Nicole Arkens
In today’s technology-based world, with countless advertisements and media platforms, it does not take long for one to find an example of the sexualization of minors. While sexualization has many implications and a broad meaning, throughout this paper it shall be defined as “the imposition of adult sexuality on to children and young people before they are capable of dealing with it, mentally, emotionally, or physically” (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 23). TV shows like Toddlers and Tiaras popularize the sexualization of minors and normalize behaviors considered intolerable in the past. This problem, coined the “Lolita Effect,” has been an issue for many years but has become increasingly evident with today’s media and technology (Durham, 2008). The growing popularity of such technology and social media platforms is prevalent in children and adolescents, so it can be inferred that they are increasingly being exposed to the sexualization and objectification of other minors.
Sexualization and objectification have been found to negatively impact and affect children in various ways. Objectification is quite related to sexualization; for the purpose of this paper, it shall refer to being “made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person” (American Psychological Association [APA], 2007a, p. 1). Objectification has various impacts. One such result is body surveillance, or the “constant monitoring of personal appearance,” which leads to several mental health issues (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 28). Yet another consequence of sexualizing minors is age compression. Age compression, or “marketing products meant for an older audience towards a younger crowd,” is also featured across advertisements and various media, as well as products being sold to all ages (APA, 2007b, p. 5).
No responsible person wants our society to follow a path that leads to increased extreme sexualization or an increase in sexual violence. It is imperative to stop the damage sexualization has on our children and society. The advertising world and every media outlet needs to immediately halt the emphasis of non-existent sexual features of children. Many contributions
may be unintentional; therefore education is the only way to learn how to prevent this. Any individual concerned with the well-being of children should be interested in this study’s efforts, as its findings heavily influence children and their psychological, mental, and physical development. By growing aware of, and developing an understanding of, the sexualization and objectification of minors, society as a whole can mitigate the impacts these influences have on
children and their development.
Due to today’s technology, marketing techniques, and culture, the ongoing battle to preserve our children’s innocence against the constant standards set and examples of sexualization they are exposed to should have a greater concern. Minors’ exposure to sexualization, and the negative impacts that result, are increasing. The issue of the sexualization of minors did not just begin; history and societal acceptance has led to the current climate in which young people find themselves. With modern technology and media outlets, children’s exposure to the sexualization of minors, and sexual content in general, has increased. Sexualization has had detrimental effects on children, ranging from psychological to physical. Not only significant to young girls, men and women of all ages and society as a whole are also affected by these phenomena. Society’s current culture markets sexualized products, such as clothing, to younger and younger customers. These minors want to look more mature to gain power, yet older customers seek to extend youth to maintain attractiveness. This age compression results in blurred age groups; young girls are seen and forced to accept themselves as sexual objects. Another attributing factor to this issue is the advancements in technology and technology’s continuous growth in popularity. As a result, children are exposed to sexualization for which they are not developmentally prepared. This exposure can lead to negative impacts on their development and relationships. Due to these consequences, society should change the current trend with proactive actions. Our culture, current technology, advertising and marketing techniques, and society can all be attributed with this issue. However, by engaging in any of the solutions outlined in several of my sources, the negative impacts of sexualization on children can be minimized.
Technology in media and advertising has shown an increase of sexualized content in general, and especially in children. However, the issue of sexualization of minors has a long history of societal acceptance. Research indicates how the culture evolved into what it has become today. Advertising and marketing researchers have studied sex in these fields since the 1960s. The depiction of sexualized girls was found to increase significantly over time, where girls often appear with sexualized adult women and are posed seductively or in matching clothing.
This age compression is driven by the evolving fashion industry and young girls’ desire to gain power and move up the age prestige ladder. This is not new; more than three decades ago, Unger argued that physical beauty can translate into power for girls. It could be argued that the “final frontier in the fashion world” is the sexualization of children due to younger audiences
yearning for the power promised through sexualization, objectification, and age compression (Cook & Kaiser, 2004, p. 207).
