ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠEarlier this week I heard a report on the BBC World Service that spoke to an issue I have been concerned about for some time: the damaging impact caused by the ubiquity of sexualized images of young girls in the media and in the clothing and toy industries. The piece told of a recently released study by the American Psychological Association (APA) which found that the prevalence of sexualizing young girls and young women in movies, television, video games, music videos, song lyrics, magazines, cartoons, and advertising - in virtually every media form - as well as in countless consumer goods leads to increased levels of depression, lower self-esteem, far greater prevalence of eating disorders, higher smoking rates in an effort to control body weight, decreased assertiveness, and impaired cognitive ability. It is one of the key reasons I led the school toward the implementation of a uniform dress code a number of years ago!
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠThe study defined sexualization as valuing someone solely for her sexual appeal and the way she looks, to the exclusion of other characteristics. It documented the ill effects that can follow when girls come to think of themselves largely as objects to be looked at rather than as meaningful “actors in the world.” A few examples of the kind of sexualization the APA was examining include young pop stars dressed as sex objects and much like grown women; sneaker advertisements that have models licking lollipops and dressing as schoolgirls with their shirts unbuttoned; shops which sell adult lingerie for seven to ten year olds; suggestive, low slung pants for young girls; and soaring increases in adolescent plastic surgery. The list was endless.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠThe research documented the cognitive, emotional, physical, and developmental problems brought on by such omnipresent sexual depiction. For instance, studies concluded that girls who come to see themselves primarily in terms of how others see them and how appealing others find them demonstrate weaker performance in math, problem solving, and logical thinking skills. Exposure to “narrow representations of female beauty” were associated with a high prevalence of “disordered eating attitudes and symptoms,” lower self-esteem, negative mood, and depressive characteristics. Self-objectification compromised the development of healthy sexuality and related decision making amongst adolescent girls. Again, such findings went on and on.
ﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠﾠFortunately, the APA website hosts suggestions for what parents and educators can do to try to counteract the repeated message that “what matters is how ’hot' you look.” They suggest watching television and movies with our children and engaging them in related conversation. They counsel that adults question girls' choices and speak up. Making concerted efforts to understand the pressures young girls feel and encouraging them in areas unrelated to physical appearance are further steps adults can take to help their girls swim against the current. Finally, the importance of healthy modeling, education, and “being real” cannot be overstated. I urge you to view the complete report and related resources, which can be found at www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html.