The Disturbing Sexualization of Young Girls Essay examples

Society is obsessed with fitness and weight loss. Ever since I was in sixth grade I have had issues with my weight and self-image. The article “Fat Is a Feminist Issue”, by Susie OrBach focuses on how our society puts this unrealistic image of what women should look like into everyone’s heads. The media and magazines urge women to conform, at any cost, into a constantly changing expectation of what is beautiful. Women are taught to look at themselves from an outside view, to be a sex image for men and fuel the diet and fashion industries. Society thinks if women do not fit within the unrealistic image something is wrong with them. The highly glorified concept of beauty marketed by the media contributes to the concern

At a young age, society pressures girls to wear long, frilly pink dresses and act like princesses: innocent and sweet. However, once puberty starts for the juveniles, these once innocent looking dresses gradually get shorter and tighter to accentuate the maturing bodies of pubescent teenagers. The emphasis on the developing figure shows the importance of a sexually pleasing appearance in the modern world. The more sexually aesthetic one is, the greater likelihood of that person thriving, whether in her career or relationship with others. The “sexualization” of girls is a popular trend among the community, with its inevitable presence in various forms of media, such as television, celebrity pop culture, and advertisements. It teaches adolescents

After examining multiple sources, the damaging effects on women that is influenced through media involves many different aspects as it includes body dissatisfaction and body shaming, mental disorders including eating disorders, depression, and low self-esteem, and impacts on sexuality based on how women are portrayed in media. It can be concluded that they hypothesis was correct in the sense that the media is influencing the sexualization of girls and causing these negative effects to occur.

“Approximately 91% of women are unhappy with their bodies... Unfortunately, only 5% of women naturally possess the body type often portrayed by Americans in the media” (Palmer). Major corporations and industries such as Disney, Mattel, and Victoria's Secret, consistently display and advocate women with the “ideal” body type, when in reality, this is only feasible for a small percentage of women. Therefore, women and girls are forced to assume that it is necessary for their physical features to be as flawless as those portrayed through large corporations and the media. These cultural icons of flawlessness and beauty lead women to have an unhealthy obsession with body image or a severe mental illness. Major corporations should be held responsible

Images of female bodies are everywhere. Women, and their bodies, sell everything from food to cars. Women's magazines are full of articles urging women to fit a certain mold. While standing in a grocery store line you can see all different magazines promoting fashion, weight loss, and the latest diet. Although the magazines differ, they all seemingly convey the same idea: if you have the perfect body image you can have it all…the perfect marriage, loving children, great sex, and a rewarding career. The media, whether TV, print, or Internet advertising, seems to play a huge role in influencing women of all ages; from adolescence and teens, to women in their twenties and thirties, as well as

In addition to allowing their daughters to wear sexually provocative clothing, some parents will pay for their daughter to get plastic surgery, some of which include breast augmentation and nose jobs. The APA states that in 2006 the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that they performed close to 80,000 surgeries on teenagers younger than 19 years of age, the previous year (15). One can only assume that the teenagers that get plastic surgery have their parents’ approval because insurance does not cover the costs of cosmetic surgery. However, the research report does not state how many of the plastic surgeries performed in 2005 were elective surgeries. Parents are also contributing to the problem of the sexualization of female youth by competing against other parents. Author Meg McSherry Breslin quotes family therapist and author William Doherty, in her article as saying that parents contribute to girls’ sexualization by using “competitive parenting.” Parents will compete against each other to prove that they are the better parent, by allowing their daughter to appear and act older than she is. When parents act this way, they are in a sense asking the media and retailers to keep coming out with new more grown up trends so that they can stay ahead of the other parents (qtd. in Breslin 15). Additionally, there are parents that enroll their toddler daughters in beauty pageants that encourage the young girls to act flirty to win votes. Breslin continues her

1. American Psychological Association,Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf

On a regular basis ,one comes across some form of media, or communicates with one family or friends at least once a day. It is normal; however, who fail to see how much sexualization of young girls have incremented, and still continues to do so in media, and how it affects society. The trend toward the sexualization of girls is increasing in the contemporary culture and can negatively impact girls (Choate and Curry). Awareness on girl sexualization in the United States must be a raised because it negatively affects young girls well-being, hinders their academic potential, and jeopardizes their safety.

Parents can contribute to the sexualization of their daughters as well. For instance, there are parents that purchase or allow their daughters to wear sexually provocative clothing. In addition, to allowing their daughters to wear sexually provocative clothing, some parents will pay for their daughter to get plastic surgery, some of which include breast augmentation and nose jobs. The APA states that in 2006 the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported that they performed close to 80,000 surgeries on teenagers younger than 19 years of age, the previous year (15). One can only assume that the teenagers that get plastic surgery have their parents’ approval because insurance does not cover the costs of cosmetic surgery. However, the

It is those unrealistic images that we see in the media that contribute to women’s desire to be skinny and perfectly toned, so, like the conditioned robots we are, we: perform, please, and perfect – to eventually develop a self-destructive sense of self. Altered images and the generalizations of those images in the media are, without doubt, becoming great contributors to lowering self-esteem in people

Ones body is a physical aspect that sets each individual apart from another.Body image is how one perceives their body visually, body image is determined by how one thinks and talks about their body along with how they feel others view their bodies. Body image is large part of society “74.4% of normal weight women stated that they thought about their weight or appearance “all the time” or “frequently.” Sociocultural standards of feminine beauty are presented in almost all forms of popular media, barraging women with images that portray what is considered to be the "ideal body." Such standards of beauty are almost completely unattainable for most women; a majority of the models displayed on television and in advertisements are well below what is considered healthy body weight.

Sexualization in girls is sadly alive and well, especially when it comes to the influence of pop culture on a young child’s confidence. The reason pop culture is so effective in the line of manipulating a young woman’s mind negatively is the media and all that it portrays. In general, the media can wreak havoc on a young woman’s self-esteem by showing overly processed, and photo shopped women on the cover of magazines and social media.

America’s fascination and exposure with celebrities’ lives have caused an obsession with body image (10). Bodies have become the latest and biggest pop cultural obsessions (10). People tune in on the internet or turn on the television and are subjected to the newest photo or videos of celebrities. This is a constant that is unlikely to change. Media shows impractical role models which lead to dissatisfaction with body image

This particular study on the stereotypes among elementary school children in regard to sexualization of girls. The interpretation of sexuality of girls for small kids and grown up kids have different viewpoints and the method of analysis is based on the interview and tasks carried out on a group of students selected by parents’ consent.

Many sources talked about self-esteem and eating disorders relating to the pressure for the perfect body throughout young girls and women. Other sources focused on the misleading influence of media on women and girls. In one article, “Body Image Dissatisfaction: Gender Differences in Eating Attitudes, Self-Esteem, and Reasons for Exercise” (Furnham, Badmin, Sneade), it talked about women and how they are more likely to judge themselves about their weight or size than men would. It also talked about the different struggles that men and women go through with their bodies. The article, “Perfect Body Image”, talked about what people are seeing in the news as being perfect. It also brings up the dangers of people thinking and being pressured into these standards. Dangers such as Anorexia, Bulimia, and other eating disorders, are becoming more and more common in society