How young is too young?

Have you guys seen all the controversy going on about Victoria's Secret lately?

Supposedly, they were going to come out with a new line called 'Bright Young Things' that was targeted at tweens and early teens. It sounded like it was going to be very similar to the PINK line, with underwear that had sayings like 'call me' and 'feeling lucky?'.

But now, within the past day or so, it seems like Victoria's Secret is backtracking, saying that the 'Bright Young Things' was supposed to be just a slogan for the PINK line, and that it was never going to be it's own line for young girls. 

So who knows where the truth really is...I tried to research it a little bit, but there's so much 'he said, she said' coming from VS, and outraged parents, and everyone else that has an opinion, that I'm not really sure what's true or not.

But either way, it got me thinking. How young is just too young for Victoria's Secret?

I have to admit, when I first heard about it, I was a little bothered. I mean, I know that the 12 to 16-year-old age group is a huge market, and lots of companies want to target them and  get them to spend their money. But do we really want to encourage girls at such a young age to go out and wear lingerie? I mean, a VS executive talks about knowing that girls at that age just want to be like older (college-aged) girls, and that's what they're trying to provide them. But I think there is a HUGE difference between a 14 and 19-year-old...

The Victoria's Secret PINK Facebook page still says they are targeted at college girls...but it's pretty clear that the line is popular among much younger girls.

Anyways, all of this got me thinking about some of the too suggestive stuff that I remember when I was in middle school and high school. I know we all remember some of the super-suggestive shirts that places like Abercrombie had. 

I remember any time I shopped there, or even at Hollister, my mom would make me run everything by her to make sure it wasn't inappropriate...even while I was in high school. And I don't think I ever bought any shorts from A&F...I mean, they barely had any material to them, they were so small!

And who can forget the trend that happened when I was in middle school that involved  girls pulling their thong out of their pants?? Remember the ones that had butterflies or whatever on the back and people would hang them out? Um, ew. 

Remember when this was trendy?

I remember being at the mall, and seeing girls very close to my own age walking around with their thongs hanging out. Even at that age, I was appalled by that and thankfully had no desire to be a part of that trend.

I know that there have always been stores or trends that were offering (what I feel are) inappropriate items for a certain age group, and that's not going to change. Victoria's Secret is no different than any of these other brands. And I admit, I probably started shopping at VS during high school. For the most part, I don't think there's anything wrong with shopping there at 16 or 17. But I know that at that age, and even still to this day, I don't buy some of the more suggestive stuff. I don't think I've ever owned a pair of underwear that had writing on it until this year. I never owned a pair of those shorts that said 'juicy' across the butt, either. I think the first (and only) pair of underwear I have ever had that had words on them, are ones that I just bought this year that say 'I <3 boyfriend.="" my="" p="">

Anyways, I know this post was all over the place, but I just wanted to see how others felt about this. I don't think that there's any completely right or wrong opinion about this issue. I understand VS marketing towards younger people...they have money to spend, and VS is a business. But I also understand parents being upset. I can imagine it's hard enough as it is to raise kids in our society. We are so saturated with 'sexiness' everywhere you turn..how do you shield young girls from that, without making them feel like they're uncool? 

I think that's the main thing that bothers me about this issue. I remember wanting to wear more A&F clothes when I was younger, because everyone else was wearing it, but I wasn't allowed to. How do you keep young girls from wanting to be too sexy for their age when that is what's popular? How does it affect their self-esteem and their social interactions with other kids when they aren't allowed to partake in these trends? I know there's no easy answer to these questions, and each family has to find the right balance for what they're ok with, and what's taking it too far. I'm just thankful that it's not something I have to deal with, because I would be lost!