by Selwyn Duke, The New American:

On the heels of a condemned and canceled advertising effort by Spanish designer Balenciaga that featured little children in bondage gear, fashion house Benetton somehow fancied it a good idea to release an ad showing young girls posing inappropriately in underwear. The picture created an uproar, with one actress critic saying that it amounted to “sexualizing little kids.” But while many observers are shocked by such images, is it really shocking that society has reached this point given our long-standing cultural trajectory?