What age for bikini - Page 5

[The4OfUs]

Originally Posted by pigpokey 

You guys may or may not have seen the new "microbutt" trend in swim team practice suits, OMG.  But they are becoming the new normal.  At least the girls are working out hard in them.

I'm almost afraid to ask, but the curiosity is killing me....what exactly does this trend involve?  "Microbutt swimsuit" was not a productive search, so I tried googling so pictures for "swim team suits 2012" but came up empty.  I'm cringing as I ask:  What exactly is a microbutt?  I have many images in my head, and I'm not sure which one may be correct.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by pigpokey 

You guys may or may not have seen the new "microbutt" trend in swim team practice suits, OMG.  But they are becoming the new normal.  At least the girls are working out hard in them.

ok you cant put microbutt and OMG next to each other and not give more info!!!!

what is IT? i am dying to know. i even did a quick search on gooogle. 

i have to say i like the design of this angelina jolie's bikini just coz its different but then again - emphasising the impossible body http://freenewfashiondesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/celebrity-bikini-fashion-trend.jpg

[The4OfUs]

I think that's Lindsay Lohan; that is a GREAT suit.  I've got no beef with adult women wearing bikinis if that's what they want.  Showing off your bod in a sexy suit is your perogrative, and if you've got it, flaunt it!  My point is that prepubescent girls don't "got it" quite yet, so flaunting "it" is not something I think is a great idea. 

[pigpokey]

Apparently the actual phrase is not microbutt but "minimalist training suit" or minimalist workout suit.  

[The4OfUs]

YOWZA!  I can't believe those stay put.  Technology is amazing.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by The4OfUs 
 My point is that prepubescent girls don't "got it" quite yet, so flaunting "it" is not something I think is a great idea. 

see but that's not what they are doing. they are not flaunting it. its just something they like to wear, just like strawberry icecream is their favourite flavor.

so when we see a 4 year old in a bikini why do we think of 'got it' and flaunting - ya know. WE might be thinking it, but THEY are not. 

to me its all in the mind. perceptions. 

a 4 year old wants to wear a bikini. to me its the same as asking for strawberry icecream or a barbie doll or a purse. she wants it - i get it. and she is done in her own time. or that is not your family philosophy. so no - no bikini. 

dunno i feel sometimes (at least in my case) i have too much time on my hands and make mountain out of molehills. esp. looking back as my dd grows older i find i so worried and wasted time over little things that certainly werent worth the weight i put on them. 

and hey you are right. no tattoos. that's Lohan for sure. 

[Peony]

Originally Posted by meemee 

see but that's not what they are doing. they are not flaunting it. its just something they like to wear, just like strawberry icecream is their favourite flavor.

so when we see a 4 year old in a bikini why do we think of 'got it' and flaunting - ya know. WE might be thinking it, but THEY are not. 

to me its all in the mind. perceptions. 

a 4 year old wants to wear a bikini. to me its the same as asking for strawberry icecream or a barbie doll or a purse. she wants it - i get it. and she is done in her own time. or that is not your family philosophy. so no - no bikini. 

dunno i feel sometimes (at least in my case) i have too much time on my hands and make mountain out of molehills. esp. looking back as my dd grows older i find i so worried and wasted time over little things that certainly werent worth the weight i put on them. 

and hey you are right. no tattoos. that's Lohan for sure. 

Exactly!!!!! We are pushing our adult notions on to them. A 4 or 6 or 10 year old does not have any concept of flaunting it, now a 16 year old is probably trying to. In this day and age a pedifile has more resources at the tips of his fingers then staking out the local pool. Not to say it doesn't happen. It my mind, it almost seems that we are just feeding into the phenomenon that a woman or girl here, is asking for trouble based on what she is wearing. 

