A woman complained about the fact that her 8-year-old’s swimsuit top came with cup inserts. But viewers quickly schooled her on the real reason they were including with her child’s bathing suit.
The original post came from LifeasKristinab (@lifeaskristinab), who filmed herself pulling out the cups from her child’s swimsuit. In the video, she asks why they were there in the first place. While many viewers reacted negatively to the post, the Asian Duo (@asianunplugged) took a teaching approach in her response.
“Those pads are not there to convey any inappropriate meaning or convey any hidden messages at all,” she says. She then explains the real reason they’re there.
“What they are there for—and I’m gonna say this for everyone [because] there may be dads on here that are raising their daughters—they’re there for an added layer of protection,” she says.
The TikToker spells out the reason these cups are used in children’s bathing suits.
“Every girl’s gonna develop at their own pace so, maybe your 8-year-old hasn’t hit puberty yet or started puberty yet. So, for those that already started, they have these to help them,” she says, holding up a cup.
“Mostly when [children are] on the beach or in the pool, it gives them a little more discretion. It gives them, you know, confidence because you don’t want to show anything,” she says.
She adds that many swimsuits are made from thin material and can become more revealing when wet. This is why the cups are an added layer of coverage.
She concludes, “Whether you want to use them or not, that’s up to you as a parent … But yes, companies are starting to put those in for that reason.”
Although eight years old may seem early for a girl to start puberty, it is more common today than it ever was. In the 1990s, Dr. Marcia Herman-Giddens was the first to notice that girls were starting to develop breasts a year earlier than previous medical records indicated was the average age for puberty to start.
Studies in the decades that followed revealed that “the age of puberty in girls has dropped by about three months per decade since the 1970s.” No one understands exactly why this is happening. But some studies attribute it to stress, chemical exposures, and obesity, among other factors.
The Asian Duo’s video received over 10 million views. Unlike the mother who complained initially, nearly every commenter on the Asian Duo’s video seemed to have gotten the memo about cups in swimsuits.
“Yes my daughter started 8 and she’s very developed for her age so yes please keep adding them!!” wrote one mother.
“I had a C cup by 9. My mom also developed early. I needed padding but couldn’t find it in a bathing suit small enough. This would’ve been amazing for me!” shared another commenter.
“You would think this is common sense,” wrote a third.
@asianunplugged Bathing suits Modesty #bathingsuit #swimsuit #modesty #pool ♬ original sound – The Asian Duo
In response to the online reactions, LifeasKristinab deleted her initial post. She also uploaded an apology acknowledging her misunderstanding about the purpose of the cup inserts in her child’s swimsuit.
“One, thank you for correcting my ignorance and making me understand,” she says in her video.
She adds, “I was thinking in a perverse way and a whole other spectrum and not acknowledging that this is a solution for many children.”
The Daily Dot reached out to The Asian Duo and LifeasKristinab via TikTok direct message for further comment.
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