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Thong-th-th-thong

"No matter how you spin it, thongs are synonymous with sex."

By Sophie Linnett

The popular clothing company, Abercrombie and Fitch, recently began marketing its new line of children's underwear, complete with thongs. The thongs, aimed at girls between the ages of ten and 16, have sparked criticism that the company is selling sex to young girls.

I'm not surprised people are mad, and I'm so glad that I never had a clothing company try to make me grow up too fast. When I was in elementary school, I never worried about looking sexy or having boyfriends. For whatever reason, it wasn't cool to date. So I got to be a kid for a much longer time than if I was faced with this plague of premature sexiness.

I shudder to think of some of the sweet preteen girls I babysit, wearing thongs and revealing clothing and basically growing up too fast. Abercrombie is a powerful and influential brand. When they market sexy underwear and feature 12-year-old girls in bikinis on their shopping bags, they sell the message that sex is cool. With that kind of advertising, it is only a matter of time before this thong thing becomes an epidemic, and girls all over the country start wearing thongs daily.

When I tried to find out more about Abercrombie's children's thongs on the Internet, I happened to glance over at the side of my computer screen. I was shocked by the bright displays of advertising links related to the keywords in my search. Every one of the ads was for a lingerie peddler. One invited me to view their "intoxicating and sexy" thongs. I realized that despite the widespread popularity of the thong as everyday underwear, its sexy reputation remains.

Abercrombie defends their product calling the underwear "cute and sweet and fun." But no matter how you spin it, thongs are synonymous with sex. And when you look at Abercrombie's ads, you'll notice some of the spreads feature few articles of clothing. So how exactly does a clothing brand expect to sell clothes with ads that don't feature any?

Abercrombie doesn't sell clothes, the company sells a lifestyle, the clothes are just an accessory. Now that lifestyle includes preteen girls in thongs.

I just wish Abercrombie & Fitch would take responsibility for the power they have as trendsetters in the teen market. Sell me clothes, not ideas, especially if one of those ideas is the perverted belief that little girls are sexy.

— Sophie Linnett is a junior at College Prep High School in Oakland.