[serenbat]

so when we see a 4 year old in a bikini why do we think of 'got it' and flaunting - ya know. WE might be thinking it, but THEY are not. 

the 4 year old looks at her mom in the bikini and wants that just like she wants a purse like mom's- and even if mom doesn't wear one some even look at other moms that do and want to be like those moms 

[Sharlla]

dd's first swim suit is a bikini.

 

[MrsBone]

The only problem I see with it is that so much of the skin is exposed to the UV rays, and so much sunscreen has chemicals, that I'd rather my kids be covered with swim clothes than sunscreen. I buy natural sunscreen, and honestly its much easier to put swim clothes and a little sunscreen on than having to slather sunscreen all over their body. I want to teach the importance of safety in the sun and until they're old enough to make their own decision about it, they will be as covered as possible! I don't want peer pressure to have a say in what swim attire my daughter wears. I'm not saying yours does but I'm sure she's seen other girls in bikinis and that's probably why she wants to wear them.

[SunRise]

I was at a small beach the other day, perhaps 15+ people. I took note of what the kids were wearing.

Besides my niece who is 8 (and wearing a "bikini" - bikini bottoms with a top that covered her entire front (triangle top/top, skirted bottom), and ties in the back), my 2 year old (in a sun suit / bikini) and my 9 year old son, swim trunks & bare chested (someone above thought a bikini exposes lots of skin, but so do boys trunks, even though they are long, the upper half is all bare) and a bunch of other younger kids and a couple other girls approximately 10-12, in various types of bikinis.  Not one child was strutting or being flirtatious or posing / being sexy. They were a bunch of kids having fun in the sun, frolicking in the sand, running up and down the beach, playing in the water and not giving particular attention to anyone else.

[meemee]

Originally Posted by Sharlla 

dd's first swim suit is a bikini.

oh Sharla what a BEAUTIFUL picture. i dont even see the bikini. i see a child having so much FUN. what a joy to see. 

[One_Girl]

Originally Posted by The4OfUs 

I think that's Lindsay Lohan; that is a GREAT suit.  I've got no beef with adult women wearing bikinis if that's what they want.  Showing off your bod in a sexy suit is your perogrative, and if you've got it, flaunt it!  My point is that prepubescent girls don't "got it" quite yet, so flaunting "it" is not something I think is a great idea. 

I don't think prepubescent girls are thinking about flaunting anything, they are thinking about having a neat suit they like and many other people, young and old, also wear. I just realized that my dd's tankini top is one that has a "adult" cut at the top but it isn't anything that concerns me and it hasn't made her act differently. I think a bikini, will be the same once she gets one and I don't think it will make a difference in how she acts or sees herself. It may change how some parents see her but around here she is late coming into possession of a bikini so it shouldn't be an issue.

I agree with the many posters who have pointed out that the adult ideas we have about bikinis aren't the same as the ideas the children wearing bikinis have. I am glad this discussion is taking place because it has helped me work through my worry about my dd wanting a bikini.

[bri276]

With DD1 I was against it because I thought it was part of the early sexualization of children in our society.  But with DD2...I just didn't feel that way any more, and bought a cute bikini for her when she was just 9 months old.  I still wouldn't buy one that said JUICY on the butt, though!

It's really a lot easier to change diapers on a squiggly baby that way.

HOWEVER- if they're really going to get a lot of sun, I try to have them in rash guards for sun protection.  Most of the ones we have are two piece, like a t-shirt and full butt coverage bottoms. 

[The4OfUs]

I am apparently not conveying myself well.  I am not in any way implying that little girls who wear bikinis are flaunting anything, nor thinking about it; that teenagers or women who wear bikinis are "looking for trouble", or that there is anything wrong with bikinis in general.  I think the human body is an amazing, beautiful thing and that bikinis can look killer when the right suit on the right person.  We go to no great lengths to cover up in our house when transitioning from showers to dressed, so we are not button-ed up totally modest people over here, either.

