Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters Like This Analysis

Lianne George’s article “Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters Like This?” published in Maclean’s magazine (2007), details the disturbing trend of the hypersexualization of young girls in society. George’s main purpose is to express how sexuality through the media, marketing and toys influence girls in their style of clothing.

George’s work examined how the Lolita trend, along with celebrities, helped fuel young girls perception of themselves. These observations are then adhered and continued onto their adult life. As George writes, “For adult women, that notion of being kind of a girlie and innocent and sexually pure, as well as very sexy, has been in men’s magazines forever” (p.424). The article emphasized that by being exposed to sexually charged advertisement at a young age, adult women are dressing as what they deemed normal. Therefore, there are no difference between girls and women, both are being
During the late 17th century and early 18th century, children were outfitted like their adult counterparts. Mothers viewed daughters as smaller version of themselves; therefore they were formed into their mother’s image (p.425). Only during the second half of the 18th century did we see a changed where girls were dressed differently. Children were viewed as different creatures that needed more freedom and liberty. Along came the Victorian era, where girls were view as innocent, with their hair curl and outfitted with long dresses, giving the image of fragility. Now, there’s a new generation, the feminist movement. Girls were being encouraged to “be the agent of her own objectification and still be empowered” (p.427). What should have been a movement towards revolutionary changes, instead bought on a boom in porn-like culture. Girls were learning that their value was based on their worth as sex objects, partially by marketing and partially by the adults around