Is advertising for children, namely little girls, a reflection of the real world or is the culture of the world created and shaped by advertising? Sadly at the onset of this new millennium, female value is determined some of which prove detrimental. Living in this consumer driven society, conflicting images of women in advertising bombard female consumers, as well as their male counterparts, with the expectations society has for women, to be sexually adventurous and simultaneously domestic, and what expectations women should have for themselves, for example being thin with ample bosoms. Those expectations feed the insecurities and fears in consumers enabling the maintenance of advertisers status quo and keeping us purchasing (Lisenby).

Whether in reality or solely in assumption, as the primary consumer in society, women and their purchasing power or lack they are of, has been central in the promotion and sale of many everyday products. Advertising in the 1920’s depicted women in the household and held them hostage there under the pretense that a “ woman’s work is never done.” This fear of only never ending housework included the fear

“Teen magazines play important role in adolescent girls’ lives”

A Renfrew center expert says, “ Toys aimed at young girls can damage self-esteem.” “ Shopping for clothes, applying makeup and jewelry, or dating to meet a husband is often the object of the toy or game. This type of activity, combined with cultural messages about beauty that we receive from magazines and television, that can promote thinking that sets the stage for addictions or patterns of disordered eating” (kidsource).

In advertising companies like Pottery Barn and Mattel; who manufactures Barbie dolls, are showing little girls to play with the little kitchens, dress up as pretty pretty princess, but still dress up and look sexy too. Little girls are no longer burdened by having an easy-bake oven, today girls three and over can build an entire kitchen, complete with sinks, dishes, microwaves, refrigerators and ovens, and the appropriate cleaning utensils, i.e. a vacuum. Some of these tot-sized kitchens are designed sexually neutral but many are covered in images of Barbie and other female orientated themes. They are showing boys how it is acceptable to sexualize girls and expect girls’ appearances to be domestic and sexy, evident in the combination of Barbie and her kitchen. It is as if they are preparing them for what to expect when they become young adults. But is it really what the truth of adulthood expectations are or is it more preparing them to maintain the social status of the previous generations and to stick to traditional gender roles, with the woman having only two options: the prude or the slut?

Why start targeting at such a young age? Honestly, when else can the images being marketed become part of the psyche of a generation? It is not about choices, but determining the subconscious o

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