From Sina:

Little Girls in Bikinis Posing as Car Models at the Wuhan Automobile Exhibition Cause Controversy

As reported by Wuhan’s Evening Newspaper, at the “2012 Chutian Automobile Festival” held on November 16th at the Wuhan International Conference & Exhibition Center, several little girls in bikinis posing like car models, attracting crowds of onlookers.

Photos of these little girls in bikinis were posted on Weibo, inciting strong reactions, with comments nearly “all one-sided” against the organizer of the auto show, the automobile manufacturers, and the parents of these little girls. One visitor to the car exhibition who saw the “show” commented that having little children wearing bikinis as car models is businesses harming “the buds of our motherland” and that the parents were being absolutely irresponsible.

“They should get their minds out of the gutter?” said the mother of one of the little girls, feeling very misunderstood and wronged. She said that she had encouraged her daughter to compete in several children’s model contests, believing that the catwalk would keep her child physically fit and help to build a more confident and open personality. “And it’s not like its illegal for kids to wear bikinis.”

The show was co-hosted by Qisefeng Modeling Agency, whose director Zhang Ping said that they held a Parent-Child Contest at the car show, hoping to find potential future super models. There were only two events in the children modeling contest held on November 16th—a talent show and car model posing, and wearing a bikini was not required. Zhang Ping says these girls were just contestants, not car models, and there was no business relationship between the parents, the Challenge Contest and the organizer of the event.

However, Feng Jialin, a research associate of Hubei Academy of Social Sciences, indicated that wearing bikinis for show would have negative effects on girls of such a young age.

Firstly, it is probable that young girls that start modeling at a young age might easily think that it’s easy money; hence they lack the motivation to study hard at school. Secondly, overly-revealing clothing could have unfavorable influences on children’s psychological health, especially on their sexual development. Wearing bikinis at such a young age is beyond what people could accept psychologically, and is rather inappropriate.

From the perspective of child psychology, parents should try their best to keep children from forms of art or behavior that are not well-accepted among the public, especially little girls; and revealing clothing should not be worn by them.

Comments from Sina Weibo:

80后大男生：

The organizers have absolutely no bottom limit [to what they’re willing to do] whatsoever. And neither do the parents.

幸福的喵生：

In the future, don’t just emphasize school education, pay more attention to home education. Some parents have lost their heads to greed!!! Could children grow up healthy [with such parents]?

北清崖：

This is as disgusting as singing Peking Opera in bikinis!

阿布的布阿：

I’ve never understood why car shows have people wearing bikinis. It’s not like they’re selling yachts! Who TM would wear a bikini to go out and drive around? Nor do I know what moron first started such a crooked practice! Children wearing bikinis is not what goes too far, what goes too far is their suggestive poses! Are these still [being treated as] children?

旅途与修行：

Pole dancing and the likes is nothing compared to this. This is truly going too far.

钢铁侠队长：

When being naked becomes a tool for making money, the concept of honor and shame has already died.

就不爱旅行：

This is worse than begging [referring to the use of children as beggars]!

曲水语流觞：

I don’t see what’s wrong with it. It looks fine to me. Dirty people see dirtiness in everything.

檀有志：

I can picture their parents showing these photos and bragging about it to every one!

转帖蛋白：

The Hubei Body Exhibition.

陈涛Cday：

That’s the dwarf/midget group, okay? They’re already 20-something-years=old already. Don’t make a fuss about things that you don’t fully understand.

Morris的茶馆：

What’s the problem with this? I’m perfectly okay with my under 10-year-old daughter wearing bikinis and being a child model. Althought we shouldn’t be too open-minded [liberal], we shouldn’t be too conservative [prudish] either… I just think the car here [that the children are modeling with] is wrong. It should be an SUV or other large recreational vehicle, where the whole family is going to the beach, where wearing this kind of clothes would make sense.

What do you think? Is this fundamentally inappropriate, or is it all in the mind of the viewer?