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Bikini Babies
Preteens and Summer Body Image
By Carma Haley
Just the thought of summertime sends many females into a frenzy, worrying about getting back into last year's bathing suit. But what if that female is only 8 or 10 years old? Should girls this young really be concerned with the appearance of their bodies? Whether or not they should be, more and more prepubescent girls are concerned about their body image.
According to Vernisha Shepard, a psychotherapist and clinical coordinator for the eating disorders clinic at Texas Children's Hospital, the number of young girls who show an unhealthy concern over body image increases during the summer months. "It is getting more and more common for young girls to begin to have concern regarding their bodies," she says. "Girls as young as 8 are now talking about their bodies and show a concern related to their weight and shape. When summer comes and people begin losing the layers of clothing, more attention is drawn to how we look. Young girls are learning this and basing their entire self worth on their bodies and beauty."
As we are constantly bombarded with visions of beautiful women on billboards, on TV and in magazines, young girls are beginning to believe that they must be thin and beautiful to be happy. "So much of a female's beauty, she thinks, is placed on how she looks," Shepard says. "This is the way society has socialized her to think. In today's society, being the thinnest is equated with the best. Being the best to a 10-year-old girl may mean looking the best in a cheerleading uniform or soccer shorts. In the summer, these girls are not usually participating in athletic events, but the competition is still there. They may not be doing a lot of swimming, but they have to look the best in a swimsuit."
"My girls are concerned about their appearance all year long, but especially during swimsuit season," says Joann Ziemer, an Illinois mother of two daughters. "I have talked with my daughters about how I had similar situations when I was young – being tall for my age and overweight. I try to tell them good things about themselves and try to take the emphasis off of their actual appearance. But during the summer it gets more difficult."