Halloween is fast approaching, which means that if your kiddo hasn't selected a coveted Halloween costume by now, you're on borrowed time. But parents doing some last-minute shopping of their own in Australia were recently shocked by one option they saw on shelves. Among the many princess and superhero costumes available at a Kmart, parents were also greeted by a children's-sized "bride costume," selling for just $6.
As a photo of the costume made the rounds on Twitter, a woman identified only as Shannon B. launched a Change.org petition to have it removed.
"A child bride costume currently exists on Kmart shelves in childrenās sizes," the petition stated. "Tell Kmart this is beyond inappropriate and offensive and that they have a social responsibility to pull this item off their shelves immediately. Please help me get this message to Kmart by signing this petition."
Although the costume seemed like a harmless dress-up ensemble to some, to others it was incredibly tone-deaf, and ignores a massive global issue.
"Each year, 12 million children (girls as young as 6 years old — the same size as this 'costume') are sold or married off by their family without their consent," Shannon B's petition explained. "Thatās one million child marriagesĀ per month!"
According to the International Center for Research on Women, she's right — except her numbers might actually be a little low.
The International Center for Research on Women reports that about 15 million girls enter into child marriages every year.
In fact, "one-third of girls in the developing world are married before the age of 18 and 1 in 9 are married before the age of 15," the site explained. "While countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage are concentrated in Western and Sub-Saharan Africa, due to population size, the largest number of child brides reside in South Asia."
It's for this reason that countries such as Australia, and even the United States, might not be as keyed into the issue — and therefore not see the problem with marketing a bride costume to a young girl. Still, some would argue that it's an important issue that needs more international outrage to help eradicate it.
"Child marriage means child abuse and torture in its worst forms: pedophilia, child rape, child slavery, child sex trafficking," the petition continued. "Kmart — take this child bride costume off your shelves."
The petition itself drew 507 supporters, and people across Twitter weighed in on the controversy.
Responses came quick, but were certainly mixed.Ā
Lots of people didn't see the harm, and thought people were getting bent out of shape for nothing.
"There are real problems in this world," one man tweeted. "And this is what we are mad about?"
"It is sad those things happen, but my daughters used to dress up and pretend to get married all the time," one person tweeted. "Thereās NOTHING wrong with it. I really believe people are looking for things to petition these days."
"It's actually really cute and inexpensive," one person added. "I'm certain many girls would love to wear it on Halloween."
However, others agreed that Kmart was wrong to have sold it.
"I agree on the recall for a child bride costume," one woman tweeted. "It is not acceptable. How sad it is that society has become so desensitized that they can't see the forest for the trees."
On Tuesday, Kmart announced it would be yanking the costumes from shelves ASAP.
"Kmart Australia regrets the decision to range the bride costume," a spokesperson for the brand said this week, according to Yahoo News. "It was not intended to cause offense and we sincerely apologize. We have made the decision to withdraw this product."
However, the debate continued to rage on Twitter today, with many arguing that the costumes themselves weren't actually about child brides — but brides. In other words, just asĀ the way that kids might dress up as a firefighter or a doctor or a princess or even a mom, there's nothing inherently wrong with playing "wedding," is there?
"I remember wearing my mom's wedding dress when I was 12," one woman recalled. "It was fun to put on and prance around in. I went on to grow up and fall in love and finally settle down and get married at the very young age of gasp 28."
"What is wrong with a little girl wanting to dress up as a bride?" another person pressed. "Is it wrong for a girl to aspire to be a bride? I was under the impression that girls could be anything they wanted to be."
