'Victoria's Secret is a rite of passage for my 9yo daughter'

Would you buy your nine-year-old daughter’s knickers from Victoria’s Secret?

Jenny Erikson would. She’s a mother and blogger who has made headlines after writing an article for a parenting website, saying she was fine with her daughter Hannah buying underwear from Victoria’s Secret as she enters her tween years.

And as nine-year-old Hannah rapidly grows out of her kiddie clothes and starts needing more grown-up undergarments – Jenny is happy to head to Victoria’s Secret with her.

This from her article on The Stir:

As the mom of a girl that is soon going to decide she doesn’t want cartoon characters on her underwear, and will be wearing a bra sooner rather than later, I’m going to have to figure out where we’re going to purchase them.It’ll probably be Victoria’s Secret — and I have no problem with that. I even like that fact that they are marketing toward a younger audience. What’s wrong with having fun, bright-colored underwear? Girls change all the time in front of each other — for sports or recreational activities that require it, at slumber parties or camp, for the school play … no one wants to be the girl with the ugly underwear.

Besides, they offer a high-quality product, knowledgeable salespeople, and cushy changing rooms with lighting that won’t make my girl even more freaked out about her changing body. And there’s something grown-up and special about shopping where the Big Girls shop, almost like being inducted into the Sisterhood, as cheesy as it sounds.

Victoria’s Secret as a rite of passage for tween girls?

Gulp.

While the company says it does not market to teenagers or tweens, their brightly coloured ‘Pink’ range is aimed at college students. And the princessy theatrics of the annual televised Victoria’s Secret parade – featuring the hottest popstars popular with young girls such as Justin Bieber and Rihanna and “Angels’ dressed in elaborate fairy wings – are clearly appealing to a young, female market.

Justin Bieber and dress-ups?

Uh-huh.

This morning on the Today show, Mia and Lisa Wilkinson debated this very topic with Ben Fordham on The Grill.  And things got highly fiesty.

You can watch the video below:

At 0:31 Ben Forham asks if it’s okay for a 9-year-old to wear sexy underwear?

At 1:27 Mia asks: When did it become a good life goal to walk up and down a catwalk in front of the world in your underwear?

At 2:18 The team ask the question: Is Victoria’s Secret selling the promise of sex?

At 4:12 They discuss whether Victoria’s Secret models are role models?

For those not familiar with the way Victoria’s Secret markets to women, take a look:

You can also check out our gallery of Victoria’s Secret Photoshop fails:

Do you think it’s okay to buy Victoria’s Secret for tweens and teens?