Walmart launches new line of makeup specifically for 8-12 year olds (teaching, baby)
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I disagree. I think it is different from makeup that is marketed as makeup for playing with with. This is real makeup, and the purpose of selling it is to get girls into the habit of wearing makeup earlier than they do now.
It's not tied in with any preteen tv shows or movies. It is real makeup and is not toy-like in any way.
This is from the company that owns the brand:
I think parents always had an out with young girls that they could play around with makeup at home for fun but that it's socially inappropriate for little girls to wear makeup in public. I think this totally blows that argument out of the water. If it's available at Walmart - and it looks and feels like adult makeup, and let's face it - it is adult makeup - then how long before 9/10 year olds are wearing makeup as a matter of course?
You can say "pick your battles" but I don't recall having this battle available to be picked until now.
I suppose when it actually hits the shelves and people can physically see it instead of speculating off media reports, then it will be easier to classify it. It won't be in the stores until March.
However, the gift sets I see regularly are not in the toy department they are in cosmetics. At Christmas time I saw tons of them as I shopped for something for my own daughter to use as a play/starter type set since she just turned 13 and has had no prior interest whatsoever in make up.
So, I still stand by the opinion that it's no different than what I've seen before.
This goes beyond parents individually saying yes or no. I think it speaks volumes about the expectations we have of the girls in our society. In other words, here's one more way of telling them their looks matter above all else.
Yes, but you have absolutely no control over this except by using or not using your buying power. I agree that girls are being preened into adulthood way too early. My daughter really loves makeup, but it's more a dress-up thing for her. She is very naive and for her fashion choices are part of her fantasy still. She does not fashion herself after the skimpy-clothes brigade, thank goodness. And I say again it is a "pick your battles topic". There are girls in my daughter's 2nd grade class who wear bras, shave their underarms, get their hair colored, treat facial hair. Now my daughter has no clue about any of these things, and no knowledge either, so it has to be mothers who are pushing these issues. I'd much rather my daughter wear her gaudy makeup from time to time than have to deal with any of those other issues. And there are companies that manufacture lingerie for young kids, there have been threads posted here before, and it's sickening to me, although some of the little girls underwear is pretty provocative as it is.
I was the biggest tomboy ever and even I had one of those play makeup kits when I was younger. My sister and I used to plaster that stuff all over our faces (I'm sure my parents were laughing their butts off). We always thought it was for dressing up.
I don't see a problem in letting a little girl play with makeup. The problem is in bad parenting, not the makeup itself. Playing with makeup and nail polish is fun for girls. Putting a ton of makeup on your kid every day telling them they need it in order to look pretty is bad.
For the record, I don't wear makeup now, ever. Go figure!
Yes, but you have absolutely no control over this except by using or not using your buying power. I agree that girls are being preened into adulthood way too early. My daughter really loves makeup, but it's more a dress-up thing for her. She is very naive and for her fashion choices are part of her fantasy still. She does not fashion herself after the skimpy-clothes brigade, thank goodness. And I say again it is a "pick your battles topic". There are girls in my daughter's 2nd grade class who wear bras, shave their underarms, get their hair colored, treat facial hair. Now my daughter has no clue about any of these things, and no knowledge either, so it has to be mothers who are pushing these issues. I'd much rather my daughter wear her gaudy makeup from time to time than have to deal with any of those other issues. And there are companies that manufacture lingerie for young kids, there have been threads posted here before, and it's sickening to me, although some of the little girls underwear is pretty provocative as it is.
Ugh. I am glad I haven't seen this yet with third graders in my granddaughter's class.
We do address this in girl scouts, btw. There is a badge that involves this, but it is for older girls, middle schoolers, I think.
Walmart is launching a makeup line for 8-12 year old girls - supposedly to give them a lighter, more natural alternative to grown up makeup.
I think it's a truly awful idea. I can't think of any reason at all, whatsoever, that an 8 year old needs to wear makeup. Beyond playing with Mommy's lipstick during a dressup game - but buying it specifically to wear out? Or to school?
What on earth are we telling our prepubescent girls by having this stuff available and marketed to them as desirable? At that age, they are truly beautiful just as they are and why are we planting the seed that their appearance is not good enough without it? Not good enough for whom?
What are everybody's thoughts on this?
Thought on what..WalMart or makeup for little girls? WalMart is a petpeeve of mine. I swear that there is something in the air vents in that place b/c it brings out the crazy. Not only do I have to park 5 miles away b/c there are over 50 (yes, I've counted) handicap spots that take up at least 200 feet in each row, but it is a madhouse of screaming parents & beeping scooters. I go there on rare occassion now; mostly if it is the only place to find a specific item; such as an air filter for a humidifier & Home Depot doesn't carry that brand.
Some mom somewhere will feel Betsy will have low self esteem about herself if she can't wear makeup. Some mom will feel that it is fun to treat your child like a dolly for the first 16yrs. Others will see no issue.
As for WalMart...it equates publicity & profit. From their standpoint, social responsibility is not top priority as much as it is bringing in numbers to the store.
All in all, I hate WalMart & what it represents. But the makeup thing doesn't surprise me at all.
Do I think 8yo girls need makeup? Nail polish & lip gloss are no biggie. But eyeliner, mascara, and the works is a little much for a girl who is in 2nd grade. I think promoting how beautiful they are in their own skin is more vital at this age then promoting stuff to cover things up.
There is a difference between dress up makeup and makeup worn habitually by children, and from the reports, it seems that Walmart has developed a line of makeup and skin care products designed to get girls using makeup habitually at younger ages. Of course, we can choose not to buy them. And yes, we shouldn't be surprised at the lack of ethics in business, but that doesn't mean we can't call it what it is. Raise voices, raise awareness. Even if the makeup still ends up on the shelves, and it will, at least we weren't silently compliant.
Oh, and I agree about Walmart bringing out the crazy. That store reeks of stale cigarette smoke, cheap perfume, and feces. I only go if a friend drags me there.
That is recommended for a 3 year old??
Some days I am happy I have boys. Some $.79 Hot Wheel cars & they are happy campers.
At the end of the day, though, I don't think buying your daughter makeup defines how you are as a parent or determines your child's self worth for the next 30yrs. But I think how it is represented in the family unit is of more importance.
This is the issue that some people aren't getting: it's NOT toy makeup. It's real makeup with a cleansing and exfoliating product in the line that's meant to be used everyday. Their marketing strategy is to get tween girls to wear makeup and buy cleansing/routine beauty products much like adult women do. On a regular basis. The problem IS in the marketing, not just the makeup.
I think it's terribly harming to young girls' self esteem to basically tell them they NEED makeup at that age.
I have a nearly four year old girl, and one of my strategies for wearing makeup would be simply that it's for older girls/women and that if she wants to at 10/11 (not 8 I hope - jeez 8?!!) that she'd be too young and that it's not appropriate for her age.
However, now that there's going to be a full on makeup line for girls THAT AGE at the biggest retailer in the country how much water is that argument going to hold? If people think this is not going to influence them and make it sooo much harder to stop little girls wanting to grow up too soon then I think they are fooling themselves. Of course I will still say no but really - a lot of people won't and now we'll have little girls having to "put on their face" before they leave the house.
Thank you for explaining my point. It really drives me crazy when posters pick up on a single word, take it out of context, and then try to get something going.
And I'll add, if a 11 or 12 y.o. looks like a 15 or 16 y.o. because of makeup, she's likely to have to deal with advances that she is not cognitively or emotionally mature enough to deal with.
Words are important. Choose them wisely.
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