Sexualized Fashion Essay
The teeny-tiny belly tops and tight low-cut jeans, the tube tops, and miniskirts, isn’t sad that we have become used to seeing little girls wear such clothing? I don’t even think twice about seeing little nine year olds and middle schoolers at stores like H&M, Forever21, and PacSun. It has just now become “normal” seeing little kids dress up in clothes that are not age appropriate. Sex is an uprising problem we have within the youth today, and how can it not be if it is literally all they are exposed to. It is all over the media, on T.V, in movies, music, magazines, ads, etc. We live in a hypersexualized society that is forcing kids to become older at a younger age. The media is play a crucial role in kid’s mental development causing them to have negative thoughts towards themselves, and to have distorted image of what beauty really is.
When I was little it was all about playing in my own little world, where everything was great and a I was a princess. If you were to ask most little girl of what she wants to be she grows up she would say a Princess without hesitation. Peggy Orenstein author of “Cinderella ate my daughter” says, “When it comes to playing princess for the first three years of their lives …show more content…
the idea of having to be the best is already in their heads. Because in order to be a princess you have to be prettiest of them all and the fairest of them all.” As little girls begin to outgrow the princess stage, they start to want to dress up like mom. They want to wear her clothes, her shoes like high heels, they want put on makeup and look beautiful. “This can be problematic because it can go from being the prettiest little girl to wanting to be the hottest girl” (Orenstein 22). The emphasis will always be on how beautiful you are, and being able to define yourself through the way you look. This pushes little girls to the hypersexualizaiton that happens at an older age, which is now about the age of seven.
Growing up I remember playing with dolls like the American Girl, the Cabbage Patch Kids doll, and of course Barbie. But the dolls little girls play with now have on heavy makeup, and really provocative clothing. “Little girls soon outgrow the barbie doll and wanted to have a doll that looks older and that has attitude” (Orenstein 20). Dolls like Bratz, even the name in itself should bring up some red flags for a parents. The Bratz dolls have pouty glossy lips, heavy eye makeup, and very provocative clothing. What is this showing little girls about the way they should dress? From such a young age there are now having to worry more and more abou the way they look externally. This is pushing them towards our hypersexualized society.
The American Psychological Association has been doing research on the impact of sexualized clothing and toys on girls.
According to their study as girls get older and into their teens years, the damage from the media continues to grow. Dr. Deborah Tolman (Sexulization Task Force, American Psych Association) has found that there are very strong associations with negative health outcomes like mental health, depression, self-esteem, risky behaviors, and lack of condom use. As girls being to get older and closer to puberty girls begin to see themselves as objects of someone else’s needs and desires. Dr Tolman says, “we learn how to sexualize ourselves, and it makes us very self conscious all the time because we are worries of how we look all the time (Sext Up
kids).
Its disappointing to see little girls at such a young age being told to act older and dress older, forcing young innocent little girls to be sexualized at such a young age. From hit T.V shows like toddlers and tiaras where little girls get loads of make up piled on them, and also getting spray tans at the age of five. Having to perform for an audience in “strutting their stuff” in inappropriate outfits.
For some reason sexualized children have now become a part of our culture. Young girls clothing has gone from age appropriate to suggestive to just plain out sexy. It is all thanks to a concept created by the advertising market known as KAGOY (Kids Are Getting Older Younger). Now advertising companies have directed their advertising to the young teens. Girls are now expected to be skinnier and bustier at an earlier age (Sext Up Kids). When I was younger I would look through my favorite fashion magazines and I would find myself thinking, “I’m not pretty enough! I want to look like her and be as skinny as her!” Just a few of the thoughts that would go through my head, as I saw these gorgeous models on the cover of magazines.
With the pressure of having to look sexy at a younger age comes the pressure to act sexy at a younger age as well. The more girls perform girls perform for boys the less they will think about themselves. Girls feel that in order to get a boys attention they need to act sexy to get it. Advertising market overwhelms girls with images that reinforce the idea of them being sex objects, and through the media boys learn that this is the way they should treat girls. Dr Gail Dines author of the Pornland, says that for girls there really is only two ways to be female you either follow the media’s perception of being a girl or you choose invisibility. Many of the girls fall into the pressure of having to dress in provocative ways like their idols, in order to get the attention of the boys.Saleema Noon part of the iGirl workshop whose goal is to help young girls fight the hypersexualized society tells us an experience she had while talking to some middle schoolers in the documentary Sexted Up Kids. She tell us that a couple of seventh-grade girls had sent a picture of themselves topless to one of the boys they were crushing on at the moment. And when they asked the girls why they had sent the picture they said, “Because we wanted him to notice us.” And that pressure will continue to increase because of all the technology we have now. Boys think its okay to treat girls like sex objects because of what they see around them of how women are being sexualized.
