Sweet & Sassy: Do Tweens Need Their Own Salons?
- February 7th, 2008
- 4 Comments
Earlier this week I was contacted by a reporter working on a story about a rapidly expanding chain of salons geared towards tweens called Sweet & Sassy. The images on the website look a little JonBenet to me, but it made me think about why it’s so popular.
Tween girls are aging up faster. We’ve all read about how the age at which girls hit puberty continues to fall, but the impact of so much media and advertising on so many different screens at younger and younger ages is making young girls and tweens “aspirational” much earlier than in years past. The beauty industry knows this and exploiting this new potential market with loads of “personal care” products that will be marketed just to them. Instead of just playing with Bratz dolls, girls can now look like live Bratz, all dolled up.
Celebrity worship is having a huge impact on tween girls. I’m even not talking about the “trainwrecks” - it’s Hannah Montana, the girls in High School Musical, Zoey 101—they all require product to look like they do and they all talk about it in teen magazines (read by aspirational tweens) as well as celebrity weeklies like US (also probably ready by tweens). These girls want to look like their idols—and that requires product and professionals.
Kids and tweens live more heavily structured lives than past generations. They’re busy with playdates, lessons and activities. Parents are no longer comfortable letting them go play outside unsupervised somewhere with the understanding that they will be back by dinner. These salons are a safe place where parents can drop off their tween girls and pick them up later. Sweet & Sassy is not about mother/daughter bonding through pedicures, it’s about tween girls day out together. Just as Starbuck’s has become a safe hangout for teens to study and chat, these salons are another place that welcomes tweens, unlike many local malls, which have banned teens unless they are accompanied by a parent.
So are these salons a bad thing? I think it depends on how the notion of beautifying is communicated and parents’ individual values when it comes to younger girls, make-up, nail polish, etc. Some parents pierce their kid’s ears when they’re babies or are perfectly fine with 7-year-olds painting their nails and playing “grown up.” The reporter mentioned that when she visited the salon, there were girls from all different ethnicities there—Latina girls getting made up for a Quinceanera. Girls seeing how girls from different cultures define beauty could be interesting.
But if going to a Sweet & Sassy is all about making yourself look better, then I think these salons are problematic. they also use the word makeover—which implies you could look better. Maybe that’s a concept adults can stomach when we watch the neverending stream of reality shows where people lose weight, get plastic surgery or have their closets overhauled, but I’m not sure that’s a great message for 8-year-olds. The messaging I get from their website is that it’s all about celebrating being “girly.” This might also be problematic for some feminists—then again so is Barbie, Disney Princesses and all kinds of tween girl-focused fare that represent stereotypical portraits of femininity.
What do you think?
I see the concern with teaching girls to cherish outer beauty more than inner, but to be honest, tween-year-olds are at high risk to start doing wore things like sexual experimentation and drug use, I would much rather have a bunch of tween girls go to a salon and do their hair and make-up on the weekend over other possibilities.
Wow, I’m really not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, as a mom, I know that it’s a very valid point that you simply can’t send your kids outside to play like we did when we were growing up. A place like this gives girls a change to socialize with other girls their age while having fun and doing something different.
On the other hand, the whole girly frou-frou thing just rubs me the wrong way. Why can’t little girls get together to do really cool science projects? (Ok that’s a bit unrealistic but it’s all I can think of right now.) It just gets me that when it comes to things little girls should do, it always ends up being: “let’s dress up”, “let’s put on makeup”, “let’s get our hair and nails done.”
But since I’m sure this will catch on and be huge, I should probably relax and focus on the positives…it’s nice that it’s a diverse place. Being exposed to differnt types of beauty is a positive.
There’s nothing wrong with girls playing dress-up or putting on nail polish, etc. etc. The problem is that made-up image is EVERYWHERE. And it’s popular. And girls aspire to it. I’d like to see equal time and energy go into alternatives. How can other options become popular (meaning, how can corps make their money) if they are never offered?
I have to admit, my 9 year old daughter loves going to sweet and sassy. She gets a Glam Girl package where they give her a glittery up do hair style, polish her nails and give her a little lipgloss and pink cheeks. She’s beaming when she’s done. It’s great before we go to lunch or one one of our special dates. We took her last week before a father daughter dance and everybody asked her where she got her hair done! She looked nothing like JON BENET or Bratz dolls! When I was little - I played dress up with my moms make up and nail polish and wigs. I don’t think of it as growing up too soon. What is more little girl than playing dress up? (and this way she’s not in MY makeup!)