The exploitation of children, ANY exploitation of children in reprehensible. It offends the senses of most and yet, we allow it to seep into our culture bit by bit with nothing more than a raised eyebrow. The January/February issue of French Vogue has crossed a boundary that should never have been approached.
The models are slender, overly made up and photographed in provocative poses. What's new about that you ask? Nothing, except that these models range in age from 6 - 7 years old. I will not post the pictures on my blog. If you want to see them in order to put my post in perspective, you can see them here.
I can't even begin to fathom the reasons a parent would allow this to happen to their child...I'm afraid the thought renders me speechless. But, then again, I am one of THOSE people who have issues with young girls out and about in short shorts with phrases printed on their backsides. What are those who are supposed to be the guardians of their childhoods thinking?
Exploitation robs, not the perpetrator but the child. It robs them of innocence, of a sense of protection and safety, of trust. All the while inflicting on them a sense of guilt, of fault, of failure. It can and does shape their lives and may even destroy it. Exploitation teaches them to live with an internal pain so deep and so hurtful that it may never be exorcised.
Those things which destroy a child, destroys humanity itself. If we love our children we must do all we can to protect them...this is just the first step.
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