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I don't see this as really any different than the make up gift sets offered at Target, Walgreens, Toys R Us, Penney's and so on with High School Musical, Disney Princesses, Barbie, Dora or Hannah Montana as the theme. With the possible exception of it offering mascara as mentioned.
If parents already allow their young girls to play with or wear makeup, it just gives them one more choice to buy from. It's certainly not something new or unavailable right now.
I told my futur wife about this and she said they just opened a wal-mart in her town, of Shenyang, she will not go there and help a store promote the harming of young children by grown people because that is who would want a child of 8 to 12 years of age wearing this.
She is very upset and said that Americans should wake up and look around to find our better judgement.
by the way she is Chinese and feels very strongly about this type of thing.
I don't see this as really any different than the make up gift sets offered at Target, Walgreens, Toys R Us, Penney's and so on with High School Musical, Disney Princesses, Barbie, Dora or Hannah Montana as the theme. With the possible exception of it offering mascara as mentioned.
If parents already allow their young girls to play with or wear makeup, it just gives them one more choice to buy from. It's certainly not something new or unavailable right now.
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:
Quote:
The GeoGirl brand, owned by Pacific World may eventually become a lifestyle brand granted it will fulfill the sales projection made. “These are real cosmetics with natural ingredients that will create return purchases and create a true beauty consumer," adds Joel Carden, executive vice president, marketing and sales for Pacific World.
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.
[quote=FinsterRufus;17655600]
What on earth are we telling our prepubescent girls by having this stuff available and marketed to them as desirable? /quote]
This is a perfect time and situation to be teaching our children about marketing and advertising. I have been teaching my 8 year old daughters about product placement in grocery stores, target audiences for TV commercials and print advertisements.
The other day they decided they wanted some product they had seen advertised on one of their kiddie websites.
It turned into a great discussion of how to analyze what we read and how to avoid persuasion.
I know profit is the name of the game but we should use products like this to teach good consumerism. Of course no girl that age NEEDS makeup but believe me somebody will buy it. We need to think for ourselves and teach our children at an early age to do the same thing.
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.
Really?? Last time I check my 8-12 year old isn't allowed to buy or where anything without my permission.
By the way. The shows they watch are already marketing all this to them. My daughter watches I-carly, wizards at waverly, camp rock etc.... heck even cartoons have girls with makeup on
I don't recall any of those girls NOT wearing makeup. Why should Wal-mart be blamed for doing the same thing these shows are doing.
At the end of the day it is the parents responsibilty to allow or not allow their kids to wear makeup.
Where are they promoting this, in the toy aisle or the beauty department?
I agree that it sounds like this is different from the Hannah Montana, etc, kind of play stuff that is sold in the toy department. That stuff is sold right next to plastic tiaras, cheap plastic beads, and play shoes and is obviously meant as dress up for play time.
This new line does sound as though it's meant to get little girls into wearing real makeup at an earlier age and probably encouraging brand loyalty.
I was looking at some makeup at Target (in the cosmetics department) not too long ago that wasn't a "Hannah Montana" product by it was obiously being marketed to this age group. There's a market out there. I'm sure Walmart and Target and Disney and everybody else put mega bucks into researching this and decided they're going to make bucks.
Cheerleading, dance, gymnastics, theater, music groups/lessons is big business where I live. (Maybe it is elsewhere and I just never noticed.) And all of the 8-year olds participating wear more makeup than I do. My guess is the stuff will fly off the shelves here. (I am happy to report the 8-year olds aren't wearing it to school. But after school all the little cheerleaders look like miniature adults.)
Really?? Last time I check my 8-12 year old isn't allowed to buy or where anything without my permission.
By the way. The shows they watch are already marketing all this to them. My daughter watches I-carly, wizards at waverly, camp rock etc.... heck even cartoons have girls with makeup on
I don't recall any of those girls NOT wearing makeup. Why should Wal-mart be blamed for doing the same thing these shows are doing.
At the end of the day it is the parents responsibilty to allow or not allow their kids to wear makeup.
Obviously it's the parents decision, as I said earlier. That's not my point. My point is that it's becoming more and more socially acceptable to have 8 year olds running around in makeup - when you specifically market a makeup line to them that is made to be worn on a day to day basis in order to get them into a "beauty regimen" as the company calls it - then you are attempting to make adult consumers out of preteens and sexualizing them in the process, or at the very least sending the message that at 10 years old they are not beautiful enough to leave the house without makeup.
At my daughter's ballet school, a special meeting was held to discuss with parents what qualifies as stage makeup. Stage lights will wash children out, but a little blush, mascara, and pink on the lips does the trick. We had parents doing a full foundation, often with glitter, eye liner, bright eye-shadow, red lipstick, glitter hairspray, the whole deal. The school took a strong stand and said "they are children and they should look like children," and then parents were informed that if their girls came out of the dressing room overdone, the girls would not go on stage. The parents were the problem. The policy was always in writing, but it was being ignored.
I think 6th grade is about right for a little lip gloss, but not much more than that. Our children are already growing up way too fast. My 5th grader still only wears lip balm to prevent chapping and coverup with acne medication when she has a blemish.
Walmart's marketing choices are interesting to me. The company takes a strong stand on music and movies, but it doesn't see the moral connection when it comes to encouraging young girls to pose as older than they are. And that, IMO, is what make-up at an early age does.
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