In Western society, the media hypersexualizes children from birth. However, this hypersexuality is commonly focused on girls aged eight to fifteen (Canadian Women’s Health Network). This leads to self-esteem issues, high teenage pregnancy rates, eating disorders, sex trafficking, suicidal thoughts, and actions, and what is called the “Lolita effect.” This hypersexuality also leads to violent relational abuse, and in boys, has been shown linked with violence (Keating). These all have devastating consequences on individuals as well as on Western society as a whole. With less and less clothing becoming more and more prominent in Western culture, by the media, it seems even children are picking up on this trend. This phenomenon, the “Lolita …show more content…
The “Lolita Effect” is very misogynistic, and in Western society misogyny is prevalent. Misogyny will have to be broken by society as a whole before it can be broken on this level, and for sexualizing children to stop (Durham). Because the media and all of its hypersexuality is a key factor in what leads to sex trafficking (Smith). The glorification of pimps in music videos and in movies, making it seem like a glamorous lifestyle, puts the idea that it is not a “bad thing” in the heads of many. Add in the sexualized children, and the accessibility to be able to “sell” them, that is why sex trafficking is so prevalent in the modern Western world (United Nations). The trafficking of children is much more than sexual; it is also labor exploitation. They are forced into labor that can kill them, and often can forced to be soldiers. Sometimes they are sent to another country, and they are always at the mercy of their “employer.” They have no contact with their family. This epidemic is prevalent all throughout the world, but in western culture it is because the Western media is a hypersexual one. The normalization of sexual promiscuity, violence, and crimes in their childhood allows a distorted view that sex trafficking and forced sexual labor is allowable. This leads to detrimental effects on the individual. Also, the media hypersexualizing children causes
If you turn on the television or flip through a fashion magazine, it is very likely you will presented with many displays of hypersexualization of girls and women in advertising images and in media. There are many components to sexualization. It occurs, according to the American Psychological Association, when “a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics.” This person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy. “Sexualization” happens when a person is sexually objectified- that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than being seen as a person with their own independent actions and abilities to make decisions. Oftentimes, sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person without their knowing it or consent. Sometimes, researchers use the word “hypersexualization” to describe roughly the same idea. In the article, “Media’s Growing Sexualization of Women”, hypersexualization is defined as, “The act of making something extremely sexual and erotic.”
When looking at the sexualization of young girls, it is important to first address the concept of sexualization. Sexualization is the act of asserting sexual value on an object or person. In many cases sexualization is unwanted and unjustified. Almost always, the recipients of this attention are girls or women (Vanska 59). Young girls who have not even fully developed into their adult bodies have no reason to be sexualized. Sexualization implies that a girl’s sexuality is not her own, but something to be enjoyed by others. The World Health Organization, however, dictates that healthy sexuality
In the American culture today, women are becoming more sexualized at a younger age due to the influences of the corporate media. Corporate media and society form the perfect idealistic body that women should have and is constantly being promoted making younger girls start to compare themselves to them at a young age. Certain shows and movies, such as Disney, influence young children and teenagers through their characters as to how a woman is supposed to be accepted. The way the corporate media and society make this body image they want women to have starts in a very early stage in a woman's life without them knowing. There are these childhood movies, such as Disney, Barbie and Ken dolls, programs such as Netflix, teen
Now-a-days, you can’t find appropriate clothing for your children because all stores are selling short-shorts and crop tops for 12-year-olds. This issue is contradicting; girls are being sexualized by being told not to wear clothes that show their skin, yet the only clothes that are currently being sold are clothes that only sexualize girls even more by showing too much skin that doesn’t fit their age group. Orenstein also argues that, “ For today’s girls, sexy appearance has been firmly conflated with strong womanhood.” Meaning, instead of having a princess birthday party at the park, preschoolers are now having mani-pedi spa birthday parties; or how the Elementary school cheer dance routine is more provocative; or when 9-year-olds are taught “all the ticks of beauty.” In our defence, when society depicts young women as sexual objects, they make young girls think that their beauty is more important than their brains(hence the reason why you can easily mistake a 13-year-old for a
`Nevertheless Stephanie’s whole article gets masked by expert claims which consist of topics that are not connected to the main idea of the article at hand. Stephanie leans on controversial claims from experts who have PhD’s to make up her whole entire paper. Through her use of various references she tries to support her argument mainly through text. The article leads into sections such as “SOCCER HEADING MAKES A BAD HAIR DAY” (Hanes484) and “SEXY’S NOT ABOUT SEX, ITS ABOUT SHOPPING’’ (Hanes487). She uses those sections to create different aspects of sexualization and cause the reader to reflect on the given information. With that being said these sections do state things about how the media plays on hyper sexualized images and girls becoming women too fast. However the main purpose of the article gets lost upon topic such as pornography, sexy clothing and sexting. If the organizational use of research and personal experiences had tied into Stephanie’s original claim against the Disney Princesses Empire her article would have been more put together.
