I may offend

Recently went to the aquatic center here in Ames and I was saddened.  I'm not going to beat around the bush.  The number of 8-17 year olds that I saw wearing string bikinis was appalling.  I couldn't believe that these little girls who either didn't have any curves or were just developing were wearing hardly anything.  It only made them look 5 years older...ONLY?  I was super bummed out.


When I was 13, my mom allowed me to wear a two piece swimsuit but it was modest.  No bikini for me at that age.  I know that it looks cute to dress your daughter up in clothes that make her look like a little woman but let's be honest about who's looking at them.  It would be peaches if the average age that someone was exposed to porn wasn't 11 years old.  It would be awesome if the USA didn't have the highest rate of pornographic movies produced.  It would be super if the average age of the viewing audience of porn wasn't men ages 35-48.  It would be great if there weren't over 7 million people searching for teen porn every day.  Wouldn't it be relieving if 34% of teen girls didn't feel pressured to send sexually suggestive content via text or social media to feel "sexy".  It would be a wonderful world if there weren't over 100,000 girls 9-19 years old abducted and sold into sex trafficking. 


Sadly, these are real statistics.  Next time you think your 10 year old is just a 10 year old and it's cute to see her in a string bikini, think again.  It's cute to you but to some, she looks like a 15 year old and is seen as a sexual person.  

I'm not judging anyone but I do caution you to dress your daughter in more age appropriate clothing and watch out for what she puts on the internet.  Here are some really cute, appropriate swimsuits.  They're out there, but maybe just not at Target or other popular places.  It's worth the time to look though.  You're daughter is worth it.