The internet can be used for good or bad, young boys literally have access to sex with just a click of a button. The internet has made pornography so available to these young boys, giving them a distorted perception of what sex really is. This causes girls pressure to deliver the performance of a porn star, overall just expecting more for the girl sexually (Dines 25). Dr Lucia O’sullivan says, “Porn is now becoming the new educator in terms of sexual behavior. Porn changes the personality of a boy, causing them to become more cruel towards women” (Sext Up Kids) They do because that is what they see when they watch it.
Smart phones have become the new thing, everyone seems to have one. These devices were designed for adults, but now kids as young as the age of nine have them as well (Sext Up Kids). Because of devices like this teens are constantly communicating with one another increasing the chance of sexting. Boys send an average of 2500 text messages a month while girls send an average of 4000 text messages a month (Sext Up Kids). Girls who text the most are the ones that are most likely to experience sexually by four times more than their peers. Texting primes girls and boys into sexting each other. Now there are apps that one can get on their cell phone that you can locate other men or women close to you that are willing to have casual sex (Weiss 242). Teens are now more than ever engaging in risky behaviors such lack of condom use. With apps like this, it is no different that looking for a prostitute, but it can all now be done on your own cell phone.
With the help of so many different social networks kids in the 21st century have access to x-rated images also giving them a place to produce them as well. Facebook is the place where so many teen relationships begin, it has made being sexy online as important as being sexy in person. Many girls post topless picture of themselves, seeking to get attention from the boys. It is like the ultimate test of popularity, trying to get as much likes and comments on the picture you post. If you look around our culture everything is telling you to promote yourself, flaunt yourself, exhibit yourself. The media encourages kids to produce their own explicit pictures and upload them to share with everyone. On Facebook now there are advertisements for websites where you can talk to “hot girls”, they are located on the sides of the webpage. Why would it ever be okay to put ads like that especially when there are young teens that use facebook.
Although we live in a hypersexuzlized society girls still hold out for prince charming, both girls and boys want to experience the romance. This gives us hope that we can help shift our society from being hypersxualized to working together to help kids and teens develop with time. Not to rush the kids into growing up before they have to, they must have a childhood they can be proud of. There are many organizations working towards this goal like the iGirl workshop. About-Face whose mission is to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect self-esteem and body image. Girls Inc. is a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. And many more, but we must all bring awareness to this issue in order to be able to provide a better future for the youth of tomorrow.
Work Cited
"EDITORIAL Smart Phones, Social Networking, Sexting and ..." Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013
When I was little it was all about playing in my own little world, where everything was great and a I was a princess. If you were to ask most little girl of what she wants to be she grows up she would say a Princess without hesitation. Peggy Orenstein author of “Cinderella ate my daughter” says, “When it comes to playing princess for the first three years of their lives …show more content…
the idea of having to be the best is already in their heads. Because in order to be a princess you have to be prettiest of them all and the fairest of them all.” As little girls begin to outgrow the princess stage, they start to want to dress up like mom. They want to wear her clothes, her shoes like high heels, they want put on makeup and look beautiful. “This can be problematic because it can go from being the prettiest little girl to wanting to be the hottest girl” (Orenstein 22). The emphasis will always be on how beautiful you are, and being able to define yourself through the way you look. This pushes little girls to the hypersexualizaiton that happens at an older age, which is now about the age of seven.
Growing up I remember playing with dolls like the American Girl, the Cabbage Patch Kids doll, and of course Barbie. But the dolls little girls play with now have on heavy makeup, and really provocative clothing. “Little girls soon outgrow the barbie doll and wanted to have a doll that looks older and that has attitude” (Orenstein 20). Dolls like Bratz, even the name in itself should bring up some red flags for a parents. The Bratz dolls have pouty glossy lips, heavy eye makeup, and very provocative clothing. What is this showing little girls about the way they should dress? From such a young age there are now having to worry more and more abou the way they look externally. This is pushing them towards our hypersexualized society.
The American Psychological Association has been doing research on the impact of sexualized clothing and toys on girls.
According to their study as girls get older and into their teens years, the damage from the media continues to grow. Dr. Deborah Tolman (Sexulization Task Force, American Psych Association) has found that there are very strong associations with negative health outcomes like mental health, depression, self-esteem, risky behaviors, and lack of condom use. As girls being to get older and closer to puberty girls begin to see themselves as objects of someone else’s needs and desires. Dr Tolman says, “we learn how to sexualize ourselves, and it makes us very self conscious all the time because we are worries of how we look all the time (Sext Up
kids).
