Circling the world wide web is this photo controversy of the child models posed in Witchery's lookbook for kids. As you can see, the tots are not stanced like Gap Kids models, who are cheery and bubbly - just as kids should be...right?
When I first saw these pictures, I couldn't get over how cute the kids looked in their cargos and booties. My thought process went a little like this: "OMG! ... I would probably wear that ... how cute! ... this is a little weird, though ... I wish I was that cool looking when I was 5 ... I wish I looked that cool now.."
Nowadays, I get the feeling that kids are growing up way too fast. The availability of cell phones, the ridiculous television shows they watch (in comparison, my '90s generation shows had it made), their increased curiosity/experimentation of sex now begins as young as kindergarten, from what I've heard. Knowing this, I was not surprised to see these "disturbing" images from Witchery.
Personally, I love the photos. If anything, it shows how good these kids can model and how chic they look in these clothes. On the other hand, I do see the arguments being made from neurotic parents and children's charity spokespeople that hate the photos. One said, "The whole point of early childhood is to be joyous and free." So true in this case where the child models keep straight faces and hold high-fashion inspired model stances. In all honesty though, do the photographers expect children to act this way naturally? I'm sure a great amount of direction was made to achieve these vogue-esqe images, being that kids run on sugar constantly. Still, it surprises me how good the children are at posing this way, maybe they've been interpellated to believing this is how a model should look like - even at age 5.
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Witchery says "the next generation is here," and it really is. Think of how many child actors we have today.. there barely are any that are at least relevant to me. Still the only person I can think of is Dakota Fanning and to my dismay, she has grown up. Maybe the problem here is not with Witchery, but with society in general - it is moving fast, the economy may not be, but I'm sure as hell that the population is and their obsession with media and technology is along for the ride.
Also, how often was it before (aka 1999) to see kids in gossip magazines for adults? Every other second we see Suri Cruise or the Jolie-Pitt clan on the glossy pages. Do kids even read Bop or TigerBeat anymore? Do those magazines even exist still?
My whole point here is that the images are far from disturbing because they are highlighting the type of grown-ups that kids look up to these days. Models, bikers, hipsters...whatever you see posed in this spread is a reflection of the "coolness" society is heaving on its jovial offspring.
images via The Cut, Witchery
