It’s the fashion ! For some time now, light, original or humorous messages have been displayed on the T-shirts of adults and children, but also on the bodies of the little ones. Only problem: the creators are sometimes badly inspired!
Last November, baby bodysuits with porn messages sold on the American site “Cafe Press” had created a controversy. This week, a new bad buzz in the world of children’s textiles with the Wry Baby bodysuits. The American brand made a name for itself after marketing baby bodysuits with both the following messages: “I hate my thighs” and “Love me for my bulges on the legs”. It is the journalist Michele Kort who reports the information in an article published last week on “Ms. Magazine”. “Yeah, we know, it’s meant to be funny {…} but really, there’s something unhealthy about projecting the fear of weight problems onto babies.” This reminds adults that thighs wider than sticks are loathsome and not charming.
But babies’ chubby thighs are the cutest thing in the world! She said. Many Internet users have also seen it as a kind of apology for anorexia. They were quick to react on social networks by calling for a boycott of the brand, notably with the hashtag #NotBuyingIt (“Do not buy it”) on Twitter.
Given the magnitude of this controversy, the brand made a point of clarifying its intention by responding via a comment on the site of “Ms. Magazine”. “We could not agree with you more on the perception of the body. That’s why we made a joke of it. It’s obvious that no baby goes or should hate their thighs! She said.
Wry Baby then tried to put things right. To find out which of the two bodies was the most popular on the web, and thus withdraw the least popular model from sale, the brand conducted a survey of Internet users. As a result, the “I hate my thighs” bodysuit won the fewest votes. It is therefore no longer available on the site. In addition, and this is rather a great initiative, all the profits collected from the sale of the two bodies during the votes were donated to the organization Ms. Foudation for Women.
“If we take the message on these bodies literally, it’s disturbing because we know that a poor body image is a huge problem with children. However, since the message is clearly directed to adults, not babies, it can tell us how obsessed society has become with ideals of beauty. If this is the intention of the brand, it could have an impact ”, explains on the site“ Yahoo! Parenting »Claire Mysko, director of the NEDA association, which fights against eating disorders. The dictates of beauty invade us and often rot our way of thinking … without even noticing it.