The Sexualisation of Girls(21/02/07) The American Psychological Association has brought out a hard hitting report on The Sexualisation of Girls in which it calls for for schoolbased media literacy training programmes as a way of combating the influence of sexualization.
The study claims that sexualisation is linked to common mental health problems in girls and women and calls for sexualised images of girls in media and advertising to be replaced by more positive ones.
Schools, the APA says, should teach media literacy skills to all students and should include information on the negative effects of the sexualization of girls in media literacy and sex education programs.
The report found evidence that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media was harmful to girls’ self-image and healthy development. Sexualization was defined as occurring when a person’s value comes only from her/his sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other characteristics, and when a person is sexually objectified, e.g., made into a thing for another’s sexual use. Examples of the sexualization of girls in all forms of media including visual media and other forms of media such as music lyrics abound. And, according to the report, have likely increased in number as “new media” have been created and access to media has become omnipresent. The influence and attitudes of parents, siblings, and friends can also add to the pressures of sexualization. “The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls’ healthy development,” says Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, chair of the APA Task Force and associate professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“As a society, we need to replace all of these sexualized images with ones showing girls in positive settings—ones that show the uniqueness and competence of girls,” states Dr. Zurbriggen. “The goal should be to deliver messages to all adolescents—boys and girls—that lead to healthy sexual development.” Research evidence shows that the sexualization of girls negatively affects girls and young women across a variety of health domains:
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