Is Sexy Cool Or Taboo? A Look Inside The Hyper-Sexualization Of Young Girls In America

Is a girl ever too young to be sexy? is there an age cap on how old you have to be when you stop being sexy? In this thread we will analyzed the ways in which you girls are being sexualized and the resulting factors of their sexualization from a young age. We will explore all aspects of society, from department stores to celebrity behavior, and analyze the impact each has on the sexualization of girls. Do you think your daughter is a victim on America's hyper-sexualization of young girls? read more to find out.

1. Young & sexy OR (way) Too young to be sexy?

youtube.com / Via Goodin, S. M., Van Denburg, A., Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. (2011). “Putting on” sexiness: A content analysis of the presence of sexualizing characteristics in girls’ clothing. Sex Roles, 65(1), 1-12. doi:10.1007

Are tween girls who shop at Abercombrie kids really looking to sexualize their appearance or are they just following western culture trends? Do they have agency over their outfits or are they living in a false consciousness unaware of what is being marketed to them?

In Western culture, the sexualization of women for the advertisement of products and trends has become the new norm. When is the last time you walked by the girls section in popular clothing stores such as Hollister, Abercombrie kids, Justice or PacSun? Did you see clothes that emphasized certain body parts or had writing related to sexual acts? A recent study conducted in the USA on the top 15 visited clothing websites for young girls found that only 1% of clothing had neither sexualizing nor childlike characteristics, while 25% of the clothes was categorized as having both sexual and childlike characteristics. As outlined by the objectification theory (Fredrickson and Roberts 1997), women in the west are often portrayed as objects of the male gaze. While this finding may seem obvious to some and a bit insignificant to others, it is important to note that the marketing of women for the pleasure of men has resulted in the sexualitzation of woman’s clothing. In the recent past, it was taboo for women to dress in “provocative” clothing that exposed their arms, legs, or chest. The once conservative style of dressing has taken a sharp turn to what we see in clothing stores today. While some can argue that being sexy is not particularly a bad thing, especially if the girl has agency over her own sexualization, I would like to counter this claim by arguing that children and teens do not have agency over the sexualitzation of their clothing. For many girls, shopping at popular stores is solely a way of trying to fit in, therefore, young girls are not particularly buying short-shorts to sexualize their appearance but rather to fit in with social trends.

[ONLY WATCH FIRST 2 MINUTES OF VIDEO]

Goodin, S. M., Van Denburg, A., Murnen, S. K., & Smolak, L. (2011). “Putting on” sexiness: A content analysis of the presence of sexualizing characteristics in girls’ clothing. Sex Roles, 65(1), 1-12. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-9966-8

2. Sexy + Smart= No solution

pinterest.com / Via Pacilli, M. G., Tomasetto, C., & Cadinu, M. (2016). Exposure to sexualized advertisements disrupts children's math performance by reducing working memory. Sex Roles, 74(9-10), 389. doi:10.1007

As previously mentioned, corporations are marketing clothing that sexualizes the appearance of young girls. Some people may claim that a girls appearance is nothing more than a way of self expression through clothing. Others may claim that a girl has the right to wear what she pleases, regardless of the threat her outfit may pose to social norms. Despite my own beliefs that women are free to portray themselves and their femininity in any way they please, regardless of gender roles, I do not think young children should be sexualized from a young age. School-age girls are often looking for a way to fit in with the crowd, hoping to be labeled as "Cool." Therefore, school age girls are the most vulnerable target for hyper-sexualization because they often times are unaware that they are portraying themselves in a sexy way. Interestingly enough, a recent study done on middle school girls found that children dressed in sexual outfits were perceived by their peers to be less intellectually apt than girls dressed in more conservative clothes. Researchers went on to find that girls who were dressed a bit sexual were labeled "less interested in anything other than their appearance" as well as "not as athletic." When we think about the impact clothing trends and social pressures have on young girls, it is clear that this new epidemic is having a detrimental impact on young girls, by not only forcing them into this black whole of sexualization but also causing emotional and subliminal psychological affects on children through their peers' social rejection of them. As young girls who only seek validation and acceptance from their peers, their self-esteem and self-worth is compromised by their sexual clothing... which they only wore because they wanted to fit in. You see, it's a cycle. Young Americans are in this never ending cycle, what can we do to put it to an end? Can we make a change by allowing our girls to continue to be sexualized until there is no longer a negative connotation to dressing sexy? Or will the negative connotation never disappear.

Graff, Kaitlin, Sarah K. Murnen, and Linda Smolak. "Too Sexualized to be Taken Seriously? Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike Vs. Sexualizing Clothing." Sex Roles, vol. 66, no. 11, 2012, pp. 764-775.

3. "MOMMmmmMM I'm fat!" -8 year old girl

youtube.com / Via Slater, Amy, and Marika Tiggemann. "Little Girls in a Grown Up World: Exposure to Sexualized Media, Internalization of Sexualization Messages, and Body Image in 6–9 Year-Old Girls." Body Image, vol. 18, 2016, pp. 19-22.

You often see commercials and advertisements portraying adult women as trying to watch their figure so they can one day have a Perfect figure. Women are frequently marketed low calorie meals, waist trainers and special shoes that will help shape their butt. These products created for the sole purpose of driving the insecurities in women, created by the media and pop culture, seem to have a new group to market to. Recent findings show that girls as young as 6-9 years old are concerned with their body shape, saying they "wish they were thinner." While the age in which girls go through puberty has become lower in the past decade, it is still crazy to think that children, many of which have NOT even gone through puberty have a poor self-image due to social pressures on women's bodies. The countless advertisements and commercials ,shown on television and media networks, counting hyper-sexualized images of women have resulted in young girls seeing those images and feeling insecure about their 8 year old body composure for not fitting the image of a fully developed 25 year old woman. In many ways, the negative image young girls have of themselves can be attributed to the unrealistic expectations young boys have because of the photoshopped images they are exposed to on the daily of sexualized women on magazines and commercials. These expectations young boys have are then passed on to young girls as social pressures.

