Why is this news?

drivingrl · February 2007

This is 'duh'.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6376421.stm

Sexualisation 'harms' young girls

The media's portrayal of young women as sex objects harms girls' mental and physical health, US experts warn.
Magazines, television, video games and music videos all have a detrimental effect, a task force from the American Psychological Association reported.

Sexualisation can lead to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as depression and eating disorders.

Such images also have a negative effect on healthy sexual development in girls, the researchers said.

The task force was set up after mounting "public concern" about the sexualisation of young girls.

EXAMPLES OF SEXUALISATION
Young pop stars dressed as sex objects
Dolls aimed at young girls with sexual clothing such as fishnet tights
Clothing, such as thongs, for seven to 10-year-olds
Adult models dressed as young girls

Research on the content and effects of television, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, films, video games and the internet was analysed.

Recent advertising campaigns and merchandising of products aimed at girls was also scrutinised.

Sexualisation was defined as occurring when a person's value comes only from her or his sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is portrayed purely as a sex object.

They gave examples of a trainer advert that featured pop star Christina Aguilera dressed as a schoolgirl with her shirt unbuttoned, licking a lollipop.

According to the research identified by the task force, such images and promotion of girls as sexual objects negatively affects young girls in many ways.

We need to replace all of these sexualised images with ones showing girls in positive settings - ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls

Dr Eileen Zurbriggen
Task force chair

"The consequences of the sexualisation of girls in media today are very real," said Dr Eileen Zurbriggen, chair of the group and associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualisation has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development."

The task force called on parents, school officials, and health professionals to be alert for the potential impact on girls and young women.

And it advised that schools should teach pupils media literacy skills and should include information on the negative effects of images portraying girls as sex objects in sex education programmes.

Governments also had a responsibility to reduce the use of sexualised images in the media and advertising, they said.

Teenage magazines

Dr Zurbriggen added: "As a society, we need to replace all of these sexualised images with ones showing girls in positive settings - ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls.

"The goal should be to deliver messages to all adolescents - boys and girls - that lead to healthy sexual development."

Professor Andrew Hill, professor of medical psychology at the University of Leeds, said it was hard to disagree with any of the reports conclusions.

"If you look at teenage magazines, it's all about sex.

"We are a visually absorbed society - our views of people are dominated by how they look."

He added that the use of women as sex objects in the media and advertising was a difficult issue to deal with.

"Only 18% of children's television viewing is in their designated viewing time and legislation can't be the answer for everything.

"One of the key things here is social responsibility - advertisers and other media need to be aware that the products they produce and images associated with them have an impact and it's not always a good impact," he said.

soulsinging · February 2007

im not sure i understand your outrage? why is it news? watch that dateline show about catching a predator. read the stats about how many normal young men admit to feeling sexually attracted to younger and younger girls. look at the age of sexual activity these days. the high incidence of eating disorders. rape. sexual abuse. depression. suicide. drug use. these are all related. are you saying it's a GOOD thing that we're teaching 8 year old girls to dress like tramps a la paris hilton? that seems like good social values to promote?

if this is not news... how can any social problem be news? why do we have news about drug problems, teen pregnancy, birth control, etc?

onelongsong · February 2007

beauty comes from within. and everyone has their time. the prom queens don't look the same in 10 years and others reach their best later on in life. in the end everyone gets old. so you can't count on the "beauty" being forced down kids throats. it doesn't last. what it does teach is sex. sex for teens brings problems further down the road. and these problems aren't talked about. not many people would marry a hooker yet in school; these girls are having sex as much as a hooker and the guys know it. the girls also get streached out when they start at an early age. girls will idolize people like paris hilton but they never ask what kind of an idiot would marry paris hilton. or what kind of people would want to be around someone like her.
so i guess it's news because someone wants to make people aware. someone is crying out that something is wrong and it must change. i was taught to always treat women with respect and honor. we've come a long way since then.

drivingrl · February 2007

soulsinging wrote:

are you saying it's a GOOD thing that we're teaching 8 year old girls to dress like tramps a la paris hilton? that seems like good social values to promote?

if this is not news... how can any social problem be news? why do we have news about drug problems, teen pregnancy, birth control, etc?

No, I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm shocked they're treating this as news. Because calling it 'news' would imply that this story is new and something we have never seen before.

Did they really need to do a study to figure this out? This problem has been going on for decades. I know my generation suffers pretty highly from it, at least.

