Second, models and spokespersons should be more "normal" looking. The image of the skinny, airbrushed model results in extremely distorted self-images in women who would have, at any other time, been considered beautiful.
Most important, children should not be taught to dress and act like small adults. Manners, yes. "Sexy," no. Does anyone doubt that little Jon Benet Ramsey would be alive today if she had not been taught to strut and flaunt like a seductress? Children's pageants should reflect childhood -- not miniature adulthood.
Finally, when genuine interest in sexuality begins, it should not be forbidden. Note that I did not say that it should be encouraged. The age of consent should be puberty for both sexes. Here is where adults have to bear full responsibility. It is always inappropriate for an adult to have a sexual relationship with a child, but it is not inappropriate for a child to explore sexuality with his or her peers.
For this to be feasible we would need to provide -- no, require -- birth control measures as soon as pregnancy is possible. If current birth control methods are not safe for 12 year olds, then safer ones need to be developed. Also, we need to eliminate or create vaccines against all STDs.
In the meantime we have to re-learn how to be at peace with our own bodies. No natural function is evil. It is our distorted view of it coupled with the economic and social burden of children without stable families and the stigma of an STD that make early, normal sexuality dangerous and undesirable. Those things could be corrected in a generation.
