1959: The Barbie doll debuts, sparking discussions across the decades about everything from her impossible measurements to whether she presents a false ideal to young girls. In 1992 a teen version of the doll created an uproar when she famously declared: "Math class is tough."
1960s: Sexy takes on a waifish style, as Twiggy popularizes little-girl androgynous styles and stick-skinny looks.
1980: Fifteen-year-old Brooke Shields creates a stir when she appears in a Calvin Klein ad, teasing: "Want to know what comes between me and my Calvins? Nothing."
1984: Madonna's release of "Like a Virgin" sparks girls and young women to copy her street urchin looks with short skirts over leggings, bras as outerwear and fishnet gloves.
1995: Calvin Klein takes heat again for an ad campaign where prepubescent models pose in pornography-like settings. (Off-camera adult men are heard enticing them to disrobe.)
2001: The first Bratz dolls - vampy playthings with oversized heads, skinny bodies and clothes that include thigh-high boots and tight dresses - are released. By 2006 their sales surpass Barbie.
2008: Vanity Fair features a suggestive photo spread of 15-year-old Disney Channel star Miley Cyrus with a bare back, clutching a sheet to her chest. Parents are outraged and Cyrus claims to be "embarrassed" by the Annie Leibovitz photos.
2009: TLC launches the "Toddlers & Tiaras" reality show spotlighting the little girls pageant scene. In September 2011, some viewers are horrified as one 3-year-old contestant is filmed strutting across a pageant stage wearing a replica hooker costume from the movie "Pretty Woman."
March 2011: Clothing label Abercrombie & Fitch offers padded bikini tops aimed at girls as young as 7, then "recategorizes" it for older girls after parents complain.
September 2011: JC Penney pulls a T-shirt with the statement "I'm too pretty to do homework so my brother has to do it for me."