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Originally Posted by ARTelevision
In terms of marketing self-image, there's no difference between 10-year olds and teenagers. Today's "10-teens" are into the whole not-good-enough-unless-altered sense of themselves that was once the province of the insecure and youth-market dominated teen years. There's less "children" and less childhood these days than there used to be. What's been gained? What's been lost?
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I felt like I had to sneak into my sister's make-up case and put foundation and powder on my little face at the tender age of 9. I don't even know what the heck I thought I was covering. Shaving my legs was another big issue that I felt strongly needed to be addressed before I even hit puberty, and it sure wasn't my friends or family putting that in my head. It was commercials and magazine ads for shaving cream that looked a lot like those palmolive ads.
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Another term used for this 10-teen age group is "tween" and the hyper sexual make-up industry isn't the only one targeting them. America's Beef Producers have a site called "zip4tweens" targeted at tween girls in an attempt to combat vegetarianism:
www.cool-2b-real.com
The language on the site suggests that it's a place that discourages a negative self image:
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Just be yourself! Chill out awhile and play some games or talk it up with girls just like you!
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But then the meat of the site (pun intended) is about encouraging beef consumption. It is, after all, "
ZIP 4 tweens"...
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As of now, ZIP has a new meaning!
It means having fun while doing things to make your mind and body stronger. And it's just for tweens!
It's about getting Zinc, Iron and Protein and other nutrients from the foods you eat so your body and mind can do their thing.
And it's about moving your body - zippin' along here and there - so your body gets strong and you feel good!
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In face of the much more powerful message of "you're not beautiful or sexy enough," I wonder how successful this site actually is.