Would you allow your tween to wear a push-up bikini top?

I would be fine with a 2-year old wearing it.

This is a cultural thing, perhaps in America this is sexual, elsewhere (like Brazil) it would just be treated like a bathing suit.

The sexualization is in the interpretation.

It doesn't say that's a push up top. It says padded. That different. Some padding is a good thing so there is no nipple show through (which is important to me, personally)

and no, a tween needn't be wearing push up bras. That's for grown up ladies.

A tween is not a grown up.

I agree that it's a cultural thing, America sees too much sex where there isn't..

Interesting they don't show a model. As the aunt to a gaggle of nieces I would say 16. These are very sexy and can bring on the wrong kind of attention. One of my nieces, who was always pretty but looked older than her 14 years, often got some very unwelcome male attention when wearing a normal bikini. She was very bothered by it and it made her think the worst of males for a few years after. She didn't start dating until she was almost 18 and shied away from dealing with boys longer than her sisters. I think it had to do with her early experiences of "wolf whistles" and unsavory leering. She was in no way flattered by it, especially because much of the attention came from creepy older men. I would not want to encourage what she went through. I attached a picture of how a push-up works. My niece looked a lot like this girl at 14, including the boobs.
Picture a 'tween in this:

You see a girl in a push-up bikini top and you don't think sex? Are you sure you're French?

http://fashionetc.com/news/retail/1219-abercrombie-fitch-push-up-bikinis-7-girls

I dont know that the term used is correct, I was only repeating it...

So what are you saying here, that no one should be concerned because these will not sell? I think that parents dont choose the swim wear of kids this age, they only have veto power.

No, I don't think sex when I see a 8 years old in bikini.

Now, if I see an adult beautiful girl, even if she is in full cloths, then I sure appreciate..

Hi Francis.

I've never known anyone who has a problem with kids of any age, little kid, tween, teen, or adult women wearing bikinis. It's just not a big deal, they've been around forever.

What I object to is using verbage that makes the item in question sound sexual, when the word used to describe it is incorrect.

A push up top, bra, bathing suit top is one that has an underwire, and not just any underwire. An underwire that pushes a woman's breasts upwards and together.

The bathing suit top in the picture obviously has no such underwire. Whoever is complaining about this top must just be very conservative, which is their right with their children.

But this is NOT a push up bikini top, meant to be provocative.

The top and bottom look very similar to one I wore 40 years ago, when I was 12. I didn't view it as sexual. Didn't seem that anyone else did either. Except some pervert maybe.

I also have no problem with a bikini on a little girl or tween. It's the padding or push up I object to. Creating or enhancing a child's breast area is the creepy part. I know a normal male would not be attracted to a child wearing such a thing, but it's the abnormal ones that are always the problem.

I'm telling you the term is not correct.

As for the article that original said it, they are being sensationalist, because this is not a push up bra.

It's just a bathing suit top, that looks no different from bathing suit tops girls between the ages of 8 and 13 or so have been wearing for decades, and is not in any way note worthy.

The top GW posted is a push up. You can see the foundation of the wire holding up the breasts.

Not all underwire bras are push ups, but all push ups are definately underwire.
That bathing suit top from A&F has no underwire.

mmm....I don't have a problem with a little padding, as I mentioned above, to prevent men oogling stiff nipples.

A little padding can be a modest thing, and prevent the girl from being self conscious of being stared at. I've seen girls come out of the pool or ocean crossing their arms over their chest, because they were showing more than they personally wanted to.
People like to talk about the freedom to show what they want, but they also have the freedom not to show what they don't want.

I have no need for a padded bra, but I only wear ones with some padding, because of that.

I dont know how to do a screen shot but if you google "Ashley Push-Up Triangle" you will see that the company itself was using the term. The page seems to have been taken down.

The cached version has the "push up" terminology:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:n03MVdfpS-kJ:www.abercrombiekids.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay%3FcatalogId%3D10851%26storeId%3D10101%26langId%3D-1%26topCategoryId%3D12103%26categoryId%3D71458%26parentCategoryId%3D12174+ashley+push-up+triangle

So it does look like they had that and then took it down after a brouhaha.

That said, the sizing doesn't seem to correspond to what is being talked about. The smallest size starts at 56" tall (4'8") and 27.5 - 28.5 bust. I don't think that'd fit most 8-year-olds. My daughter is tall for her age and wears a size 14 in kids sizes or S in adult sizes, this S seems to be about a size 12. (Kids sizing is supposed to correspond about to what age they would be when they wear it.)

Then there's also the weirdness of sizing in general. My daughter had a discussion with a friend's older sister about how the sister (age 13) wears a size 8 in the same brand of jeans that sozlet wears a size 14. (Part of that is how tight each of them are willing to go I think.) So I can imagine the sister wearing an Abercrombie size S when she's 16 or so.

I mostly would go by what my daughter is comfortable with I think. That does have a cultural component as per the wolf whistles that Green Witch mentions. Even if it shouldn't be seen as sexual, if it is seen as sexual by adult men, then that's something that needs to be dealt with. (And I've seen that happen too.)

My kid didn't get wolf whistles or anything (good thing too or I might've smacked the whistler) last year at the pool when she was 9, but she was definitely more comfortable in her one-piece than her bikini. Part of that is that she's very active and the bikini took more adjusting, she didn't want to have to pay attention to that.

That's right, they took it down because it's not a friggin' push up bra.

Come on....it is clearly intended to sexually excite. Not adult men I imagine, but males several years older than the girl who sports this. I think the upset comes from something else however, the normalization of the big tit ideal. Look at how young tit jobs are being done now, it was only a decade ago that females were expected to wait till their mid twenties to do it, now we routinely see 17-18 YO's getting them.

Minor detail, but the very best push-up I have is from Australia - no underwire.

What I am getting at is the disconnect between what we believe and what we claim we want to teach our kids. Big tits are popular with guys and with the girls who want to please guys, but when we take any step towards being honest about this with kids under a certain age we tend to freak out, and deny everything. We cant be honest about it in front of the surgeon either, as the only correct answer is "I want big tits because it will make me feel better about myself". The part about wanting to get more attention from men is omitted.

Would you allow your tween to wear a push-up bikini top?

sure, if he wanted to