8y old girl we gym in bra top and leggings

[KarlWrenbury]

Was at gym. Girl with her mum but wearing the kind of gym wear a 23 y old would wear.

I had a judgemental moment. It just seemed weird.

A changing room is not in public. Of course some clothing sexualizes them, I think unnecessarily. Plenty of us have done sports/dance without issue without wearing shorts that cover little more than underwear or bra tops. I guess I don't get why one has to be wearing so little to be comfortable.

I'm not saying kids should be dressed like they're Amish of course but why don't people want to protect their kids from any creeps that might be out there?

At a similar age my mum was photographed in knickers and pigtails on the beach.

It's innocent.

@Bigcat25 so then by your reckoning then children wouldn't be abused of they were covered up?

I have news for you, abuse happens because of a f**ked up person not what a child wears. That I can actually personally confirm.

The suggestion of clothing making a child a target is lazy and victim blaming.

Practical sports wear for doing sports; not a problem.

If by "gym" you mean the room with machines and weights, I'd be more concerned about the safety of undersized children being in there than their attire.

Males are increasingly wearing leggings for sport- usually outdoors. They often workout in skimpy vests in the gym or take t-shirts off outside in good weather. Tight cycling shorts are often an option too, although do tend to be worn longer than female hotpants style.

Namenamchange · Yesterday 20:41
Why aren’t 8 year old boys encourage to wear tight tops and figure hugging bottoms?”

Most do in the swimming pool 🤷‍♀️

BogRollBOGOF

If by "gym" you mean the room with machines and weights, I'd be more concerned about the safety of undersized children being in there than their attire”

Absolutely this. It’s dangerous.

Pedophiles would be overjoyed to get a better look at an 8yo resembling an ironing board and if you send your child out with her stomach on show and tight pants like leggings you are offering them up on a plate. Adult women have creep shots taken of them while grocery shopping, in the gym, jogging etc, it's your responsibility as a parent to prevent access of your child to pedophiles as much as possible or they could be circulating on the internet forever with men masturbating over them. Kids should be able to wear whatever they want, but they can't without that risk. It's even worse now that everyone has a smart phone.

@flashspeed stop blaming clothes for paedophiles. I know this is shocking but me seeing a naked woman does nothing for me as does a child.

And given the ridiculous amount of so called "fantasy" revolves around school uniform and babygro fetishism I would suggest your point is moot .

Your comment "offering it up" is actually sick. So a child in a bathing outfit is "asking for it"? 😭

I agree, it’s just so unnecessary for a child to wear a crop top at the gym like that. I feel the same way about children in bikinis.

I'm not blaming CLOTHES, I'm blaming PARENTS ffs. And that's fabulous for you, but it's not true for the majority in regards to a naked woman.

Yes, fantasy revolves around school uniform and babygro fetishism, and the men who enjoy those things probably enjoy the real thing, because they're wrong in the head.

Again, just taking what I wrote however you'd like to make me look like the unreasonable one. I'm saying a PARENT who puts their child in revealing clothes is offering the image of their CHILD in that outfit up to any pedo in the area. The child is not asking for it at all and nor can they ever, they are a child. A child in a bathing outfit at the beach is very different to a child dressed by irresponsible parents to show skin in an every day setting like the gym or the street, however I'd still never allow my child on a public beach in a bathing suit without wearing shorts over the top of it.

You're making me out to be excusing predators, however you seem very naive to things going on around you. I'd never excuse predators, however I can not do anything to remove them from the world, or know who is a possible predator, therefore I will take steps to make sure my child is less at risk of being ogled by them. I as an adult woman would love the freedom to walk around city centres at night alone - I don't have that, because I don't live in a utopia. I take steps to keep myself safe, as I do for my children.

@PurplePolkaDot0 a two piece suit is a lot more convenient for sizing and toileting. And again what a child wears is not an invitation nor inappropriate. The inappropriateness is on the part of the abuser.

I didn’t say inappropriate, I said unnecessary.

@PurplePolkaDot0 I apologise.

You did say unnecessary, well given the multiple billion fashion industries I would argue that necessary isn't the issue as bows are unnecessary, glitter party shoes, footie shirts for children etc are unnecessary but the children choose to wear them.

Not weird at all. My gym has family memberships, which include little children.

Also, not the issue!

What does a little child do in the gym?
They can't use the machines or weights.
It's definitely weird. Most gyms are restricted to 14 or 16+ for a reason.

I am surprised the gym has insurance for an 8 year old.clothing is fine for a gym

She was wearing gym clothes, at a gym.

It sounds no worse than a bikini at the pool or beach? It sounds like your saying an 8 year olds chest had sexual connotations. It's the same as a boys chest at that age so some kids of 8 don't even wear a top! She was clothed. It was clearly a kids sized 'bra' top, so not a bra if there's nothing to fill it with?

The kid was doing stretches and balance stuff with her mum

For clarification, it was a bit like seeing a kid in high heels at a young age. It just seemed too old.

I agree OP. It's not that there's anything wrong with seeing an eight year olds body, it's the dressing a young child in adult-style clothing which isn't appropriate. What's wrong with normal shorts/leggings and a T shirt for that age?

When I was 8 - this would have been late 60s/early 70s - I had a two piece bathing costume. The bottoms had a frill on them and the top was what would be described today as a crop top. I can’t see anything wrong with that. But children in skimpy mini adult bikinis with bra shaped tops yes that could be a problem.

Kind of agree with OP although it shouldn’t be this way.

It’s not the clothes that are an issue it’s the creeps you need to protect your child from.

My sister gym unfortunately had one of these creeps, who took multiple photos of her and others including teens and posted them online

So when I see tight leggings and little crop tops designed for children at gym I always feel wary

Its sad because children should be able to wear whatever they want but there are creeps out there

What do you mean by bra top @KarlWrenbury ? All I can think of is cropped vest top type thing. That's all I see people in at my gym. I've never seen anyone in a bra looking top. I wish my gym would let kids in, they have to be 13. I would love for it to be normalised from a young age and part of our routine.

Also agree that boys aren’t treated the same, Dd does various activities, at none of them are any boys wearing cycling shorts, crop tops or tight anything. Which leads me to think their parents priority is wearing clothes that suit their activity,

Womens clothing is often ridiculous, the shorts are shorter, tops tighter. I think the discomfort I feel is also about how when kids are little they focus on the clothes rather than how they make them look, DD likes wearing her frozen dress, some of the kids gym stuff is shifting the focus from enjoying the clothes to the appearance of the body underneath them iyswim.

No doubt when she’s older she’ll try out different things but for now she’s a kid, not a mini adult.