Our society is messed up. Companies profit from advertisers using people's low-self esteem to sell products. This is not news - it's been this way for as long as I've been alive.

onelongsong · February 2007

drivingrl wrote:

No, I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm shocked they're treating this as news. Because calling it 'news' would imply that this story is new and something we have never seen before.

Did they really need to do a study to figure this out? This problem has been going on for decades. I know my generation suffers pretty highly from it, at least.

Our society is messed up. Companies profit from advertisers using people's low-self esteem to sell products. This is not news - it's been this way for as long as I've been alive.

i can only guess that it's people talking until someone hears. it's sad that we can't identify a problem and move to solve it. in this case; we identified a problem and allowed it to grow worse.

soulsinging · February 2007

drivingrl wrote:

No, I'm not saying it's a good thing. I'm shocked they're treating this as news. Because calling it 'news' would imply that this story is new and something we have never seen before.

Did they really need to do a study to figure this out? This problem has been going on for decades. I know my generation suffers pretty highly from it, at least.

Our society is messed up. Companies profit from advertisers using people's low-self esteem to sell products. This is not news - it's been this way for as long as I've been alive.

people are slow to respond, or it makes them uncomfortable to talk about... the usa is pretty prudish and there's no open debate on sexuality here. it's repressive and obsessive. but someone talking about it is a good start i suppose.

soulsinging · February 2007

onelongsong wrote:

the girls also get streached out when they start at an early age.

im sorry, but that part just cracked me up... that's why so many guys like em young!

tooferz · February 2007

onelongsong wrote:

these girls are having sex as much as a hooker and the guys know it.

who exactly is banging these girls? the local johns? no, the boys they go to school with/associate with. it has ALWAYS been a double standard...if guys aren't hitting it...they are lame. if a girl is getting hit, she's a slut. girls now aren't having anymore sex than guys have for years without prejudice.

onelongsong wrote:

the girls also get streached out when they start at an early age.

this just made me laugh. check out kegel exercises. girls can keep their junk tighter than a mouse's ear if they want.

onelongsong wrote:

i was taught to always treat women with respect and honor. we've come a long way since then.

you cant treat someone with respect and honor if they don't respect and honor themselves.

this is news because the problem hasn't gone away. the media is a double edge sword. it promotes the images these kids want to live up to...but to get any change...you have to use the media to change that perception. if you relegate it to back page news, it gets forgotten. and obviously, dressing and acting like a tramp is still front page news.

onelongsong · February 2007

tooferz wrote:

who exactly is banging these girls? the local johns? no, the boys they go to school with/associate with. it has ALWAYS been a double standard...if guys aren't hitting it...they are lame. if a girl is getting hit, she's a slut. girls now aren't having anymore sex than guys have for years without prejudice.

the current trend promotes more sex for girls.

this just made me laugh. check out kegel exercises. girls can keep their junk tighter than a mouse's ear if they want.

you're not old enough to understand yet

you cant treat someone with respect and honor if they don't respect and honor themselves.

you can treat someone with respect and honor and it will show them they have self worth.

this is news because the problem hasn't gone away. the media is a double edge sword. it promotes the images these kids want to live up to...but to get any change...you have to use the media to change that perception. if you relegate it to back page news, it gets forgotten. and obviously, dressing and acting like a tramp is still front page news.

i agree. but the attraction to these tramps keeps them in the public eye.

hippiemom · February 2007

onelongsong wrote:

you're not old enough to understand yet

hahahahahaha .... this oughtta be good

*grabs popcorn*

angelica · February 2007

soulsinging wrote:

im sorry, but that part just cracked me up... that's why so many guys like em young!

That and because young girls are pliable and manipulatable as they've not yet had the chance to develop discernment skills. And because grown women can be scary and too challenging to people with serious issues pertaining to women and relationships.

angelica · February 2007

tooferz wrote:

you cant treat someone with respect and honor if they don't respect and honor themselves.

I would say that when we are respectful, we can always treat anyone with respect and honour. I hear your point, though, that when people are not able to respect themselves, they have a difficult time internalizing any respect from outside themselves.

angelica · February 2007

Maybe it's just me, but I say ceasing in further objectifying people by calling them tramps might also be a good place to withdraw our support from contributing to the problem.

onelongsong · February 2007

angelica wrote:

I would say that when we are respectful, we can always treat anyone with respect and honour. I hear your point, though, that when people are not able to respect themselves, they have a difficult time internalizing any respect from outside themselves.

working with troubled children; we treat them with respect and show them that they do have worth; this builds self worth and respect for themselves. if you treat someone like they're worthless; they will eventually think they are.

angelica · February 2007

onelongsong wrote:

working with troubled children; we treat them with respect and show them that they do have worth; this builds self worth and respect for themselves. if you treat someone like they're worthless; they will eventually think they are.

