Jessica Simpson has come under fire for sharing a picture of her four-month-old daughter Maxwell dressed in a bikini.
The photo, which Jessica shared with viewers on a US talk show, has reignited an ongoing debate about the sexualisation of young children and has commentators outraged.
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Propped up by her dad and posing in a yellow two-piece, the singer’s first daughter looks undeniably cute, but the image has also attracted a tirade of criticism.
Critics took to Twitter to express their disgust in Jessica dressing her child in an outfit designed to be sexy, labelling her irresponsible and saying the picture was “inappropriate”, “disturbing”, and “wrong”.
“Why on earth is Jessica Simpson dressing her BABY in a skimpier bikini than I would ever wear!?! Note the key word; BABY. Just disturbing!!” one critic tweeted.
“Jessica Simpson posts a photo of her four-month-old baby in a BIKINI — wrong wrong wrong” said another disturbed viewer.
This criticism has been echoed by parenting groups and experts speaking out against the sexualisation of children.
Australia Institute social researcher Dr Emma Rush is an expert on child sexualisation and was shocked to learn of baby Maxwell’s bikini shot.
“Bikinis are designed to draw attention to adult’s sexual features, in particular the breasts, which a baby doesn’t have,” she told The Weekly.
“Sadly, we live in a world where horrendous things are done to children by paedophiles, so to send a message that somehow children aren’t different from adults and suggesting that children might be part of the sexual playing field is wrong.”
She highlighted many layers of concern surrounding the picture, first pointing the finger at the businesses creating and selling inappropriate clothing for babies.
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“There’s three levels to this problem. One is that bikinis are available for children that age, then there is the foolish decision of the mother to dress her daughter up that way, but more of a problem is that it’s being shared,” she said.
As to whether the image was cute was beside the point for Dr Rush.
“Of course babies are cute, but that kind of dressing up is foolish and irresponsible. It’s obviously not very thought through and sends a very mixed message.”
Your say: Is Maxwell’s bikini shot cute or just inappropriate?
