Girls need to be able to discern what is good and valuable and dismiss the rubbish.
They need to be nourished physically, of course, but also spiritually and emotionally, to help build resilience and be able to navigate their way through a tough world.
The world needs girls who desire to be whole, well rounded, citizens of the world—and adults who will facilitate this. We need to insist they (and all of us) deserve better. We all need a world that makes true human development possible.
There’s a lot of dark material in this book. However, there is hope. A new movement is taking shape against objectification and sexualisation, one that goes beyond the usual polarities of left and right and religious and other differences. A diverse collection of organisations and individuals are coming together to agitate for the dignity and worth of girls and women, using everything from culture-jamming grassroots activism to more formal lobbying and advocacy.
This movement presents great hope. It is helping girls see that succumbing to the demands and dictates of popular culture, and adhering to pornified roles and behaviours, causes them to live limited and constricted lives. May this book provide strength, solidarity and resolve to this new movement, for the benefit of girls, boys—and all of us.
References
AAP (2007) ‘Cosmetic cuts a goal for girls: survey’, AAP August 12.
Alexander, Harriet (2009) ‘Schoolboys film sex attack on girl’, The Age, Melbourne, January 29, http://www.theage.com.au/national/schoolboys-film-sex-attack-on-girl-20090129-7sph.html
American Psychological Association (2007) Report of the APA task force on the sexualization of girls, Washington DC, available at www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html
Bhupta, Malini and Aditi Pai (2007) ‘No Kidding,’ India Today, June 25, pp. 51–57.
Bittersby, Lucy (2008) ‘Alarm at teenage ‘sexting’ traffic’ The Age, Melbourne, July 10, p. 3, http://www.theage.com.au/national/alarm-at-teenage-sexting-traffic-20080709-3clg.html
Bottrell, Dorothy and Gabrielle Meagher (Eds) (2008) Communities and Change: Selected Papers. Sydney University Press, Sydney.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs (1997) The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. Random House, New York.
Campbell, Denis (2009) ‘Porn: the new sex education,’ The Guardian, London, March 30, http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/mar/30/teenagers-porn-sex-education
Carrington, Kerry (1998) Who Killed Leigh Leigh?: A Story of Shame and Mateship in An Australian Town. Random House, Sydney.
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia (2008) Submission to the National Council to Reduce Violence against Women and Children responding to the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children, July 31.
de la Cruz, Melissa (2004) ‘The boob-job epidemic’, Cosmopolitan, December 1, p. 129.
Denny, Carrie (2008) ‘Trend: Pretty Babies,’ Philadelphia Magazine, March 28 http://www.phillymag.com/articles/pretty_babies/page1
Durham, M. Gigi (2008) The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualisation of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It. Overlook Press, New York.
Evans, Ann (2000) ‘Power and Negotiation: Young women’s choices about sex and contraception’ Journal of Population Research, November, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0PCG/is_2_17/ai_105657390/
Flood, Michael and Clive Hamilton (2003) ‘Regulating youth access to pornography.’ Discussion Paper Number 53, The Australia Institute, Canberra.
Giles Darrell (2008) ‘Ban on cosmetic surgery for teens’ Sunday Mail, Brisbane, April 6, http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23490657-3102,00.html
Gill, Rosalind (2009) ‘Supersexualise Me! Advertising and “the midriffs”’, in Feona Attwood (Ed) Mainstreaming Sex: The Sexualisation of Western Culture. I.B. Taurus, London, http://www.awc.org.nz/userfiles/16_1176775150.pdf
Greer, Germaine (1999) The Whole Woman. Transworld Publishers, London.
International Labour Association (2008) ‘Commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents: The ILO’s response’ http://www.ilo.org/global/Themes/Forced_Labour/lang— en/docName—WCMS_100740/index.htm
Levy, Ariel (2005) Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the Rise of Raunch Culture. Free Press, New York.