Brumberg’s 1997 study on girls’ diaries revealed a change in girls’ perceptions and goals regarding self-improvement. In earlier eras, young women focused on the improvement of their studies and etiquette. In the last 20 years, girls almost exclusively described changes to their bodies and the enhancement of their physical appearance as the focus of their self-improvement (APA, 2007a, p. 17). This echoes the increase of women viewing themselves as sexual objects, with their main goal of being desirable to men and to sexualize and objectify themselves. With today’s technology, media outlets, and other influences, children have been increasingly exposed to sexual content. Unfortunately, this content includes the sexualization of minors. Children and adolescents spend more time with entertainment media than they do with any other activity, except school and sleeping (APA, 2007a, p. 3). Technological advances also lead to sexualization that had not existed in earlier years. Sexting, social media profiles, online dating, and communication apps are all evidence to this evolution.
Sexual comments and jokes are more prevalent in modern movies and TV shows than those of the past. It is now more likely to see women sexually assaulted, exposed to violence, or used and seen as a sexual object. In addition, over the past thirty years, the sexualization of minors has also shown a significant increase (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 7). Even in areas of our culture with seemingly no relation to sex, trends have indicated increases in sexualization and objectification. A prevalent example of this would be in the world of sports and athletic competitions. Female athletes should be given the freedom to focus on their sports and nonsexual goals, rather than worry about how their bodies are perceived and if they look desirable.
Areas that were once held innocent by society have now evolved into yet another threat for sexualization to pervade children’s lives. Corruption of characters from our past and the creation of new characters have shown that nothing is safe from sexualization. “Disney female characters today have more cleavage, fewer clothes, and are depicted as “sexier” than those of yesteryear” (APA, 2007a, p. 7). Classics like Cinderella are now depicted in lingerie online. Children’s toys and cartoons have become more sexualized. An example is the evolution from vintage dolls, to Barbie dolls, to Bratz. Dolls are no longer toys, but rather are tools for the progression of sexualization to influence our children. Halloween costumes are no longer cute or scary, but have evolved into provocative outfits that emphasize physical attributes and nonexistent sexual features. The association of sexuality in all aspects has slowly left society with the impression that it is acceptable to impose sexualization onto children by bringing “attention to sexual features they do not yet have” (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 7).
With today’s marketing techniques of sexualized products to younger and younger customers, the problem of age compression arises. By selling young children products, such as risqué Halloween costumes, lingerie, and heels, it becomes easier to view them as sexual objects. Children, especially adolescent girls, are eager to dress like an older age group to attempt to appear more mature. For example, cosmetics have been marketed to younger audiences as the years go by. Companies advertise makeup, perfumes, and personal hygiene products, along with fashion, to their anticipated market base of preteens and teens (APA, 2007a, p. 1).
With these sexualized products now available, sex is often used as a rite of passage for minors. Teen artists exploit their sexuality to establish a more mature “edgier” version of their former selves as they become adult musicians. These transformations, like Miley Cyrus, drive home the point that being a sexual object is the way to be perceived as mature and successful in the music industry. This belief also translates across different aspects in life, such as workplace and education. Parents find it difficult to stop their children from the desire to undergo their own transformations to transition into adulthood through sexualized products (Bragg, Buckingham, Russell, & Willett, 2011, p. 284).
At the same time, adults struggle to maintain youthful appearances. This age compression results in blurred age groups, and it grows more difficult each year to determine an individual’s age. Young children are seen and led to accept themselves as sexual objects. By viewing themselves as merely things for others’ pleasure, this age compression can lower children’s self-worth. Accomplishing this phenomenon is not a difficult task, as sexualized clothing and other products are now marketed to younger patrons. Some products that were once meant for an adult-only audience are now worn proudly by minors. Once considered unthinkable, it is no longer unusual for minors to dress in sexualized clothing.
