Maybe this is what bothers people the most about the Miley Cyrus shoot: That it's less about exploitation, and more about robbery. Why take a girl's youth away from her earlier than is necessary? (And is it ever really "necessary"?) Also, what's the difference between Vanity Fair and the execs at Disney who trot kids like Cyrus around in order to fill their corporate coffers? I can't really find one right now.

The Miley Cyrus Message, in the Eyes of Schoolgirls [NYT]

Earlier: •Bikini Waxes, Highlights & 'Tramp Stamps': That's What Little Girls Are Made Of
•How Many 8-Year-Olds Have To Get Bikini Waxes Before We All Agree The Terrorists Have Won?

Is Mr. Goodman horrified by this emerging trend? Hell to the no! "I tell stylists to get more involved in school and community events to reach out to these younger girls. They may not want to think in those terms, but these girls are our future business." Barf.

Ouidad, who owns a Manhattan salon where she is also a stylist, says:

"These girls want flexibility to imitate the styles of their idols, and they need it to look right. Girls as young as 10 come in with little support groups of friends who wait with them hours. And when I turn them into Hannah Montana or whoever they want, they literally jump and cry and scream... I wonder what message we are sending the girls."

As for the mothers? They're basically enablers. Says Jane Ordway of New York, "Originally, we went to the salon because [12-year-old daughter] Olivia wanted me to have my hair colored to cover the gray, which I did. But then it turned out she wanted a highlight herself. She does have a really good fashion sense and some of her friends have done it, and I felt we were in the right place to have it done well so I let her." Wait, what? They were at the salon to begin with because the daughter told the mother to get rid of her grays? Fuck. It's not about the parents any more. This nation's youth cannot be saved. When you can buy a tramp stamp for your toddler, you know the end is nigh.

A Girl's Life, With Highlights [NY Times]
Lower Back Tattoos for Your Toddler [Babble]
Earlier: Why Let A Girl Play When She Can Be Made Over Like JonBenet?
How Many 8-Year-Olds Have To Get Bikini Waxes Before We All Agree The Terrorists Have Won?

CosmoGIRL! Prom:
CosmoGIRL! Prom wants teen girls to know that it's okay if they're not a size 00. At least, that's the message I got from the fact that the best-dresses-for-curvy-girls spread "Calling All Curves" was placed right next to an undergarments package "Undercover Agents."

Take Away: CosmoGIRL! Prom thinks all girls who are more than 80 lbs. are whores with bad taste.

Teen Vogue:
Despite a Cover Lie announcing that prom stories are within, there is (thankfully) very little actual prom content in the pages of Teen Vogue. There is, however, a young Upper East Side high schooler who is having Zac Posen custom-design her prom dress. (For those who can't have a designer make them dress, the magazine also offers helpful hints from another designer on how to make your own. Yeah right.)

Take Away: If you have to ask, you can't afford it... and probably can't figure out how to sew your own.

Teen Prom:
Teen Prom showcases run-of-the-mill "model-type" girls, but not just in any ordinary fashion editorial spread! Oh no, Teen Prom wants teen girls to "funkify" their look, by infusing their prom dresses with a touch of punky personal style:

Take Away: Teen Prom thinks young women have no sense of color or proportion.

Your Prom:
Sure, Your Prom has American Idol winner Jordin Sparks on the cover, but I was hard-pressed to find a single article about her. All we saw were ads, which seem to have been shot in 1982.

Take Away: You know how you heard the 80's are back? They're not.

Earlier: Weetzie Bat: The Book For Girls Who Ended Up Taking A Gay Dude To Prom
Heroes' Hayden Panettiere Is An American Everywoman

"It's opening up a whole can of worms for pedophiles and people who want them to look older...Too many parents believe their daughters need to be making some sort of fashion statement at ages 6 or 7," says mom Gina Vardon. "It almost seems to have become a contest between these women to see who can spend the most money on their children."

Dear women: a child is a human being, not an accessory. The death of the It Bag should not be followed by the rise of the It Kid. As adults are dressing younger and younger, are kids forced to look older to compensate? Where have all the grown-ups gone? Besides the problems of 1) dressing a grade-schooler like a whore and 2) using a grade-schooler as a status symbol is the problem, as yet another mother points out, that "not only are the values and bodies of our young girls being exploited by these fashions, but what kind of effect is this having on our boys?" Exactly — if young girls (or rather, their parents) are objectifying themselves through the clothes they purchase and wear, can we blame men for doing the same to them, too?

Earlier: Why Let A Girl Play When She Can Be Made Over Like JonBenet?

Sexy At 7? [Tacoma News Tribune]

What to do with your 3-year old for her birthday? Take her and 10 of her closest friends for pedicures and virgin daiquiris. Or better yet: Pack the kiddies all up and ship them off to Club Libby Lu for a makeover party, where make-up tips are dispensed and wigs can be donned so that your still-developing child can see herself as she might someday (ought?) to be. And yet, as the Times observes, if a toddler is having a "makeover," what exactly is there to makeover? These children aren't even old enough to read: Are they old enough to realize that their current "look" is no good and needs major, professional help?

Says Queen Bees & Wannabes author Rosalind Wiseman:

Mothers and fathers do really crazy things with the best of intentions. I don't care how it's couched, if you're permitting this with your daughter, you are hyper-sexualizing her. It's one thing to have them play around with makeup at home within the bubble of the family. But once it shifts to another context, you are taking away the play and creating a consumer, and frankly, you run the risk of having one more person who feels she's not good enough if she's not buying the stuff.

Never Too Young for That First Pedicure [NYT]