Childhood? Vaping Tweens and Teens in Crop Tops, Thongs and Makeup

The kicker for "Being 13", Jessica Bennett's New York Times post (Sept. 20, 2023), serves as a good synopsis of the piece:

Three girls, one year. This is what it’s like to be 13 today, in a world that can’t stop talking about the dire state of your future.

One of the girls Bennett profiled was Anna - a 13-year-old 8th grader at a top-ranked charter school in Colorado. 

Anna reminded us of Mare of HBO's Mare of Easttown. After Mare discovered that Erin, a teen, had a secret account on Sidedoor's escort service, Mare said, "Trust me. Teenage girls are fucking sneaky."

In terms of sneaky teens, after Anna complained to her mom, via text, about being the only member of her 8th grade friend group who wasn't allowed to wear thongs and crop tops, Anna: 

"[...] went to Victoria’s Secret with her friends and bought the [thong] underwear anyway, then hid them in her room."

(In addition, Bennett shared that Anna's parents had discovered, via Anna's iPhone, that 13-year-old Anna had been sneaking to her boyfriend's house, conveniently, when his parents weren't home, which reminded me of 17-year-old Lily of HBO's And Just Like That whom lost her virginity in her boyfriend's house, conveniently, when his parents weren't home.)

In terms of tweens in crop tops, Anna’s mother may not condone it, but 11-year-old Maxwell’s mother, Jessica Simpson, condones it; however, some of Simpson’s followers condemned Maxwell’s crop top. 

Leah Bitsky reported for Page Six that “Jessica Simpson [was] slammed for letting 11-year-old daughter, Maxwell, wear crop top” (August 28, 2023)

Bitsky reported that after Simpson posted pictures on Instagram of 11-year-old Maxwell posing seductively (i.e., tongue out) in a crop top, one of Simpon’s followers posted: “Isn’t she like 11 or something?? Stop sexualizing your little girl” But Bitsky related that another follower defended Maxwell’s tween crop top by posting: “So many Karens here geez! No 11 year old looks like an 11 yr old today. We’re not in the Brady Bunch years anymore, she looks fine [...]!” 

Yet, none of Simpson’s followers addressed designers like Marc Jacobs whom designed crop tops for tweens and teens. For example, we posted that Brooke Frischer posted on Fashionista that "Heaven [by Marc Jacobs] and Bluemarine Made the High School Movie Wardrobe of Your Dreams a Reality" (JUL 7, 2023).

Per Frischer, Blumarine by Marc Jacobs features 11 of the brands best-selling pieces, which boast the brands "signature touches". The best-selling signature pieces consist of ultra-mini skirts, and they mean ultra, lacy pink camisoles, baby tees, and they mean baby, and cropped sweatshirts - among other revealing pieces. 

In terms of thongs, we wrote in our substack “From the 1939 World's Fair to TikTok: A History of Teen Thongs” that Ariel Levy wrote in Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture (Free Press, 2005) that the thong was invented in New York City to "cover" exotic dancers during the 1939 World's Fair but that thongs are no longer relegated to exotic dancers but that thongs, like Hello Kitty and Abercrombie & Fitch, have become the "underpants of choice" for nymphets:

Now they are the underpants of choice for pubescent girls. I saw Hello Kitty thongs for sale at the mall; Abercrombie & Fitch—which markets to seven- to fourteen-year-olds—makes a thong that says WINK WINK and another that declares EYE CANDY; the teen chain store Hot Topic sells a Cat in the Hat thong; Delia’s has a little cotton thong with Bart Simpson on the front and another that asks FEELING LUCKY? with a green four-leaf clover stamped on the crotch. The urban youth Web site Dr. Jay’s has rhinestone Playboy bunny thongs with matching camisoles. 

In addition, we related that there’s a plethora of dancing teens in (cheeky) thongs on TikTok; thus, it should not be surprising that Anna was the only 8th grader in her friend group who didn’t wear thongs. 

And while we’re on the topic of tweens in crop tops and thongs, it’s worth re-mentioning Rachel Brown’s post on Beauty Independent that “Evereden Is Positioning Itself To Lead The Race For Gen Alpha Consumers” (September 12, 2023) In other words, Evereden is selling makeup to 13-and-under-year-olds. And it states in the piece’s kicker that Evereden is: “[...] encouraging gen alpha consumers to play with beauty products [...]” 

EverEden: Kids

And why is Evereden selling makeup, like Ruby Red Lip Oil, to 13-year-olds? It’s for the same reason that Marc Jacobs is designing crop tops to teens and Abercrombie & Fitch was selling thongs to tweens. #money And notice that the brown tween in the Evereden advertisement (above) is dressed, à la Blumarine by Marc Jacobs, in a crop top and mini skirt.