I definitely feel treating people with respect is helpful in many ways. There were many years that I had little self-respect. I loved and thrived on the rare individual who supported me and treated me with dignity and respect. I'm sure it had many effects on me beneath the surface. Yet for many years I could not accept the nice words and support on the surface. It's like it couldn't sink it regarding how I felt about myself. But I could very much tell the difference between kindness coming from others, and when the lack of respect came. The lack of respect I could accept, because I felt I deserved that.

I always advocate for treating people with respect because anything otherwise contributes to the problem.

tooferz · February 2007

onelongsong wrote:

the current trend promotes more sex for girls.

true. but it's nothing guys haven't done for years and years. don't get me wrong...i would be far from happy if my 15 yr old daughter was out banging half the high school. i think she, and all kids, should wait til they can handle the emotional part of it....because that's what they lose....the ability to see sex as a loving act. BUT....why is it wrong for girls to WANT sex...ENJOY sex? it seems we can't give them a middle ground. good girls don't. only tramps do. but guys do and it's ok.

onelongsong wrote:

you're not old enough to understand yet

i'm 42, have 2 kids and 1 3/4 grandsons. AND my junk is still tighter than a mouses ear. i can submit references if you'd like.

onelongsong wrote:

you can treat someone with respect and honor and it will show them they have self worth.

you can...but they can't/won't accept it. you just cannot make a person love themselves. what they perceive to see in the mirror and feel in their hearts is what they believe themselves to be. you can help and guide them thru the journey...but ultimately, they have to find it in themselves.

onelongsong wrote:

i agree. but the attraction to these tramps keeps them in the public eye.

and why do women dress that way? because it's a MAN's perception of what's hot and a turn on and has been forever. do you really think women enjoy wearing 6 inch heels? pushup, underwire bras? good times i tell ya. but look what happens to the females in the media..look at the train wreck lives lindsey lohan and britney have. they are little more than teens themselves. one can only hope instead of bashing them, some girls will see that even the beautiful ones lives aren't perfect. they get fat, they make bad decisions, etc.

i think it comes down to old stereotypes glorified by the media and parents who are too busy, too absorbed, too whatever, to talk to their kids and be role models. it's easier to give them things instead of time...let their friends and the internet guide them through. i'm not a perfect mom...but both my kids know they can come to me anytime with anything. we never did the big talks...we talk everyday.

drivingrl · February 2007

angelica wrote:

That and because young girls are pliable and manipulatable as they've not yet had the chance to develop discernment skills. And because grown women can be scary and too challenging to people with serious issues pertaining to women and relationships.

Snap!

angelica wrote:

Maybe it's just me, but I say ceasing in further objectifying people by calling them tramps might also be a good place to withdraw our support from contributing to the problem.

Snap! Thank you, Angelica. I can't agree more.

This is one of those issues that has so many roots and points to so many other problems in our society. It leaves me virtually speechless. The part that kils me is that people are just getting around to talking about it because of a funded study.

soulsinging · February 2007

tooferz wrote:

check out kegel exercises. girls can keep their junk tighter than a mouse's ear if they want.

so what's a good way to talk a girl into doing this without hurting her feelings?

soulsinging · February 2007

angelica wrote:

That and because young girls are pliable and manipulatable as they've not yet had the chance to develop discernment skills. And because grown women can be scary and too challenging to people with serious issues pertaining to women and relationships.

hehe, if you say so. i was just messing around though.

tooferz · February 2007

soulsinging wrote:

so what's a good way to talk a girl into doing this without hurting her feelings?

it works for guys too

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kegel_exercise

angelica · February 2007

drivingrl wrote:

Snap! Thank you, Angelica. I can't agree more.

Great!

This is one of those issues that has so many roots and points to so many other problems in our society. It leaves me virtually speechless. The part that kils me is that people are just getting around to talking about it because of a funded study.

if you check the last few pages of the thread "what social causes are your thing" on page two of the train, you'll see where myself and a few others went through multiple levels of this same issue coincidentally just last night! It's a big deal for me! It is insanely far-reaching. People just don't realize.
http://forums.pearljam.com/showthread.php?t=234197&page=5

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