Slater, Amy, and Marika Tiggemann. "Little Girls in a Grown Up World: Exposure to Sexualized Media, Internalization of Sexualization Messages, and Body Image in 6–9 Year-Old Girls." Body Image, vol. 18, 2016, pp. 19-22.

4. Sexy is... Distracting?

Pop star Christina Aguilera in a controversial Sketchers “Naughty and Nice” ad.Adland / Via Pacilli, M. G., Tomasetto, C., & Cadinu, M. (2016). Exposure to sexualized advertisements disrupts children's math performance by reducing working memory. Sex Roles, 74(9-10), 389. doi:10.1007

Now more than ever adults and children are being televised in a way that is pleasing to the sexual desires of others. While this recent phenomenon has impacts on our society as a whole, could the USA’s education rates and global ranking on education be suffering at the expense of a hyper sexualized media? Many people argue that the content in the media has no connection to the cognitive performance of kids. In fact, some parents use television as a token of encouragement for their children to get their homework done, rewarding them with x amount of time in front of the television. Other parents allow their kids to watch T.V. and surf the web as a prize for good behavior during the school day. While these methods seem like harmless ways of rewarding good actions, exposure to certain types of images may actually be harming your child. A research study recently conducted on children ages 8-10 in the USA analyzed the effect of sexualized media content on a child’s cognitive performance. The results were shocking. Researchers found that girls who were shown a sexualized image of another girl right before they took their math test, underperformed in comparison to girls who were shown a non-sexualized picture of another girl. While there was little change in the performance in boys regardless of the image they were exposed to, it is fascinating to know there is a link between cognitive performance in girls and the hypersexualisation of women in society. Is this study enough to spark change in the portrayal of women in Western culture or will the education of our young girls continue to be jeopardized?

Pacilli, M. G., Tomasetto, C., & Cadinu, M. (2016). Exposure to sexualized advertisements disrupts children's math performance by reducing working memory. Sex Roles, 74(9-10), 389. doi:10.1007/s11199-016-0581-6

5. Miley Cyrus: role model or hoe model?

youtube.com / Via Jackson, Sue, Sarah Goddard, and Sophie Cossens. "The Importance of [Not] being Miley: Girls Making Sense of Miley Cyrus." European Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 19, no. 6, 2016, pp. 547-564.

Are celebrities and people in the spotlight role models for all of the young Americans out there? Figures of pop culture are often regarded as exemplary figures, handed the task of using their fame to inspire young children to be positive influences on society. An additional task that seems to go unsaid until recently, is the idea that celebrities are role models of gender roles and sexual behaviors. Celebrities such as Miley Cyrus, for example, fail to meet this expectation by singing songs with sensitive material mentioning drugs, sex and vulgar language. Further more, Miley dresses sexually (sometimes doesn't even wear clothing) in her music videos and concert performances. While the idea that all children follow absolutely everything celebrities do has been a relatively popular one, a recent study shows that not all young girls view Miley's behavior as appropriate or exemplary. Many tweens are able to distinguish socially expected behaviors and appearances for girls from those expressed by Cyrus. While this finding may seem positive, i find it to be a bit more troubling than if the opposite results had been found. While the data suggests that girls know the difference between what is expected from them versus what they are exposed to from pop culture, the data simultaneously highlights the conflicting messages of sexualization, being sexy and what is acceptable. So, what do we do with a generation of young girls who are receiving contrasting messages? Are young girls undergoing too much stress do to miss-matches between social demands and home values? Generally speaking, parents teach their children to value themselves, be respectful of their bodies and not go against their own principles just to fit in with society. As these values are being instilled in children they are exposed to mainstream media and pop culture norms, many of which go against their parent's values. Consequently, in many cases tweens/teens are left confused, questioning whether they identify more with the conservative way of dressing their parents taught them or if they are more rightly represented by the sexualized and liberated trends followed by pop culture. Which will your teen choose?

Jackson, Sue, Sarah Goddard, and Sophie Cossens. "The Importance of [Not] being Miley: Girls Making Sense of Miley Cyrus." European Journal of Cultural Studies, vol. 19, no. 6, 2016, pp. 547-564.

Jackson, Sue, and Tiina Vares. "‘Too Many Bad Role Models for Us Girls’: Girls, Female Pop Celebrities and ‘sexualization’." Sexualities, vol. 18, no. 4, 2015, pp. 480-498.

6. What now?

Kids, especially young girls, are living in a harsh reality in which being sexy is being pretty. While this new hyper-sexualization of clothing and music seems impossible to change, the products are only produced to meet the demands of society. In this new age of technology, children have the world at their fingertips. It is nearly impossible to censor the media they are exposed to, the clothes trends they are offered in stores, and the pressures they will feel from society. It is important to be there for young girls, to guide them through the confusion and help them find who they truly are. It is often easy to look at someone and judge them solely on their appearance, but accepting that not everyone has to look like a stereotypical scholar to be intellectually superior is important. Whether your child chooses to dress sexually when they are older, or whether they decide to dress on the more conservative side, remember that their intellect does not change. Conversely, it is important that young girls are taught from a young age that they are more valuable than solely their physical attributes.