Should Magazines And Modelling Be Banned For Kids Under 18? (PHOTOS, POLL)

Girls Reading Magazine

The Huffington Post Canada   First Posted: 01/20/12 12:10 PM ET Updated: 01/20/12 12:18 PM ET

Magazine covers seem to be getting sexier. And while the models gracing the pages are seemingly showing more and more skin, they also seem to be getting younger. Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, is the latest baby-face to land a modelling gig, becoming the new face of Young Versace -- the Italian brand's label for kids.

And though Crawford seems nothing but thrilled her little doppelganger is making her modelling debut at the tender age of 10, the whole thing has us wondering whether the modelling world should put an age restriction on how young is too young to model.

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Should magazines and modelling be banned for kids under 18?

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We've seen Thylane Blondeau pose seductively for French Vogue, Prada use underage models in a 80-second promotional video and 17-year-old Dakota Fanning grace the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine (looking oddly airbrushed). Though Bonnie Fuller, former editor-in-chief of the girly magazine, is urging prudes to get their "knickers out of knots," others, are calling on the fashion industry to be cautious about what they expose children to.

Former fashion model Nicole Weider, has started a petition calling for fashion mags, specifically Cosmo, to be packaged in a non-transparent cover and to only be sold to girls over 18. According to The Daily Mail UK, Weider believes, "This magazine has the devil written all over it... and is just a vessel for that."

Model Coco Rocha, who herself was discovered at age 14, believes young girls aren't prepared to be treated as adults and are being instructed to act in a way they're normally not used to.

Whether you think Weider or Rocha's take is prudish, it's becoming clear sexualized images and exploitation of young girls is not only having negative consequences on the children who pose for millionaire designers, but also for the children who see the ads.

So what do you think: Should magazines be banned to kids under 18 and should teen girls stop modelling for big-time designers? Or is it all a matter of parents setting firm boundaries on what their children view, buy or read? Let us know on Twitter.

Check out some of these Photoshop-abused ads/magazine spreads -- several including children. Mon dieu!

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We know Ralph likes to retouch his models, but can't he leave the animals alone? We're guessing that's an entirely new head on the dog wearing a Polo and that he was just dropped into the image on the right.

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Magazine covers seem to be getting sexier. And while the models gracing the pages are seemingly showing more and more skin, they also seem to be getting younger. Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Ci...
Magazine covers seem to be getting sexier. And while the models gracing the pages are seemingly showing more and more skin, they also seem to be getting younger. Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Ci...
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
writergal28
Writergal28 is a blogger and "petite activist" and
10:51 PM on 01/21/2012
Kids should be limited to work for brands like Gap Kids, Crewcuts and teens for Seventeen, Teen Vogue and the equivalents. Runway and "real" Vogue? Wait until they're 18.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
AKQueenie
No such thing as coincidence, just synchronicity.
04:09 PM on 01/20/2012
Personally, I can't believe what is printed on the *cover of Cosmo magazines. "How to" guides and "what he likes"...all on the cover. I mean, really? Do they really need to tell you how to have sex, maybe you shouldn't be having it. Cosmo is not a fashion mag anymore (was it ever?), and I don't think it's appropriate for me, let alone a 14 yo.

Am I a prude? I don't think so. But I feel Im educated in regards to sex and what I like sexually. Maybe, they can make an educational "cool" type of magazine for kiddies who have questions because they don't feel comfortable talking with their parents. Add games and fashion to it, not just stories of someones sexual experience (TMI much?)

But should Cosmo be aimed at 18+? Absolutley! Why is that even a question? Cosmo *is an adult magazine parallel to Playboy.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
see-ellen2001
11:22 PM on 01/21/2012
Face it, if you don't think about (straight) sex all the time, get it whenever you can, don't mind tarty twelve year olds, and think toddler g-strings are 'cute' then you are considered a prude.