The main factor contributing to human trafficking is poverty. Poverty occurs in many poor nations because of harsh economic times and low education levels. These factors often leave people desperate for survival for both themselves, and their families. Some parents choose to send their children away to foreign countries to do labor so that they can cut down on their budget that would normally be used for education. Others, however, often choose to move abroad themselves and start a new life. These people are so desperate to find jobs that they often are not aware of the situations that they may be putting themselves in. Because those who are sending their children away to work in foreign lands and orthers who are choosing to move abroad
Media influence has caused beauty to evolve into ideals that can’t actually be attained. In addition to this, women are objectified and seen as sex objects, being sexualized by men without consequence due to the normalcy the media has created for genders. In fact, men are even encouraged to sexualize women. During her TEDTalk, Kilbourne presented a photo of an adolescent boy wearing a shirt that stated “pimp squad,” showing how our society is comfortable with men sexualizing women from a very young age. In contrast, women are labeled as sluts or whores without even engaging in sexual activity. I, for example, have been called a slut for wearing leggings, merely talking to a guy, and even wearing shorts— in the summer.
The problem with sex trafficking is that it is not only illegal, but the lasting effects it has on the victim are detrimental. Sex trafficking has been shown to increase the chance of sexually transmitted infections, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, unsafe abortions, malnutrition, and sexual violence (Konstantopoulos et al., 2013). There is an estimated 4.5 million people that become victims of sex trafficking; 98% of those are women and young girls (Konstantopoulos et al., 2013).
Imagine driving down the street at night seeing no one on the corner half dressed trying to get money, or scrolling through a website and have a pop up come up about buying someone. Sex trafficking has become apart of everyday life. Many people are taken everyday and forced into the ring of sex trafficking. One girl spent her whole childhood getting raped by her father and then forced to go out to bars every night and sleep with other men, then go to school the next day (Sher). Sex trafficking is a problem in the United States that can not be ignored no longer.
The main reason thousands of women are forced or have to enter into sexual slavery and prostitution is because of poverty. According to the VTVPA, sex trafficking “means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act" (p. 8) and that a commercial sex act is "any sex act on account of which anything of value is given to or received by any person" (p. 7). It is critical to understand that this includes the "pimping" or "prostituting" of
Even as their parents acknowledge how inappropriate their outfits are, they don't stop them from parading around. By letting the young girls of Dance Moms dress provocatively, it sends the message to the public that it's okay to hyper-sexualize youth. Not only that, the children in Dance Moms see their value as their body. Right from their childhood, they put their bodies on display to make money. In other movies and tv shows, the same amount of sexual content is present. Research has shown that the female characters in G-rated movies wear the same amount of sexually revealing clothing as the female characters in R-rated movies (Davis). No matter the movie you see, whether it is animated and kid friendly or a horror film, women are always portrayed in the same sexy way. When girls continuously see themselves being portrayed as the same characters in movies, the oversexualized female, they begin to think this is the one, generic way they need to be. This doesn’t only happen in movies either. Young women and girls are frequently being hyper-sexualized in advertisements and fashion spreads. One case in particular, 10 year old model Thylane Blondeau is featured in a fashion spread in French Vogue. In these pictures, Blondeau wear heavy makeup, provocative outfits, and poses in sexual ways. In one photo in particular, Blondeau has dark red lipstick and a lot of eye makeup,
The sexualization of young girls and women in society is a prevalent theme in mass media. Presently, the sexualization of females is commonly seen in various consumer items like clothes, dolls, and even in Disney movies, according to “The Sexualization of Girls Is Harmful” article. The author says that sexualization occurs when “a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy; a person is sexually objectified- made into a thing for others’ sexual use; and sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person (AboutKidsHealth).” Furthermore, the author provides statistics on how girls are being sexualized by the products they see and use
Ever since its national appearance little girls are coiffed, heavily made-up, sprayed with tanning lotion, lathered in sequins and poured into showgirl outfits. They prance about the stage, with music telling them to “Work it, own it”. The film exposes how cruel and unreasonable the process actually is. Prepubescent girls are trained to compete as sex dolls. Who knows how will this affect these children in the long run and what does it say about the society that invents and promotes such psychologically damaging
On all platforms of media, women and even young girls are oversexualized; thus leading to men viewing women as no more than breasts, vaginas, legs, or any other body part they prefer. Even in current television shows, movies, comic books, and advertisements, women are still depicted as sexual objects, which can damage a woman’s confidence. The oversexualization of women 's bodies can degrade a young woman’s confidence, and when girls try to boost confidence by dressing or acting like the women they see in the media, they are reprimanded for it. Girls cannot be blamed for their sexualization; they are just emulating what they see in the media.
To understand better the purpose of this essay, it is important for the reader to comprehend what the name Lolita has come to mean in the 1990's. This is an easily proven point; all one needs is access to the internet. By entering in the keyword "Lolita", over 13,762 internet documents are found. Under this keyword at least 40 - 50% of all Lolita web pages refer to sex and pornography access on the internet.1 By specifically typing in a URL with only the word Lolita, a web page is accessed that contains adult related sound files and pictures.2 If those two examples are not enough, The New York Times internet book forum on Lolita reads like a sex scandal. The reader can see a small sample of what other readers of this novel are saying repeatedly: "lust, erotic, dirty," etc.3 Readers do not see beyond the carnal content of the novel, rather, they see only the pervert in