Lastly, if adults wear crop tops, thongs and makeup, one should not be surprised to see tweens and teens in crop tops, thongs and makeup, because as Neil Postman reminded in The Disappearance of Childhood (Vintage/Random House, 1994), as recently as two hundred years ago, the concept of childhood did not exist and that it originated during the Renaissance with the invention of the printing press, which initiated a separation between children and adults with the bridge from childhood to adulthood being only crossed by learning how to read. 

In addition, Jennifer Senior related in her piece "Little Grown-ups and Their Progeny" (April 8, 2013), which was part of the New York magazine cover story "Childhood in New York", that up until the end of the WWII, children were expected to contribute to the family financially. Particular to New York City, newsboys were rampant, but delivering newspapers wasn’t their only source of income. They: “[…] blacked boots, scavenged for junk, and shuttled messages and goods.” But: “[...] child poverty, child abuse, and exploitative labor practices […]” lead to an effort by reformers and the government (e.g. Children’s Bureau) to protect children.

However, Steven Mintz, the author of Huck’s Raft: A History of Childhood in America (Belknap Press\Harvard University Press, 2006), wrote that, “They [reformers and the government] viewed kids smoking at 10 and 12 and having independent money and walking into bars as the worst thing in the world. It reminds you that "child" is a label, not a reality."

And just like Postman related in The Disappearance of Childhood, things have gone full circle. The separation that resulted from the printing press and the Children’s Bureau has been seemingly removed by smartphones and social media. Consequently, we shouldn’t be surprised to see a 13-year-old nymphet in a crop top and micro mini skirt that barely covers her thong with a vape between her Ruby Red lips.  

Evereden's Beauty Products That Won't Sexualize Tweens?

Rachel Brown posted on Beauty Independent that “Evereden Is Positioning Itself To Lead The Race For Gen Alpha Consumers” (September 12, 2023) In other words, Evereden is selling makeup to 13-and-under-year-olds. And it states in the piece’s kicker that Evereden is: “[...] encouraging gen alpha consumers to play with beauty products [...]” [Emphasis added]

And why is Evereden selling makeup to 13-year-olds? We’ll answer that with a bit of poetry from Method Man: “Cash rules everything around me, C.R.E.A.M./Get the money; dollar, dollar bill, y'all.” And the piece’s kicker added: “Evereden isn’t playing when it comes to its aspirations to win their [i.e., Gen Alpha] business for the long term.”

The makeup, which is, once again: “[...] aimed squarely at alpha’s budding beauty consumers,” was strategically named Face Crayon and Lip Oil and will be sold on Evereden’s website, on Amazon, and at Sephora. [Emphasis added]

Called Evereden At Play, the collection contains $20 Kids Fantasy Face Crayon in nine vivid shades and $16 Kids Tinted Lip Oil in two shades. The products are launching on Evereden’s website as well as Amazon and will be rolling out to select retail partners. The brand is available at 90-plus Sephora doors in 20 international markets.

Kimberley Ho, the founder and CEO of Evereden, left no doubt about her company using the allure of nymphets, in makeup, to make money. 

“Gen alpha is just getting started. The oldest gen alpha consumer is 13 years old. In a few years they’re going to be 18 years old, and their spending power is not to be underestimated.”

To be fair, Evereden isn’t prompting 13-years-olds to wear makeup. Evereden is simply providing options, because, per Evereden’s research, a whopping number of pre-teens already use cosmetic products. 

The brand tapped around 50 kids under the age of 13 to provide Evereden feedback about the colors, scents and texture of the products in its color collection. What’s clear to the brand is kids are enthusiastic about beauty—and it doesn’t anticipate that enthusiasm waning as they mature. Evereden shares estimates that 70% of children under 12 use kids’ cosmetics products, 54% of them use at least one cosmetic item per month, and 60% use kids face paint.

And per Ho, tweens on TikTok are, “[...] talking about Selena Gomez’s Rare Beauty [...] [And] [t]hey’re using their mothers’ Drunk Elephant products.”

In addition, we’ve blogged about nepo tweens in makeup. For example, we recapped Jessica Bennett’s Page Six post: "Kourtney Kardashian faces backlash after daughter Penelope, 10, shares makeup routine (August 27, 2022).

And we blogged about Riley Cardoza’s Page Six piece: “Alec Baldwin's 9-year-old daughter, Carmen, wears makeup in back-to-school photo” (September 8, 2022)

Ho went on to acknowledge that some parents may not condone their 13-year-olds wearing makeup, but Ho argued that tweens are “hugely independent” and that she’s simply fulfilling a demand.  

“Whether some parents agree with this or not, this generation does want their own products. They want their own routine. They’re hugely independent.

