Ever since North West was born, I knew that she'd be under the watch and gaze of the public. What I did not expect to happen was the hypersexualization of the infant that has gone on for the past few years. Just a few days ago, Billboard -- a well-respected magazine company -- posted this "joke" on Twitter for a few laughs:

Now, the statement clearly has to do with Kim Kardashian's infamous sex tape, but it's unnecessary to bring North West into the mix. That's part of the reason why hundreds of Twitter users tweeted Billboard over the tasteless remark, prompting Billboard to take down the post within minutes. North West has been frequently sexualized long before this. For instance, last winter when she attended a fashion show in sheer clothing. Before that, she has been highly fetishized for her light skin and curly hair among many men and women who consider her features to be desirable. The worst thing about this -- besides the inherent sexism and misogyny -- is that North West is a young child that probably doesn't have a clue as to any of this -- let alone the meanings behind them.

What we have here is a culture that looks at young girls in a very inappropriate sexual context that echoes the kinds of scenarios that many grown women are portrayed in. This doesn't only happen for celebrity kids, but many other young girls as well. It's a different side of the same coin that warns little girls against becoming "fast ass girls" in regards to their body or their behaviors that have no sexual intent behind them. It's the same as training young girls to consider how their innocent actions could be misconstrued and used against them. It teaches young girls that they are to think, first and foremost, about how they will be viewed sexually even when they're at an age where they're not capable of navigating that aspect of life.

Recently, I read Feminist Current article that claims that what we all live in today is a pedophile culture. This means that we are taught to look at pre-pubescent features, such as thin hairless bodies and small frames, as the ultimate mark of sexual desirability, not to say that we are all pedophiles. At first, this seemed like the opposite of the hypersexualization of young girls like North West are put through because its more so said that we revert young women to a level of pre-pubescent children instead of launching young girls to the status of older, sexual women. But they both fall under the umbrella of patriarchy. They both insist on the constant grooming of young girls and women so that they may be pleasing to others. They also reflect our whole view of sex; how sex is seen publicly as a tool to marginalize, mock, judge, and manipulate girls and women. They both say that a young girl must align with this, that, and the third in order to become a respectable women and that a woman must then do this, that, and the third to be desired. Both subject women and girls to the role of sex objects but still place the full responsibility on them for how their sexuality is perceived. This is exactly what leads to "jokes" like the aforementioned one and hypothetical situations where men post images of underage girls on twitter asking "She calls into bed and tells you she's 15, what do you do?"

This is how we forget that who we are talking about here are children. Children who are still growing and learning and getting a sense of themselves. Children who need to grow in a culture that sees them exactly as that instead of immediate sexual beings.