what is wrong with netflix's Cuties?

Cuties, is a new show from Netflix set to release in September. The show is an adaptation of the French film 'Mignonnes' which follows the story of an 11 year old girl and the new dance crew she joins. So what is wrong with that?

A lot if Netflix is advertising this show in a way that sexualizes these pre-adolescent girls. The show is explained as, "Amy [the main character] becomes fascinated with a twerking dance crew [and] starts to explore her femininity, defying her family’s traditions." Within just two sentences, Netflix is teaching girls that femininity and overt sexualization are the same thing. Growing up as a girl, you see the sexualization and objectification of adult woman in pop culture and often times children already link that with adulthood. But now Netflix is sexualizing girls who are not even teenagers which inherently tells young girls that this is how they should act as a child.

Netflix glorifies sexualizing young girls, especially on a platform used by hundreds of adults. Fetishizing children in pornography and now the media reinforces the same values that go through peoples mind when they buy a child. Growing up for a girl should not be how much society sexualizes her. Growing up for a girl should be her first dance, AP test, or drivers license. Nor should role models for children be objectified by sites as large as Netflix. We cannot support Netflix's advertising of this show and we must say: 'Netflix do better.'
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Written by:
Sophie Buechler, Butterfly Ambassadors Leader