Have you ever seen this scene on the TV commercials? The picture above is a part of a commercial from the icecream brand, Baskin Robbins. What do you think of this picture?

 The commercial video for "Baskin Robbins Pink Star," released in July, drew attention for the appearance of world-famous child model Ella Gross. In the video, however, controversy arose over the sexual merchandising of the child as Ella Gross was staged as an adult woman, with thick makeup and a sleeveless dress. As a result, Baskin Robbins accepted the opinions of consumers who felt uncomfortable with the image of the advertisement and stopped exposing this commercial video.

 Meanwhile, the Korea Communications Standards Commission admitted Baskin Robbins commercial video as sexual merchandising of children. It voted to impose a court-martial on broadcasters who broadcast. The reasons for voting were that the commercial had inappropriate expressions for children and violated the principle of revealing their business names in food advertisements. Rep. Shim Young-sup said, “The ad used pornographic production techniques. The European Union applies very strict standards for advertising with children, and Baskin Robbins doesn't advertise this way in other countries."

 Netizens were still divided on the committee's stance. "Why is it sexualizing to eat icecream? It's just pretty.", “What kind of kid in the world wears makeup like that and eats ice cream like that?” There was a wide variety of netizens from those who thought there were no scenes of sexuality to those who pointed out that the girl`s image was unrealistic.

 Unlike other countries, are Koreans so generous to the issue? Then what about the cases of other countries reacting to these kinds of contents? Recently, a photo book of a Korean-American girl was uploaded on the Hong Kong media site. This site is widely used by foreign users including the U.S. The operator uploaded the post and wrote, "She looks like a living doll." Immediately there was a boycott of this post. This was because the children should not be made into sexual products. In another case, there was a thumbnail consisting of two photos of a girl wearing makeup and staring at the camera as if she were an adult. Regarding that post, many of American netizens said, "I'll never click on this post." "That age girl should play with dolls rather than be a doll." "Let's leave them to their children. It's a sad world." "Let's not codify our children."

 Like these examples above, many experts say that we should consider this commercial as a problem. Gong-Hye jung, the representative of the Korean Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse, said, as for some of the comments like “Don't you react too sensitively?", "It's because we don't see it as a problem." Other experts also point out that the ad is not simply a problem with a female child's makeup and wearing clothes like an adult, but there is a bit more fundamental problem. “The real problem is that a young girl dressed like an adult has become a suitable image for expressing a fresh feeling in our society. When you meet an eleven-year-old girl, it is hard to find the impression that she looks like an adult woman. It's an image made by adults. Our society gradually expects such images from girls, and the girls themselves will strive to become such images," Je Chung-man, CEO of children's clothing brand Radirubi, pointed out. It's not easy to find a girl like "A Little Woman" who is well-dressed in the advertisement. Unlike ordinary 11-year-old girls, it is more like an "Image girl" created by our society.

 The social image expected for girls is easy to find in various media. According to an analysis by a civic group consisting of mothers, 23 of the 35 animated series aired on Educational Broadcasting System (EBS) for three years between 2015 and 2018 contain expressions and settings that can instill gender stereotypes. In the animated film “Robocca Foley”, the female robot, Amber, is a pink ambulance. While male robots play a leading role in the mission as the leader, Amber only takes care of injured cars. In the case of “Flower Heart”, dieting is offered as a problem-solving method for girls who are teased for being fat. She even goes so far as to be advised to decorate her appearance after failing to diet. Such gender-based color discrimination and stereotypes that girls should look fit and fancy are naturally exposed to children by cartoons. Although Article of the Regulations on Broadcasting Review states that the appearance, character, and role of certain sexes should not be defined uniformly in broadcasting, many point out that they are virtually useless.

 The ten-year-old girl in a survey by The Children’s Society said, "Girls are less happy with their looks because of the way the media portrays how girls should be seen." Besides, a study conducted by this charity found that 52,000 children and teenagers aged eight to 18 years old who were exposed to the media had a significant impact on the gender stereotypes relating to behaviors and expectations.

 Gong Hye-jung, head of the Korea Association for the Prevention of Child Abuse, said, "The government should provide specific guidelines on media-related laws including children and revise laws related to sexual ethics so that children can grow safely and happily."