from: Sarah
This picture is one I took of my 6 year old niece. I asked her to dress up and pose for a picture, and this is what she came up with! It defiantly represents the early stimulus of children. She, Opal, is only 6 years old and already poses like a model in magazines. I loved that Opal immediately picked up her mothers cell phone and put on her shoes, showing her want to be older and like mommy. The fact that she asked me to put the towel on her head, at first startled me. Then, when I asked Opal why, she immediately said "Because it makes me hair look longer, I want longer hair just like Hannah Montana!" Duh! Completely startled by this Hannah Montana character and how much Opal seemed to imitate her, I looked her up. The long blonde hair, the
"perfect" life, what more could a child want? I realized that even at such an early age, Opal was learning that stereotype of what a "pretty" girl looks like. The reason for including the childish "mess" in the background, stickers of Barbie and a coloring book, was to show the still immature and young soul of this seemingly model 6 year old. Also, the underwear I had her put on was childish, to show the still young side of this so-called mature little lady. Opal was a great sport and loved to pose for these "fun" pictures, what she said was cool, like America's Next Top Model. So young, yet so knowledgeable to what is going on in, what should be, the adult world.
6 comments:
This is a picture very similar to the one I took of a little girl, posing like she’s an adult. It amazes me to see young children acting as if they are someone older or someone they wish to be. A little girl I took a picture of is about 6 and dressed up in a dress, heals, a hat, gloves and had a purse. She stood just like a model would. Where do children see this? Is it what their parents watch when the child is around and kids catch on to it so quickly? I don’t remember doing things like this when I was a child. I remember playing dress up but more like characters, such as a genie or something. I wish I could remember what captured my eye and got me to want to dress like that. I guess it’s just a little girls dream to be pretty and take after their mommies and role models.
I have been seeing a trend thruogh out alot of these pictures and it is seen through boys and girls. It seems that there is one central image that both are trying to achieve at any age. Like this picture of the 6 year old she knows what America's Next Top Model is. The way that she is posing, and to hold her mothers cell phone. How did a 6 year old learn to pose like that? As well as this central image like the long hair to look like Hannah Montanna, the child wants to be older like her mother, even though she is only 6. My picture was almost like this, kind of like that seeking a role model and potraying there looks and every move to be just like them. I found it intresting that children even this young know about the culture and central body image.
How scary is this? I have a daughter of almost the same age and I know exactly what this picture is saying at first glance. I have heard comments from children this age saying that they need to be skinny because the girls on TV are skinny. What makes it worse is that we really cannot protect our little girls from being bombarded by all of the things that make them feel this way. I used to wonder how children this young began to exhibit behavior beyond their years but then I took notice to things they were exposed to such as movies, toys and worse yet....adults.
As I looked at this picture, I couldn’t help but notice how familiar it all seemed. The hair wrapped in a towel, the high heels, and the coy expression; all reminded me of a similar picture taken of me at 6 years old. I think if most girls looked through old pictures from their childhood, they’d find the same thing. How many of us dressed up in our mother’s clothes and shoes only to find encouragement along the way. Waddling into the kitchen in lingerie and high heels, all I remember is my mother laughing and saying how cute I was. Are our mothers just standing by? Is it really just child’s play?! It’s scary to think that a child could come up such a pose. In your picture, the little girl is posing topless. It’s a scary thought isn’t it; sexuality is exposed to child as young as that. I can’t help but wonder where she learned to model this. The media, her mother, her sister, who? Better yet, I can’t help but wonder what kind of image as a woman am I sending out to young girls.
I thought this picture was a hilariously awesome portrayal of how younger kids today strive to be so much older then they really are. I couldn't help remembering all of the times I would prance around in my mothers clothes and shoes. It's was really creative to have her posing sexually without any clothes on... It really does show that young kids, even at the age of 6, are trying to be "sexy" for the camera. Its proof that in todays society this is considered okay when in fact it's not at all.
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