Its disappointing to see little girls at such a young age being told to act older and dress older, forcing young innocent little girls to be sexualized at such a young age. From hit T.V shows like toddlers and tiaras where little girls get loads of make up piled on them, and also getting spray tans at the age of five. Having to perform for an audience in “strutting their stuff” in inappropriate outfits.
For some reason sexualized children have now become a part of our culture. Young girls clothing has gone from age appropriate to suggestive to just plain out sexy. It is all thanks to a concept created by the advertising market known as KAGOY (Kids Are Getting Older Younger). Now advertising companies have directed their advertising to the young teens. Girls are now expected to be skinnier and bustier at an earlier age (Sext Up Kids). When I was younger I would look through my favorite fashion magazines and I would find myself thinking, “I’m not pretty enough! I want to look like her and be as skinny as her!” Just a few of the thoughts that would go through my head, as I saw these gorgeous models on the cover of magazines.
With the pressure of having to look sexy at a younger age comes the pressure to act sexy at a younger age as well. The more girls perform girls perform for boys the less they will think about themselves. Girls feel that in order to get a boys attention they need to act sexy to get it. Advertising market overwhelms girls with images that reinforce the idea of them being sex objects, and through the media boys learn that this is the way they should treat girls. Dr Gail Dines author of the Pornland, says that for girls there really is only two ways to be female you either follow the media’s perception of being a girl or you choose invisibility. Many of the girls fall into the pressure of having to dress in provocative ways like their idols, in order to get the attention of the boys.Saleema Noon part of the iGirl workshop whose goal is to help young girls fight the hypersexualized society tells us an experience she had while talking to some middle schoolers in the documentary Sexted Up Kids. She tell us that a couple of seventh-grade girls had sent a picture of themselves topless to one of the boys they were crushing on at the moment. And when they asked the girls why they had sent the picture they said, “Because we wanted him to notice us.” And that pressure will continue to increase because of all the technology we have now. Boys think its okay to treat girls like sex objects because of what they see around them of how women are being sexualized.
The internet can be used for good or bad, young boys literally have access to sex with just a click of a button. The internet has made pornography so available to these young boys, giving them a distorted perception of what sex really is. This causes girls pressure to deliver the performance of a porn star, overall just expecting more for the girl sexually (Dines 25). Dr Lucia O’sullivan says, “Porn is now becoming the new educator in terms of sexual behavior. Porn changes the personality of a boy, causing them to become more cruel towards women” (Sext Up Kids) They do because that is what they see when they watch it.
Smart phones have become the new thing, everyone seems to have one. These devices were designed for adults, but now kids as young as the age of nine have them as well (Sext Up Kids). Because of devices like this teens are constantly communicating with one another increasing the chance of sexting. Boys send an average of 2500 text messages a month while girls send an average of 4000 text messages a month (Sext Up Kids). Girls who text the most are the ones that are most likely to experience sexually by four times more than their peers. Texting primes girls and boys into sexting each other. Now there are apps that one can get on their cell phone that you can locate other men or women close to you that are willing to have casual sex (Weiss 242). Teens are now more than ever engaging in risky behaviors such lack of condom use. With apps like this, it is no different that looking for a prostitute, but it can all now be done on your own cell phone.
With the help of so many different social networks kids in the 21st century have access to x-rated images also giving them a place to produce them as well. Facebook is the place where so many teen relationships begin, it has made being sexy online as important as being sexy in person. Many girls post topless picture of themselves, seeking to get attention from the boys. It is like the ultimate test of popularity, trying to get as much likes and comments on the picture you post. If you look around our culture everything is telling you to promote yourself, flaunt yourself, exhibit yourself. The media encourages kids to produce their own explicit pictures and upload them to share with everyone. On Facebook now there are advertisements for websites where you can talk to “hot girls”, they are located on the sides of the webpage. Why would it ever be okay to put ads like that especially when there are young teens that use facebook.
Although we live in a hypersexuzlized society girls still hold out for prince charming, both girls and boys want to experience the romance. This gives us hope that we can help shift our society from being hypersxualized to working together to help kids and teens develop with time. Not to rush the kids into growing up before they have to, they must have a childhood they can be proud of. There are many organizations working towards this goal like the iGirl workshop. About-Face whose mission is to equip women and girls with tools to understand and resist harmful media messages that affect self-esteem and body image. Girls Inc. is a national nonprofit youth organization dedicated to inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold. And many more, but we must all bring awareness to this issue in order to be able to provide a better future for the youth of tomorrow.
Work Cited
"EDITORIAL Smart Phones, Social Networking, Sexting and ..." Ebscohost. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Mar. 2013