The parents of a teenage girl are suing a prominent clothing store in America for selling t-shirts showing a sexually suggestive picture of their daughter.
It is the latest development in a series of controversies surrounding the sexualisation and commercialisation of childhood.
The girl – who was 15 at the time – posed for the photoshoot with her parents’ permission but they claim they never agreed to the suggestive shots being used on clothing.
Salacious
Urban Outfitters, a clothes chain which has stores in over 30 US states, is one of the groups being sued. So too is the photographer who took the pictures.
The lawsuit comments that the girl is “posed in a blatantly salacious manner”.
It also alleges one image “may portray a child in a sexually suggestive manner and may be in violation of one or more federal and/or state laws”.
Defend
It is claimed that the photographer, Jason Lee Parry, agreed not to release that image after a complaint from the girl’s agent at the time.
Mr Parry defended the photograph – which shows the girl posing on a motorbike – against accusations that it was provocative.
He said: “I didn’t see it that way, and I think if people do I think it’s kind of bad on them, because I look at it and I think, this is a really cool shot.”
Pernicious
Earlier this month there was outrage over a top fashion magazine’s images of a ten-year-old girl wearing heavy make-up and posing like an adult model.
Paris Vogue’s disturbing images of child model Thylane Blondeau appeared in a 15-page spread in the magazine’s December/January issue.
The Labour MP for Bishop Auckland described Paris Vogue as “disgraceful and totally irresponsible” for publishing the pictures, saying the magazine should have known better.
Helen Goodman said: “They have descended into the gutter by doing this”.
And she commented: “The sexualisation of children is one of the most pernicious ills of our era”.