As explained by Cook and Kaiser (2004), young girls are eager to buy these sexualized clothes to obtain the more mature look featured in advertisements and go up the “age prestige ladder” (p. 206). Young girls want to look more mature since they see this portrayed as an idealized value with premature sexualization in the media. At the same time, older women want to maintain a youthful appearance. This results in an indistinguishable line between women and girls. In ‘barely legal’ advertisements, one may find it hard to believe that the girls featured are above eighteen. Children are now often viewed as sexual objects even when the minors are not subjected to sexualization or objectification. When such trends permeate society, these younger viewers are led to accept the sexualization and objectification as evidenced across the media and products marketed. As stipulated by Renold and Ringrose (2011), girls are taught they are merely sexual objects meant for others’ pleasure, and this will negatively impact their mental health (p. 403). Children need to realize they have more worth than as eye candy next to a car or other products in advertisements. This was echoed in all of the research. For example, Coy and Garner (2010) discussed the impacts of sexualization and objectification used as a tool in today’s culture for women to gain prestige, power, and money (p. 659). Women view themselves as sexual objects, ignoring their value as human beings and contributors to society, in order to achieve their goals, with the methods encouraged through sexualization, objectifications, age
compression, and similar phenomena.
Sexualization should not be a means to obtain power, and girls should not fear social rejection due to a lack of self-sexualization. Just at the time when girls begin to construct identity, they are more likely to suffer losses in self-esteem. The double-sided sword of sexualization in media and the comparison to sexualized women makes girls dissatisfied with their own bodies. So while girls who objectify their bodies more have much lower self-esteem, they are also more vulnerable to the cultural messages that promise them popularity, effectiveness, and social acceptance through the right “sexy” look. Girls want the clothes that promote sexiness and desirability, so it is difficult to convince them to make less sexualizing choices. These young females sexualize themselves through consumer culture through choices on how to behave and whom to become based on media’s influences (APA, 2007a, p. 17). Again, they have the goal to obtain power and rise on the age prestige ladder.
As defined earlier, sexualization, objectification, and age compression are all phenomena that significantly influence children. It is true that children are like sponges, and they are impacted by the sexualization of minors. Being highly susceptible to these societal messages during vital developmental stages can mean a decrease in children’s mental health. As La Nauze and Rush (2006) put it, “children are – ill-equipped to deal with sexualizing pressure” (p. 35). Negative psychological impacts that result from sexualization include body dissatisfaction, poor self-esteem, depression, shame, anxiety, body surveillance, and diminished sexual health. Each helps uncover just how deeply children are hurt (APA, 2007b, p. 3). Not knowing exactly when or how one’s body will be looked at and evaluated creates anxiety about exposure; it requires regular body monitoring and a kind of chronic vigilance about whether everything is in place. Due to objectification and sexualization, consciousness can become fragmented and thought processes can become less organized because fewer resources are made available for other activities over the body surveillance that results. For children, this results in poor academic performances and inhibited abilities. Being exposed to sexualization is too much for a child to bear, and it causes overwhelming feelings that must be defended against. These defenses explain self-sexualization and risqué sexual behavior, which can lead to re-traumatization.
Interpersonal relationships and developmental processes also battle with additional hindrances due to the sexualization of minors. How young girls conceptualize femininity and sexuality is heavily impacted by the sexualization prevalent everywhere. Sexualization also complicates adolescents’ task to develop a healthy sexual identity. The societal pressures that result from sexualization, objectification, and age compression cause girls to grow up too quickly today (English, 2005). Children’s mental health should not suffer due to these cultural phenomena. Children should be granted the right to a childhood, where they can just be kids, without these outside influences to disrupt them.
The deleterious effects of these phenomena range from mental to physical. The sexualization of minors can lead to eating disorders and an increase in extreme sexualization. More extreme forms of the sexualization of children include child sexual abuse, pornography, prostitution, and trafficking. The sexualization of minors does not just damage young girls; it also negatively impacts men and women of all ages and society as a whole. Examples of this include an increase in sexual violence and teenage pregnancies. In fact, a report documented that “depictions of violence against teenage girls on TV showed it had risen by 400%” (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 40). There are also several other negative, physical impacts that could be contributed to the sexualization of minors. Examples include women who smoke cigarettes in hopes to be thinner and the limits sexualization imposes on the effectiveness of girls’ physical movements (APA, 2007a, p. 21).
