Sign of a sick society?

As I wrote in my previous piece, “The socially “acceptable” face of paedophilia“, society appears to becoming more and more tolerant of legitimised forms of exploitation – often sexualised – of our young children.At the very least, business interests – with complicit parents – are pushing boundaries of social norms.

This latest example should make our stomachs churn…

Australia’s News Ltd reported yesterday that the images of Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau have child advocacy campaigners furious that a girl so young should be displaying the sexual allure of an individual twice her age.

The French girl – who has graced the cover of Vogue Enfants and is tipped as the next big thing on the fashion scene – has already been compared with 60s siren Brigitte Bardot, who appeared in Elle at the age of 15.

But News Ltd reported that these latest images, complete with heavy make-up and stiletto heels, which appear in French magazine Cadeaux, “brought the issue to a head”.

News Ltd said they followed a British Government move to enforce restrictions on the sexualisation of children in the media and sexual content in advertising.

A spokeswoman for the UK Mothers’ Union was reported as saying the organisation had “grave concerns about the modelling agency who represent Blondeau, which clearly does not know if it represents a child or an adult. Photo shoots requiring her, a 10-year-old-girl, to dress in full make-up, teetering heels and a dress with a cleavage cut to the waist across her pre-pubescent body deny Blondeau the right to be the child she is”, the spokeswoman said.

A British survey recently revealed 88 per cent of parents agreed that children were under pressure to grow up too quickly, with 58 per cent blaming celebrity culture. Dr Emma Gray, a consultant clinical psychologist, said the pictures were the antithesis of what childhood in our society should be.

“If children are to develop into happy, grounded and psychologically balanced people, their childhood needs to be spent appropriately preparing for the demands of the adult world,” she said.

The questions begs to be asked; Why on Earth would anyone think that displaying a ten year old girl in a sexualised setting is appropriate?

What is the thinking of parents who would condone their children to be used in such a manner?

And the question that should disturb us the most; what is next? Partial nudity? Full nudity?

This is not about being a prude – I’m fairly broad-minded when it comes to consenting adults expressing their own sexuality and meeting their needs.

But children are neither adults, nor capable of giving informed consent. This is child exploitation that is not much different to child sweat shops in Third World/Developing countries; child pornography; or trafficking in under-age sex slaves.

Enough is enough. This has no place in a civilised society.