You would think after the viral backlash Target received for the pro-trans merchandise marketed at children and teens last June during “pride month,” the company would tread lightly when it comes to their children’s clothing and products.
Apparently not though, as a mom shared on TikTok.
As seen in this recent TikTok video shared by Meghan Mayer, a Michigan mom, Meyer was shopping for clothes for her daughter in Target when she noticed something concerning about some of the dresses sold.
@thecrazycreativeteacherThoughts?♬ original sound – Meghan Mayer
At first glance, Today reported in a story on the post, the dress appeared relatively modest, with a long skirt and balloon sleeves, but then she noticed substantial cutouts around the waist.
Those cutouts made her think, “Wait, what in the world is going on here?” before explaining her surprise to her followers.
She explained in the video that she “is a little more conservative when it comes to my kids’ clothes, so I may be overreacting,” but then asked users what they thought of the dresses.
Mayer then goes on to show the dresses, explaining that “these are kids’ sizes, and in the kids’ section,” for six- or seven-year-olds, before showing the slits right at the hips of each of the dresses.
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After expressing her concern about the dresses that would show off the hips of little girls, she does mention that “I am a little more conservative, I don’t even let my girls wear bikinis, but let me know if I’m overreacting.”
The comments on Mayer’s post were divided — some thought it was “Overreaction for sure…Now if it was super short or low cut I would 100% get where you’re coming from,” or unhelpfully telling her just not to buy it, but more commenters than not seemed to agree with her.
For instance, one user wrote “I completely agree. My daughter is 4 and is in a 6/7. Absolutely inappropriate,” with another noting that “I think retailers are trying to mature our kids too fast.”
That last commenter hit the nail right on the head, taking note of an alarming cultural trend trying to rob children of their innocence.
Moreover, Target is a repeat offender when it comes to inappropriate children’s clothing and products.
In June 2023, Target was marketing rainbow clothes for small children and babies, “tuck-friendly” girls’ and womens’ swimsuits, and merchandise from a self-identified satanist brand that infamously marketed a shirt featuring satanist figure Baphomet reading “Satan respects pronouns.”
Even after receiving backlash from customers, podcaster Benny Johnson took his camera to Target and found “pride” displays with three moms and two kids, onesies and kids’ shirts reading “Trans People will Always Exist,” and childrens’ T-shirts showing same-sex couples holding hands.
In light of this controversy, Target received a letter from seven states’ attorneys general about their sexualized merchandise for children, saying the company may have violated those states’ child protection and parental rights laws.
Target selling a sexy dress for girls as young as four, five, six, then, is not much of a stretch.
That said, a dress with hip cutouts is not only immodest for young girls, it’s immodest for anyone of any age.
While no one is suggesting we start taking out rulers and tape measures to ensure no one is wearing a dress a centimeter too short, but, as Paul says in his letter to the Corinthians, “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit,” and so we need to dress in accordance with that inherent dignity.
Similar verses regarding modest attire (see Peter’s first letter, or Paul’s first letter to Timothy), emphasize that the pursuit of modesty is not optional for the Christian.
What that modesty looks like has changed some over the course of the centuries, but even so, it would be hard to defend a dress with cutouts on the hips as modest for a little girl.
It seems reasonable to say that a dress like this is sexualizing for a little girl — but, if we can agree on that, can we agree it might arguably be just as, if not more, immodest for a woman?
Why would Christians want to make themselves sexual objects?
Christians might not agree on the minutiae of what constitutes modest dressing, but we can all agree that the world’s standards are not ours.
