I think little girls topless on the beach is cute. I find little girls on the beach wearing bikinis a bit skeevy - IMO, bikinis were designed to make women look sexually appealing, and aren’t appropriate for little girls.
I obviously don’t have any insight into the mindset of pedophiles, but I can’t imagine that they would find little girls in swimsuits any less appealing than little girls in bottoms only.
My daughter is nearly 4, and while I wouldn’t really think twice about having her run around topless, she wears a tankini to the beach. It provides protection from the sun and it covers everything a one piece covers with the bonus of not having to take off an entire suit to go to the bathroom.
Little kids are un-selfconscious for the most part, so let them enjoy their innocence while it lasts. I remember my oldest son was horrified to have anybody see his underwear, but would run around the house buck naked.
My opinion is that the girl should probably be topped if visible to the neighborhood. My opinion is also that the OP would be out of line to instruct the parents on this point. Was this family living there when the murder happened? Do they know about it? If so, then there’s nothing else you can do. Trust me, you will accomplish nothing but to make an enemy.
I didn’t get the beginnings of breasts until I was 15-16. But I stopped wanted to be naked in front of anyone about age 7.
My thought is that if it’s fine in France, there is nothing intrinsically inappropriate or morally wrong about it anywhere else. Girls and women of all degrees of development, shapes, and sizes routinely go topless at many public beaches and pools there. I have not heard that there are negative consequences.
Social mores are different here but it’s mostly up to the parents of any individual child, and should be on a case by case basis.
I’m probably just wacky though - I think public nudity should be allowed in certain circumstances (beaches, public baths and gyms) everywhere. IMO it’s healthier to know what real people look like nude (since we’re surrounded by altered images of certain types of idealized bodies that do not look like the majority at all times), and to not fetishize nudity.
I couldn’t keep ANY clothes on my daughter until she was nearly school age. She ran around like a naked heathen (well, I guess she was a naked heathen) for about 4 years or so. Then it was difficult to keep tops on her in hot weather.
Finally this past year (she’s 10) she’s gotten prominent enough breast buds that even she realizes she needs not only a top but an actual “bra”–a stretchy sports bra deal, which she really likes.
Now her favorite at-home outfit is a flowy hippie skirt and two bright sports bras layered.
I think I was 10ish before my mom started making me wear a shirt–that’s how I realized I was getting boobs!
Age does play a part too, true, but 12-year-old girls who don’t have breasts yet do still usually have some other signs of puberty - they don’t still have the same figures they did when they were 7.
Pedophiles already know what is underneath the clothes. The danger here is a small girl walking around the neighborhood and visiting neighbor’s houses without a parent or guardian. If the family were out walking together, I would think 7 is not too old to go topless. In their own home and yard obviously they should dress any way they want.
In a few years they may need to build a better fence and/or keep their curtains closed as, at some age, her nakedness becomes offensive to others sensibilities. Public decency laws probably stipulate a cutoff age for this kind of thing although I’m not sure of that nor would I use them as a literal guide. For right now what it seems they should concentrate on is teaching her not to walk over to (almost) stranger’s houses alone, topless or not.
8 or 9? I didn’t have any sign of body hair till I was 13. I was a late bloomer though and didn’t start my period till I was 16. But none of my little friends had pubic hair at 9 either. I did get in mild trouble once when I was 10 for biking around the neighbourhood topless with my friend, who was also topless.
Believe it or not, I had buds at age 7. It was a great source of embarrassment and frustration for me. Even my brothers thought I was fair game for “tittie-twisters” and my mother just kept repeating that I didn’t need a bra. It took a teacher sending a note home before my parents owned up to the issue.
It’s just a personal belief of mine but I think once kids are old enough to be in school, they should wear a full suit.
I was, and I was one of the early developers - many of my classmates were topless at 14, since they were still as flat as boards. While you could have had full-torso swimsuits before (I didn’t), you stopped going topless on the same day you got your first bra.
I can’t see why it would be a problem at age 7, and certainly not in her own garden! I totally reserve the right to arbitrarily change my mind in future, though, now that I have a little girl of my own (as of two weeks ago - obligatory new-dad brag )
Why wouldn’t it be? What would be the problem of seeing an undeveloped female’s breasts except if you thought they were sexually alluring to some people? The reason women in general don’t go around topless (or, with bigger-breasted women, wear only cut out bras for support) is because they don’t like people gawking at them, right?
And straight men already know what’s under a woman’s clothes. That doesn’t seem to be enough for most women to go around topless (even outside the U.S.).
Furthermore, I’ve done at least a couple papers on pedophiles. And one interview I read mentioned that seeing a kid that doesn’t have the societally normal sense of modesty often indicates permissive or uninvolved parents, which meant the child would likely be an easier target.
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