A Charles Sturt University (CSU) academic says the release of web-based videos of child models for a brand of clothing targeting ‘tweens’ (aged between child and teenager) has surprised child protection and child health advocates with what they consider to be ‘a new low in the history of advertising in Australia’.

 

Dr Emma Rush, a lecturer in philosophy and ethics at the CSU School of Humanities and Social Sciences in Wagga Wagga, said leaders in child health, wellbeing and safety have condemned this new form of advertising material as the two videos, one for each girl (aged 11 and 12 years) for the Witchery clothing brand, are eerily similar to  material produced in Japan which culminates in children undressing to their underwear.

 

“This is not a direction we should be heading,” Dr Rush said. “There is no context for the girl, who is shown performing alone against a white wall for the camera, pouting and smiling, twisting and turning to display her body and face in the same way that adult women perform for adult men in a romantically intimate context. This is not selling clothes; it’s selling pre-teen girls.

 

“The sexualisation of children is widely condemned in the Australian community, yet the commercial sector continues to ignore concerns from parents and professionals working with children. The retailers, marketers, and advertisers need to recognise that the myth of the seductive child is used to hide the reality of the abusive adult.

 

“Paedophiles want to believe that their abusive desires are normal and socially acceptable, and this kind of ‘Lolita’ advertising plays right into what they want to hear. What some people will see as subtle or unobjectionable in this material will be read by paedophiles as validating their actions. Child sexual abuse affects a minority of children, but for those it does affect, the consequences are devastating and take years and even decades to heal.”

 

Dr Rush said while it is unpleasant to think about paedophilia in the community, we are obliged to think about it because children’s safety is at stake. She notes that when paedophiles are apprehended, children’s clothing catalogues have been found among their collections of images.

 

“Of equal concern are child development issues, most obviously regarding body dissatisfaction, which is associated with anxiety, depression and eating disorders, which affect all children at some level. Body dissatisfaction is the one issue most parents know about, as it is now commonly found in children as young as six-years-old, and affects boys and girls who both want to be ‘thin and muscular’; in 2006, it affected about 20 per cent of six-year-olds, and it might be worse now. Other developmental concerns are reduced cognitive and physical performance associated with self-objectification, and gender stereotyping,” Dr Rush said.

 

Others in the broader child health and wellbeing community who have noted their concern about the Witchery videos include: Dr Caroline Norma, lecturer in the School of Global Studies, Social Science and Planning at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT); national leaders in the prevention of child abuse, Dr Joe Tucci, from the Australian Childhood Foundation, and Ms Bernadette McMenamin, AO, from Childwise; Ms Barbara Biggins, Australian Council on Children and the Media;  Mr Steve Biddulph, best-selling parenting author; Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, child and adolescent psychologist; and Dr Ramesh Manocha, Generation Next.