NWO marketing slutty Halloween costumes to 8 year old girls

my local nwo news laughed it off as no big deal, get with the times type deal. this is the future for your young ones. protitutes for old fat elite, get used to it, cause it's only going to get much worse from here. and you know how it is, the kids are so brainwashed nowadays, you're in the store your kid wants the slutty costume, you say no, she throws a temper tantrum, whines and cries puts a guilt trip on you until eventually they get their way. nwo trained.

Skimpy costumes for young girls called reflection of culture

Katie Dean — 10/30/2007 10:15 am

With provocative names like "Major Flirt" and "Miss Behaved," skimpy costumes for girls are becoming the norm in the aisles of Halloween stores.

These two costumes -- an army major in a short camouflage dress, and a convict in a striped dress with jeweled pink handcuffs -- are among many Halloween outfits available to girls as young as age 4.

Even basic pirate costumes have morphed into get-ups like "High Seas Hottie," "Pirate Cutie" or "Ruby, the Pirate Beauty."

The pre-packaged outfits are advertised with girls modeling clothes like fishnet leggings, crop tops, miniskirts, lace-up bodices, glovelettes and chokers. Some costumes are available -- virtually unchanged, except for the size -- in adult "sexy" versions, too.

Observers say the trend is a disturbing consequence of how women are portrayed in popular culture.

Girls want to imitate the stars, said Erica Eaton, 20, who was shopping for a hippie wig at Halloween Express on Odana Road recently, and that means copying scantily-clad and heavily photographed celebrities like Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Christina Aguilera.

"I think it sends the wrong message, with body image and stuff like that," Eaton said of the sexy preteen costumes.

Joan Loza, manager of Halloween USA at Whitney Square said she was surprised at how well they sell.

"Some of it, in my opinion, is a little shocking," she said, but added: "It's parents' discretion."

Many parents shopping for costumes with their daughters have noticed the trend, and found it disconcerting.

Browsing the Wal-Mart costume department recently, Cerise Massey of Waunakee said costumes worn by her two daughters "have to be Mom-approved or we don't buy them."

"There's nothing sexy she gets to wear. She's 11," Massy said, referring to her oldest daughter, Melanie.

But after combing through multiple Halloween stores, many of the costumes she's seen are exactly that style.

"A lot of things are very dark or too sexy for girls," Massey said. "For girls her age (referring to Gabby, 9), you either have your princesses or your Bratz outfits."

Massey said a lot of the Bratz outfits (based on the popular dolls) she found were two pieces, and showed off a girl's midriff. The one-piece Bratz outfit she found was a cheerleader costume, but the store didn't have Gabby's size.

Girls shouldn't be showing off that part of their body at this age, Massey said. "They have enough influences on them making them grow up faster than they should."

Sexy costumes for teenage girls are even more popular, Loza said. "Across the board, teenage girls are dressing a little more risque. It loosens up a bit with every generation."

At the Spirit Halloween superstore on Odana Road, the "Storybook Dorothy" teen costume from the Wizard of Oz features a skimpy blue and white checked dress cut high above the knee, a length that would have made Judy Garland blush. The outfit is paired with white thigh-highs. The same outfit is advertised on the store's Web site, which doesn't try to hide its sex appeal:

"Flaunt, flirt, and follow the Yellow Brick Road to this adorable Dorothy costume! Straight out of a sexy storybook, this classic girls costume comes with baby blue peasant top minidress with lace-up bodice and lace trim -- everything you need to travel the land of Oz in sweet teen style."

For the Little Red Riding Hood outfit, the site reads: "You'll look good enough to eat in this Storybook Riding Hood Teen Costume. A perfectly charming teen costume for the childhood fan of the Brothers Grimm."

Witch and cat costumes are also available with a sexy spin.

"A lot of the costumes I've seen are a little bit racier than what I've seen before," said Cyndi Keller, after looking around the Spirit Halloween superstore. "I'm not sure I want my daughters running around in costumes like that."

Her daughters usually make their own Halloween garb, so seeing the low-cut tops and extremely short skirts for sale was "a bit of a surprise," Keller said. "They didn't feel comfortable putting those costumes on."

The girls said they were looking for a unique outfit, but expressed reservations about their options. They were hesitant to show so much skin, and didn't end up buying anything at the store.

"It's surprising to see how many costumes are like that," said Claire, 16. "It's hard to find the right costume you feel comfortable wearing out in public."

"It's kind of disturbing and different," said Becca, 12.

The popularity of the risque young girls' and teen costumes parallels the demand for racy women's costumes. At some stores, the aisles for those clothes have the feel of a porn shop, with selections made by Playboy, among other brands.

"The sexy women's costumes sell like hotcakes," said Loza, of the Halloween USA store. "Nobody wants to be in an ugly costume any more. They're all going for the sexy nurse or Wizard Wanda."

Wizard Wanda is a sexy wizard instructor, complete with a cleavage-baring mini-dress, and based on the popularity of the Harry Potter franchise.

Lori Braun, manager of the Halloween USA store on the East side, said the costumes can be worn in various ways.

"It depends on what they're going to do with it," Braun said. "It's how you dress it up, as cutesie or sexy."

UW-Madison Sociology professor Myra Marx Ferree said portraying young girls as innocent and sweet children but sexy at the same time is part of the "Lolita-ization" of young girls.

"That's the mixed message that gets pushed" on girls, Ferree said.

Frequently in American culture, women are viewed as sex objects, but "at the same time, we're telling girls, don't have sex, let's not talk about sex education, let's not talk about responsible sex," Ferree said. "That's the ambivalence in the culture."

Revealing clothing is one part of an overall trend toward marketing to kids along strict gender lines. Browse through the toy aisles, and it's clear that pink and flowery toys are made for girls, and dark-colored, violent toys are pitched to boys. And kids are absorbing the information.

"You think kids can't figure this out? Of course they can," Ferree said.

"Leave It To Beaver-land was not as strongly color-coded and gender-marked as it is now," she said. "June Cleaver did not go out and get diapers that were marked pink or blue. Diapers were white.

"You don't need different diapers. It's not about biological differences. It's about marketing opportunities," she said.

"We've gone back to really strong gender-type divisions," Ferree said. "At the same time, we tell our girls that we really believe in equality."