor and respect.
All of those lessons will come, I hope, from open and honest conversations as they get older and by setting an example for them myself. I have set the stage for these discussions by refusing to buy into the sexy six year-old image. For now, I would just like Cassidy to be a kid. After all, she's 6.