Ley, Rebecca (2007) ‘Girl wants to be next Jordan,’ The Sun UK, July 24, http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/article248748.ece
MacKinnon, Catharine A. and Andrea Dworkin (Eds) (1998) In Harm’s Way: The Pornography Civil Rights Hearings. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.
Martin, Courtney E. (2007) Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: The Frightening New Normalcy of Hating Your Body. Free Press, New York.
Medew, Julia (2008) ‘Werribee father opposed jail for DVD teens’ February 1, http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/werribee-father-opposed-jail-for-dvd-teens/2008/01/31/1201714153350.html
Meyer, Stephenie (2006) Twilight. Atom, London.
Moran, Jonathon (2009) ‘Miranda Kerr goes nude for Rolling Stone and Koalas’ The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, May 31, http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/story/0,,25564221-10388,00.html
Morris, Deborah (2007) ‘Let girls be girls,’ The Age, Melbourne, November 17, p. 8.
Nine News (2009) ‘Technology fuelling sexting craze: study,’ May 12, http://news.ninemsn.com.au/technology/812871/technology-fuelling-sexting-craze-study
Ninemsn (2008) ‘Six year old boys “ran sex club”,’ September 13, http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/630867/trio-of-schoolboys-ran-sex-club
O’Dea, Jennifer (2007) ‘Are we OK or are we not?’ Journal of the HEIA, 14:3, p. 6.
Paul, Pamela (2005) Pornified: How Pornography Is Transforming Our Lives, Our Relationships, and Our Families. Times Books, New York.
Robinson, Natasha (2006) ‘DVD just a bit of fun, say students,’ The Australian, October 26.
Rosewarne, Lauren (2007) Sex in Public: Women, Outdoor Advertising and Public Policy, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, UK.
Rush, Emma and Andrea La Nauze (2006) ‘Corporate Paedophilia: Sexualisation of children in Australia.’ Discussion Paper Number 90, The Australia Institute, Canberra, https://www.tai.org.au/documents/downloads/DP90.pdf
Rush, Emma and Andrea La Nauze (2006) ‘Letting Children be Children: Stopping the sexualisation of children in Australia’ Discussion Paper, Number 93, The Australia Institute, Canberra
Salzhauer, Michael (2008) My Beautiful Mommy. Big Tent Books, Georgia, USA.
Sauers, Joan (2007) Sex Lives of Australian Teenagers. Random House Australia, Sydney.
Saurine, Angela (2009) ‘The sad truth of Generation Sex’ The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, February 2, http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24992752-5001031,00.html
Scheikowski, Margaret (2009) ‘Youths film sex assault on 13yo girl,’ The Brisbane Times, January 30 http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/articles/2009/01/30/1232818677095.html
Scobie, Claire (2007) ‘Wild Things’ The Bulletin, February 6, p. 35. http://www.clairescobie.com/journalism/features/On%20Sex%20Lives%20of%20Teenagers_June07%5B2%5D.pdf
Sessions Stepp, Laura (2008) ‘Teenage girls buying the bunny’ Washington Post, April 1, http://www.azcentral.com/style/articles/0711playboy.html
Shalit, Wendy (2007) Girls Gone Mild: Young women reclaim self-respect and find it’s not bad to be good. Random House, New York.
Skinner, Rachel (2009) ‘New study finds teen girls regret having sex earlier’ May 19, http://insciences.org/article.php?article_id=5101
Stanley, Janet, Cassandra Tinning and Katie Kovacs (2003) ‘Child Protection and the Internet’ Ninth Australasian conference on child abuse and neglect, November 24–27 Napcan, Surrey Hills NSW.
