I have not seen the garment described as a padded bra or bikini top for girls as young as 7 or 8 which has recently been withdrawn from sale by Primark following complaints about sexualisation, so in that sense I have no right to comment. But I do want to say that two piece swimsuits for girls of this age are not in themselves anything to object to, & that padding may, in fact, be a protection against unwelcome sexual interest.
I speak as someone who has the kind of ‘neat’ figure which could get away with doing a Carla Bruni according to the criteria laid down by Sarah Vine in The Times. But, for public appearances I do usually wear a bra, for modesty’s sake, & of the type that used to be called padded but is now usually called a t-shirt bra.
The reason quite simply is nipples. And these days girls as young as 7 may, increasingly, have something to be self-conscious about in this department. I remember the agony of wearing a thin taffeta swimsuit – ruched for modesty, but only too revealing once wet – when I was at that stage. So I can sympathise with any young girl who wants to be decently covered up; if the style is otherwise deemed too provocative that is just a general reflection of what is fashionable these days.
What is more I get irritated by how difficult it is to find a decent swim suit in an ordinary high street store when grown women are supposed to have all-over skin like a baby. Shurely some confusion over what constitutes paedophiliac taste here?
I speak as someone who has the kind of ‘neat’ figure which could get away with doing a Carla Bruni according to the criteria laid down by Sarah Vine in The Times. But, for public appearances I do usually wear a bra, for modesty’s sake, & of the type that used to be called padded but is now usually called a t-shirt bra.
The reason quite simply is nipples. And these days girls as young as 7 may, increasingly, have something to be self-conscious about in this department. I remember the agony of wearing a thin taffeta swimsuit – ruched for modesty, but only too revealing once wet – when I was at that stage. So I can sympathise with any young girl who wants to be decently covered up; if the style is otherwise deemed too provocative that is just a general reflection of what is fashionable these days.
What is more I get irritated by how difficult it is to find a decent swim suit in an ordinary high street store when grown women are supposed to have all-over skin like a baby. Shurely some confusion over what constitutes paedophiliac taste here?
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