More research on sexualization of young girls, not just women in general, is needed. The evidence so far indicates that it is time society “critically examine(s) the cumulative effect of the media messages to which our children are exposed and how we can mitigate any negatives effect resulting from them” (Papadopoulos, 2010, p. 9). As of now, research specifically on minors is
virtually non-existent. In the future, this is something this audience can hope to correct. The sexualization of minors is a pressing issue that has been permitted to exist far too long.
Looking back at history and the past of advertising and marketing techniques, one can find that societal acceptance has slowly increased towards the sexualization of minors. Objectification and age compression also both slowly integrated themselves into modern society. With technological advances, children are exposed to more and more media coverage, social media outlets, and advertisements throughout their day-to-day lives. Increased exposure to such electronics result in children’s increase of exposure to the sexualization and objectification of minors. By seeing women and children sexually-exploited and shown as sexual objects, children are harmed in many ways, ranging from psychologically to physically. The ramifications not only impact children, but society as a whole. This fact is ignored by our current culture, as younger and younger customers are targeted with sexualized products and advertisements. Minors are led to believe that age compression is acceptable and that to act and accept one’s self as a sexual object is an acceptable way to gain power in society.
The issue of sexualization of minors has been palpable for years, but society increasingly promotes and condones the sexualization of minors. While the issue grows, the adverse repercussions on children and their development are subjected to more studies. This increase can be contributed in part to the technological advances being made; technology has aided an increase of sexualization in general, especially in children. The sexualization of minors permeates all levels of social discourse. Proof of this can be found everywhere, from advertising to social media to toys. Likewise, examples of sexualization can be found in products, such as clothing, marketed to children. As a result, younger generations have begun to adopt age compression to conform to society or gain power.
Exposure to sexualization and objectification, whether on one’s self or others, has negative consequences on children. These can include eating disorders, mental health issues, and body surveillance. A trend in technology and a growing acceptance from society has led to an increase in the sexualization of minors, which leads to objectification and age compression. All three phenomena have negative impacts on children. In order to minimize the effects of this issue, society should learn alternatives, such as self-determining actions and to place more value on non-sexual attributes. Such steps will lessen the negative impacts of sexualization exposure found in media and help our children developmentally. The sexualization of minors does not have to remain a problem for our society.
References
American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007a). Report of the APA Task Force on the sexualization of girls. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf
American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007b). Report of the APA Task Force on the sexualization of girls: Executive summary. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html
Bragg, S., Buckingham, D., Russell, R., & Willett, R. (2011). Too much, too soon? Children, sexualization, and consumer culture. Sex Education, 11(3), 279-292.
doi: 10.1080/14681811.2011.590085
Cook, D. T. & Kaiser, S. B. (2004). Betwixt and be tween: Age ambiguity and the sexualization of the female consuming subject. Journal of Consumer Culture, 4(2), 203-227. doi: 10.1177/1469540504043682
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Durham, M. G. (2008). The Lolita effect: The media sexualization of young girls and what we can do about it. New York, NY: The Overlook Press.
English, B. (2005). The disappearing tween years: Bombarded by sexualized cultural forces, girls are growing up faster than ever. Boston Globe: Living, 3rd edition.
La Nauze, A. & Rush, E. (2006). Corporate paedophilia: Sexualization of children in Australia. Australian Institute. Retrieved from
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Papadopoulos, L. (2010). Sexualization of young people review. National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence. Retrieved from
http://www.ncdsv.org/images/Sexualisation-of-young-people-review_2-2010.pdf
Renold, E. & Ringrose, J. (2011). Schizoid subjectives? Re-theorizing teen girls’ sexual cultures in an era of ‘sexualization’. Journal of Sociology, 47(4), 389-409. doi:10.1177/1440783311420792