Sydney Morning Herald (2009), http://www.smh.com.au/news/home/technology/japan-bans-sexual-torture-software/2009/06/06/1244234406067.html
Tankard Reist, Melinda (2008) ‘Incensed About Censorship’ ABC Unleashed, November 27, http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2429316.htm
Tankard Reist, Melinda (2008) ‘Give this ad the boot’ On Line Opinion, March 2, http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=7119&page=3
Tankard Reist, Melinda (2008) ‘You say dignity, I say torture porn and ne’er the twain shall meet’ Sydney Morning Herald, July 10, http://www.smh.com.au/news/letters/you-say-dignity-i-say-torture-porn--and-neer-the-twain-shallmeet/2008/07/09/1215282921244.html
Taylor, Kate (2006) ‘Today’s ultimate feminists are the chicks in crop tops’ The Guardian, London, March 23, http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/mar/23/comment.gender
This is London (2007) ‘Web is blamed for 20 percent leap in sex attacks by children’ March 3.
White Ribbon Foundation (2008) An Assault on Our Future: The Impact of Violence on Young People and Their Relationships http://www.whiteribbonday.org.au/media/documents/AssaultOnOurFutureFinal.pdf
Wolf, Naomi (1991) The Beauty Myth. Vintage, London.
Women’s Forum Australia (2009) ‘Government must act immediately to end access to downloadable gang rape game’ February 25, http://womensforumaustralia.com/images/pressreleases/090225%20downloadable%20rape%20game.pdf
What are the Risks of Premature Sexualisation for Children?
Emma Rush
It is important to be familiar with what research tells us about the risks of premature sexualisation for children. Why? To defend children’s interests against people who claim that premature sexualisation is not a real problem. In fact, both research evidence and expert opinion suggest that premature sexualisation does indeed place children at risk of harm of various kinds.
1 What is sexualisation, and how does it occur?
Sexualisation of children occurs when ‘the slowly developing sexuality of children’ is moulded ‘into stereotypical forms of adult sexuality’ (Rush and La Nauze, 2006, p. 1).
This results from two quite different cultural processes, both driven by commercial interests.
The first cultural process has been going on for decades—the use of sex to sell things to, or entertain, adults. To the extent that children are exposed to this, it can affect their slowly developing sexual identity. As advertising and popular culture have become more heavily sexualised (to the point where some scholars speak of the ‘pornification’ of culture more generally), the impact upon children has increased.
The other cultural process that sexualises children is relatively new. It involves sexualising products being sold specifically for children, and children themselves being presented in images or directed to act in advertisements in ways modelled on adult sexual behaviour (Rush and La Nauze, 2006, p. 1). To describe this process of directly sexualising children, we have adopted a phrase first used by Phillip Adams: ‘corporate paedophilia.’ Sexualising products are products linked to cultural norms of sexual attractiveness. Such products were previously reserved for teenagers and adults but are now sold directly to girls of primary school age, for example, bras, platform shoes, lip gloss, fake nails, and so on. Advertising for these products shows clearly that they are no longer being sold for ‘creative dress-ups’ purposes, as they may have been in previous decades. Rather, they are marketed as products to wear on a daily basis, to get ‘the look’ that is sold to primary school aged children, despite concern from parents and professionals in child health and welfare. What look is that? ‘Hot.’
So today’s children are not only exposed to hypersexualised adult culture, but are also directly sold the idea that they should look ‘hot’—not later, but now. This means that today’s children are facing sexualising pressure quite unlike anything faced by children in the past. What risks might children face as a result of such pressure?
2 Risks for children
What kind of evidence is available?
There is broad agreement from experts in children’s health and welfare that premature sexualisation places children at risk of a variety of harms (Wigg et al., 2006; Wigg et al., 2007; APA TSG, 2007). However, there is as yet no conclusive evidence for this, such as could be provided by a carefully designed, large scale, longitudinal study.1 There are several reasons that such conclusive evidence does not yet exist.
The widespread premature sexualisation of children is a relatively new development. Celebrity gossip magazines specifically targeted at primary school girls, which represent a fundamental shift in childhood culture, only began to become widespread after 2000, as did bras and ‘bralettes’ specifically made for ages four and up. Large scale, longitudinal studies require careful theoretical development as well as substantial funding into the medium term. Only after almost two years of vigorous debate in Australia did a Federal government report into the sexualisation of children in the contemporary media recommend such a study, to be funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council. However, the report also foresaw significant problems in conducting this kind of study, in particular, the breach of family privacy it might entail, and the risk that such a study might itself further contribute to the process of the sexualisation of children and thus increase any consequent harm (SCECA, 2008, sections 3.27–3.29).