In a conspicuous contradiction, Brown wrote that parents want: “[...] beauty products that are safe for their kids.” [Emphasis added] But that: “Parents also want beauty products for children that don’t degrade their self-confidence or sexualize them.” [Emphasis added]

And Ho added to the conspicuous contradiction by stating:

“We don’t really consider it a ‘cosmetic’ line in the traditional sense, and the goal is certainly not glamour or beauty, but rather to allow children [...] to unleash their imagination and express their unique style with safe, kid-appropriate products. Rather than restricting or inhibiting their natural curiosity, why not provide them with fun, safe products to express themselves with?”

Evereden's Kids Tinted Lip Oil in Ruby Red

Thus, Ho doesn’t “really” consider the $16 Ruby Red Lip[stick] Oil to be a glamorizing or beautifying cosmetic. 

However, Brooke C. shared in her 5 star review (09/12/23): 

The lip oils were a hit! My kiddos like doing “lipstick like mommy!” 

Jessica F. wrote in her 5 star review (09/08/23): 

Obsessed with the new Evereden AT PLAY Tinted Lip Oil. I like the Ruby Red color for a bit of a pop” 

And Karen V. asked in her 5 star review (09/03/23): 

“Why didn’t they have this when I was a kid? My 11 year old loves this stuff. It makes her feel as if she’s wearing makeup [...]”

Penelope Disick & Carmen Baldwin: Sexualized (Pre) Teens in Lipstick?

Jessica Bennett posted on Page Six that "Kourtney Kardashian faces backlash after daughter Penelope, 10, shares makeup routine (August 27, 2022)

However, the headline is misleading as some viewers opined that the pre-teen applying makeup was "adorable".

Penelope Disick shared her makeup routine on TikTok Friday night, and while some followers found it adorable, many others slammed her mother, Kourtney Kardashian, for allowing her 10-year-old to explore cosmetics at such a young age.

Brenda Campbell even tweeted that one should not be concerned about "a little girls love for makeup". 

One can safely assume that Campbell would condone Carmen, Alec Baldwin's 9-year-old daughter, who wore a dark shade of lipstick in a back-to-school photograph that her mother shared on Instagram. 

And Riley Cardoza posted on Page Six that Carmen actually wore the lipstick to school (i.e., to fourth grade)! Would Campbell approve?

Even (some) fictional moms encourage their nymphets to wear makeup - although not necessarily for likes, followers and/or subscribers. 

In Jessica Knoll's Luckiest Girl Alive, after Ani realized that she was alone with Mr. Larson, her English teacher, her "cheeks blushed underneath the Cover Girl [her] Mom said" she needed. 

And in Joshua Gaylord's Hummingbirds, Liz, a schoolgirl at the Carmine-Casey [UES] School for Girls, was informed by her mom: “This is something you still have to learn about cosmetics. They just cover everything up. A little fresh mascara, some blush, and you’re a new woman. Why don’t you ever let me try it on you? [...]”

And on a related note to one of the overall themes of this blog (i.e., famous age-gap relationships), Nika Shakhnazarova reported for Page Six that "Hilaria Baldwin ‘judged’ couples with big age differences before meeting Alec" (November 9, 2022)

Shakhnazarova wrote that Hilaria assumed that men wanted younger women because they were, "[...] young bimbo[s] with no opinions whatsoever." Wait. Really? That's why she thought men were attracted to (much) younger women? Because they were opinionless?

The mom-of-seven opened up about substantial age differences in relationships, including her 26-year age gap with her 64-year-old husband, Alec Baldwin.

Speaking during the first episode of her brand new podcast “Witches Anonymous,” Hilaria revealed she was often quick to judge couples who weren’t close in age.

“Before I got together with Alec [Baldwin], I would judge women and men that had big age differences,” the Boston-born yoga instructor admitted. “I would look at it like, this older man wants some young bimbo with no opinions whatsoever.”

Then Hilaria went on to say that, until she met Alec, she had been "trained" to think that younger women were simply gold diggers whom couldn't possibly be attracted to older men.

“That younger woman is obviously a gold digger, and she obviously doesn’t even care and is just like whatever, ‘I hope you die, and I’m going to take all your money,'” she added.

“Now that I’m in that relationship and people will say those things about me regularly, I realize, what was this trained into my head?” she said.

“Why was I so judgmental about other people who are literally just finding love? Maybe their love looks different from you and from your love or what I thought love would be but it doesn’t make it not valid.” 

Awww, now Hilaria realizes that age-gap couples are "literally just finding love" just like non-age-gap couples, but would Hilaria go as far as Betsy Karasik whom wrote in her Washington Post op-ed that consensual sex between teachers and students should not be criminalized.