Today, it looks like the Brooke Shields situation was normal for the time, but I assure you that it wasn't. Plenty of people called out the behavior of those around her, and it led to the tighter restrictions on childhood sexual exploitation that we see today. There's a reason why Brooke Shields is pretty much a solo act - when Hollywood handlers tried to cross boundaries with her, they got slapped down pretty quickly, and nobody really followed.

her mom let her do a sexualized fully nude photoshoot when she was 10

She was abused for nude modelling and movie roles that sexualized her, including fully nude sex scenes, from age 11 on.
The movies were shown in theatres and on TV. Mainstream magazines published the pictures.
Fucked up times.

The 1970s... some people romanticizing it because they think it's cool and cheesy, kids are "latchkey" and no one trying to mind your manners. In reality drug abuse was really full-on, some US cities were plagued by crime in the open, there were all kinds of shock and gore movies, and sexual permissiveness is so low that even minors are not spared -- like boys from junior high literally talking about eventually getting laid.

Magazines like that one are so much a reflection of the views of the time, and this article has the author alternately despising "mainstream" culture while simultaneously selling her as a sex object.

No one should wonder why some men "thriving" from that decade were really fucked up, now curb-stomping civil rights so that they could get their own "freedoms".

The problem didn't just appear suddenly. Why do you think the situation in the US is what it is? Trash like trump don't see anything wrong with raping kids. This problem goes back to the beginning of time. We evolve socially but they stay in their caves.

Because 70's were WILD for that shit.

Should I remind you that street marches were held in the name of "adult-child love"? That NAMBLA, a North-American Man-Boy Love Association (you can't make this shit up) tried to meddle with LGBTQ+ to get included? That songs were written about teenage girls being taught "adult love"?

If anything, the article is characteristic of the time.

She played the role of a prostitute in a movie and instead of the article being like “whoa this movie is pretty heavy - trigger warning” it’s all “damn she’s hot.”

I did some research (more than I should for this ancient trite) and this comes from February 1978 issue of High Times magazine. A fucking stoner magazine! What the hell was the writer of some second-rate publication for grass and shrooms doing writing a lust piece about an up-and-coming child actress? What kind of grass would make you want to fuck a child?

Hold on, it gets worse. According to Wikipedia, the article's writer, Ed Dwyer, was the magazine's founding editor. Imagine working at that magazine's office and reading your boss's 1970s equivalent of a horny post.

Makes you think America has a pedo problem. What a ridiculous notion.

For people who weren’t around in the 70s and 80s trust me the sexism and sexual abuse back then was unreal!

How Shields was treated was not unusual at all.

Her torrid freshness became an underground legend among the talent set. Producers literally held their breaths, waiting for the remarkable Brooke Shields to reach a reasonable age of fuckability, not yet legal, but oh, so sweet. Welcome to the end of innocence, Brookie.

Multiple people had to okay that. How? HOW????

If you are not familiar with Brooke's story... I'm sorry for ruining you day.

Shields, now 59, has been vocal about her experiences, including her infamous appearance in Playboy at age 10 and her role when she was a minor in The Blue Lagoon, a film that featured her and her co-star in numerous nude scenes.

Source: https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/resurfaced-article-from-1978-describes-12-year-old-brooke-shields-as-a-whore

I wanted to say “thanks good I was born in better times”, but unfortunately this still exists:(