So conclusive evidence does not yet exist, and it may not ever be possible to obtain such conclusive evidence due to intrinsic problems in researching this very complex and sensitive area. Yet this does not mean that there is no evidence at all about the harms that premature sexualisation may cause children. Indeed, there is relevant evidence from a range of research studies, as well as expert opinion about the risks premature sexualisation poses to children. The major risks include:
• increased body dissatisfaction;
• development of eating disorders at younger ages;
• increased self-objectification;
* * *
1 A longitudinal study is one that follows the subjects of the research over a number of years. Such studies can prove causality, for example, that premature sexualisation causes an increase in eating disorders. Studies conducted at a single point in time can only prove association, for example, that children who have a more sexualised self-concept are more likely than those who don’t to suffer from an eating disorder.
* * *
• disruption to healthy psychological development; and
• contribution to increasing child sexual abuse.
Increased body dissatisfaction
Studies of body image carried out in Australia and in similar countries have now established that girls as young as six to seven years of age:
• desire a chinner ideal body;
• are ‘aware of dieting to lose weight’;
• are ‘beginning to engage in disordered eating behaviours’ (Dohnt and Tiggemann, 2006, pp. 141–142).
One Australian study found that among 100 girls aged nine to twelve years, exposure to appearance-focussed media (including Total Girl, which is produced specifically for girls aged eight to eleven years, and includes a good deal of celebrity gossip) was indirectly related to body dissatisfaction via conversations about appearance among peers (Clark and Tiggeman, 2007). In other words, ‘the more girls talked about topics such as clothes, make-up, and their favourite pop stars, the more they perceived their friends to be focussed upon appearance issues, and the more they themselves internalized these appearance ideals’ (Clark and Tiggeman, 2007).
These studies are consistent with a good deal of empirical evidence from studies on adolescent and university-age women (APA TSG, 2007, pp. 23–25).
Apart from disruption to development of a healthy self-image, such body image concerns can be a factor in the development of eating disorders.
Development of eating disorders at younger ages
Amanda Gordon, practising psychologist and president of the Australian Psychological Society, told the Australian Federal government inquiry into the sexualisation of children in the contemporary media: ‘I see girls younger and younger becoming depressed. We see girls younger and younger being hospitalised with eating disorders and with concerns about their body and their self-esteem’ (SCECA, 2008
, section 3.35).
The causes of eating disorders are complex, but experts agree that ‘marketing and advertising’ contribute to the problem with their ‘portrayals of physical perfection’ (AMA, 2002, p. 1). Conclusive data is not yet available, but the age at which young people are hospitalised for eating disorders in Australia does appear to be falling,2 and leading medical professionals have spoken out strongly against the sexualisation of children (Wigg et al., 2006; Wigg et al., 2007).
Severe manifestations of eating disorders have high personal and public health costs. Even ‘mild’ eating disorders may have side effects on physical health, including headaches, deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals, bowel dysfunction, tooth decay, dehydration and reduced ability to concentrate and think clearly (CEED, 2008). Such symptoms are likely to have effects on child development more broadly.
Increased self-objectification
Self-objectification is the psychological term for the process occurring when a person emphasises their physical body as seen by others and de-emphasises their own subjective perceptions of themself, such as feeling, knowing, and internal awareness. When a person perceives their own body primarily as an object ‘to be looked at and evaluated [for appearance]’ rather than perceiving themself as a subject, this is self-objectification (APA TSG, 2007, p. 18).
* * *
2 Over the period July 2002–June 2005, the Australian Paediatric Surveillance Unit collected baseline data on children (aged five to thirteen years inclusive) with early onset eating disorders. With such baseline data now in hand, over time it will become possible to ascertain more reliably whether young Australians are developing eating disorders at earlier ages.
Getting Real Page 5
