Little Miss Oversexualized

Little break loose Over sexualityualized The way that media portrays children at present is just plain disgusting. Not only(prenominal) is it inappropriate, it also severely damages the egoism of children all oer the world. When companies like Vogue put out advertisements of children as young as 10 years old dressed in skimpy clothes, full make-up, and posed very provocatively what does that say to every day children? This is how you need to look to be beautiful or this is how they need to dress and effect to be one of the cool kids?The media, whether it is television, magazines, or newspaper be causing huge problems to the self-esteem of children today, especially young girls by putting out advertisements that everywhere sexualize them. Established in 1892 and begun printing advertisements in 1909 Vogue Magazine has been the authority on extravagantly class fashion for the past one degree Celsius plus years. (History of 1)In January 2011 edition of French Vogue published a full 15 page spread featuring Thylane Loubry Blondeau a 10 year child sample in full make-up, dressed in stimulating clothing, and posed very provocatively.Needless to say this caused a big controversy about over sexualizing children, not only in France but around the world. In Britain, Labor Parliament Member Helen Goodman called the photos disgraceful and totally irresponsibleVogue has descended into the gutter by doing this (10-year-old 1). Although most of these ads atomic number 18 not aimed directly at small children and pre-teens, they argon viewed by them and the effect it is having on them is devastating. Children be developing several different emotional, psychological and physical issues.These issues include but are not limited to inability to relate to associates, eating disorders, depression and even promiscuity. In her article Sex orbits in media harming kids mental health Janelle Miles, a long time journalist for the Australian news publication The Courier-Mai l writes Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists president Louise Newman tell evidence was emerging that childhood picture point to developmentally inappropriate sexualized images and messages was associated with low self-esteem, depression and eating disorders.Professor Newman said child psychiatrists were seeing an increasing number of younger children presenting with negative self-esteem and body image issues. Exposure to sexualizing messages contributes to girls defining their self-worth and popularity in terms of sexual attractiveness, with negative impact on self-esteem, Prof. Newman said. Excessive focus on appearance and a narrow exposition of attractiveness has been found to contribute to the development of abnormal eating behaviors and a lack of positive body image.Whats particularly concerning is some primary school-aged children, and even preschoolers, are presenting with some of these concerns. Ive seen children as young as four telling me . . . theyre u gly. Thats appalling. Children are very receptive and influenced by whats in the world around them (Miles 1). Although children are being exposed to a barrage of over sexualized print ads, the media does not stop there. Over the last twenty years television learns and commercials eat up begun to over sexualize young children and teens at an alarming rate.In 1995 the Parent Television Counsel was founded to ensure that children are not constantly assaulted by sex, violence and profanity on television and in other media. This national grassroots organization has more than 1. 3 million members across the United States, and works with television producers, broadcasters, networks and sponsors in an campaign to stem the flow of harmful and negative messages targeted to children. The PTC also works with elected and appointed government officials to enforce broadcast decency standards.Most importantly, the PTC produces critical research and publications documenting the dramatic plus in sex, violence and profanity in entertainment (PTC Study 1) Increasingly alarming are the Television shows such as Toddlers in Tiaras and Little Miss Perfect showing parents pushing children as young as 2 years old to compete in beauty pageants. The parents scream and yell at these young children and sometimes guilting them into alive(p) in these pageants. These kids are put into frilly dresses, make-up caked on their little faces, and they are told if they dont win mummy will be disappointed. What kind of message does this send to children who are in the middle of developing their identity? Interestingly in December 2010 the PTC completed a study called Tinsel towns New Target A study of Teen Female Sexualization on Primetime TV. The content of this report was based on the most popular prime time shows among 12-17 year olds during the 2009-2010 television seasons. The following are some alarming facts produced from that report Underage female characters are shown participating in a higher percentage of sexual depictions compared to adults (47% and 29% respectively).Only 5% of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being sexualized (excluding scenes depicting flushed sexuality). Out of all the sexualized female characters depicted in the underage and young adult category for the entire database, 86% were presented as only being of high school age. Seventy-five percent of shows that included sexualized underage female characters were shows that did not have an S descriptor to warn parents about the sexual content.Based upon a explanation established by the American Psychological Association of healthy vs. unhealthy sexuality, the study findings show that 93% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred within a context that qualified as unhealthy. The data revealed that 98% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred outside of any form of a committed relationship. The data show that 73% of the underage sexualized incidents were presented in a humorous manner or as a punch line to a joke. PTC Study 1) Tim Winters the President of the PTC said The results from this report show Tinsel towns eagerness to not only objectify and fetishize young girls, but to sexualize them in such a way that real teens are led to believe their sole value comes from their sexuality. This report is less about the shocking numbers that detail the sickness of earlier sexualization in our entertainment culture and more about the generation of young girls who are being told how society expects them to behave( PTC Study1). Contrary to the belief in this country, children of todays society are not stupid.It has long been said by many different expert that childrens brains process and absorb information doubly as fast as an adult. Benjamin Barber a renowned political scientist who earned his Ph. D. from Harvard University in 1966 writes in his 1993 article America Skips School. The y oung, with their keen noses for hypocrisy, are in fact adept readers-but not of books. They are society-smart rather than school-smart, and what they read so acutely are the social signals emanating from the world in which they will have to make a living.Their teachers in that world, the nations true pedagogues, are television, advertising, movies, politics, and the celebrity domains they define. We prattle about deficient schools and the gullible youngsters they turn out, so undefendable to the siren song of drugs, but think nothing of letting the advertisers into the classroom to fashion what an Advertising Age essay calls brand and product loyalties through classroom-centered, peer powered lifestyle patterning(116). In conclusion advertisements that over sexualize children are not going to stop.The government needs to listen to the hundreds of studies that have been completed to show that these advertisements have a huge psychological and sometimes physical impact on children, a nd they need to put a stop to it. Parents, start teaching your children that they do not have to be a super model to be a good person, just be themselves. Works Cited Barber, Benjamin R. America Skips School. writing On The River. 3RD ed. Chattanooga McGraw-Hill Companies, 2012. 116. Print. Graff, Amy. 10-year-old Fashion Model Sparks Debate The Mommy Files an SFGate. om Blog. The Mommy Files an SFGate. com Blog. SFGate, 9 Aug. 2011. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. History of Vogue Magazine. History of Vogue Magazine. Vouge Magazine, n. d. Web. 12 Nov. 2012. Miles, Janelle. Sex Images in Media Harming Kids Mental Health. CourierMail. Couriermail. com. au, 17 Mar. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. PTC Study Sexualized Teen Girls Are Tinseltowns New Target. PTC Study Sexualized Teen Girls Are Tinseltowns New Target. Parent Television Council, 25 Dec. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2012. .