My problems are that clothing manufacturers and fashion industry are marketing "sex sells" younger and younger to girls in every season of clothing, in dolls, in all other forms of media/advertising, while boys are being covered up by looser and bigger clothes (but also being programmed that girls should be wearing much less than they are). Sometimes it's subtle, sometimes it's blatant.  I don't like the message it sends, period. 

A boy's torso may be exposed when he's wearing just board shorts, but he is completely covered from his waist to his knees in billowy fabric.....not in a pair of tight, small underwear and no top.  Huge difference. 

Again:  If *everyone* was dressing this way, in shorter, tighter clothes ( a la the 70s, 80s), then it wouldn't be as big of a deal to me. When I look at pictures of me as a kid, all of us were wearing shorts that were mid thigh and snug, fitted tshirts, tube socks; boys and girls.  I cannot find a pair of shorts for my son in a local storefront that is above bermuda length or are fitted, but 75%+ of the shorts for my daughter at the same stores don't even approach mid-thigh and are very snug.  I can find bermudas for her, but even those are snug.  THIS is the problem I have with clothing in general, and it extends to bikinis.  Not that little girls think they're flaunting anything, but that girls are expected to have that as a choice of normal, but boys aren't.  I hate it.

[meemee]

so heather what you are saying is you dont like the genderization of the clothes that are happening now right?

like if boys are loose and flowy so should girls be that way. 

so there should be bermudas loose that are in pink and blue right?!!!

i think you bring up a very good point about blending in. what if everyone is wearning a bikini but your child wears a one piece? clothes is one area people DO tease. 

[The4OfUs]

I don't think there's any real "should be", that's the point.  I don't think all girls should be wearing coulottes and all boys should be wearing short shorts.  I just don't like the expectation/implication that having one gender of children's clothing being mostly small/short and snug, and the other's mostly big/long and loose brings about.  What is the message being sent?  Not one that I like or agree with. 

[serenbat]

 What is the message being sent?  

that the majority do not feel like you do

it's a consumer driven market and it sells- at my local Target there were no bikinis even left for young girls- only a few one piece outfits

children's clothing reflects adults and their desires- if the demand wasn't there neither would the items

we don't desire (as a society) to see larger woman in covered up bathing suits- what sells is the opposite and men don't seem to be getting thinner and wanting to have smaller suits so you won't see thin types for young boy

majority dictates fashion 

you may not like the message but it won't change unless the majority change their mindset 

[The4OfUs]

I fully realize that I'm in the minority, but it doesn't stop me from getting irked about it.  ;)

[meemee]

Originally Posted by The4OfUs 

I fully realize that I'm in the minority, but it doesn't stop me from getting irked about it.  ;)

hey i dont mind you being irked about it. what i would like to do is understand your point of view. it helps me understand how i look at it.

but hasnt the disparity in clothing always been there? historically? except for the 80s 90s (however i wont say i really know about fashions in the last 100 years). i'm thinking of the typical 1800s fashion and those before where men wore tight clothes and women wore loose gowns with corsets inside. i mean werent there a disparity in clothes most of the times with genders?

on another level hasnt the demand always been there? when i was growing up there were no bikinis or even bras for 3 4 year olds. so what i had to do was wear my moms bra and stuff them. however dd didnt have to do that because she had her own bra at 3 that she was sooooo proud of. she never had to wear mine the way i wore my mom's. 

but yes i totally agree with the capitalist consumption. the whole make your money while you can. if there is a desire fulfill it. if there is none then create it.

the way the bikini irks you, its the bottle of pasta sauce that irks me the most. get people more addicted to processed food. make it easier to eat- harp on no cooking but spending time with your family - so no one needs to eat whole foods and thus the corporations can make money.  so why grow a great tasty tomato that you cant make money on - make pasta or pizza sauce. 

i guess what i am discovering Heather is that the bikini irks you, but its the food industry that irks me. because most of america does not cook anymore. they just assemble - which they call cooking. and one day that's going to cost us a great deal. which it already does.