There has been a spate of criticism in recent years of showing young girls in modelling poses for marketing day wear, beach attire and bed time pj's, all claiming it is sexual exploitation of children.
In this context of criticism, the term 'young children' could be young girls from the ages of eight or nine through to fourteen, fifteen or even sixteen. The criticism is based on the following concerns.
Young girls are too young to understand what they are getting themselves into when modelling in this manner, regardless of whether they have parental consent.
Young girls are being sent the wrong messages, that their value and worth is being based on their appearance of an alluring nature.
Young girls appearing in such attire are sending the wrong messages to those males who have the propensity to offend in a sexual deviant manner.
Moreover, its sending conflicting messages to young teenage males who are faced with such magazine images by those girls, who are in their class rooms at schools, girls of similar age and shape and appearance. These images have been given the 'tick of approval'.
Finally, the criticism is that it's a very short step from such images to soft porn and then on to more worrying situations.
The subject arose when I showed Delma what I had found when rifling through the family archive air tight chest recently where I came across a 1973 Women's Weekly magazine that my mother had kept, with a full page spread of models in pjs.
One of the three in the photograph is a young girl, maybe 13, possibly 14, with her (mum) on a chair and a (sister) standing to one side, all in their pj's and this young girl's uncovered legs in full view.
This was 1973 – this was thirty seven years (37) ago.
No one would have blinked an eye at this in 1973. When I alerted Delma to the current furore over young girls modelling precisely this sort of attire, she at once recognised the debate. Delma was a little taken aback, at what was once understood as simply modelling pj's, now might carry a completely different dimension.
This debate will continue as we live in a climate of heightened awareness of anything that might be deemed 'inappropriate'. Every minor detail is analysed. Many hold their hands up in horror.
As a Christian family having raised Generation Y and X children who are now all adults, having raised them in a climate of such modelling, Delma and I are aware of the "restrictions and limitations" issues.
But where will it end? Are we as a society being groomed to all revert to 11th century Western dress of full length robes for both men and women or as in China not that long ago, where everyone wore the same design and colour trousers and top?