The Eroticization of Young Girls: Causes & Consequences - Essay Sample

Introduction

In “Why are We Dressing our Daughters Like This,” George discusses the causes of the eroticization of young girls and the impact it has. She explains the negative effects and how the girl’s youth are ruined because of eroticization. According to George, media, culture, and society, and marketing are the main factors that incite young girls into dressing provocatively and using adult beauty products. George adds that eroticization has opened up the likelihood and prospects of young girls behaving and dressing in sexually provocative ways (George). Hypersexuality or the eroticization of childhood implies that girls play roles and manifest inappropriate behaviors that are a reflection of the early introduction of girls into something as characteristic of adulthood as sexuality. This phenomenon is wrong and has consequences for the psychological well-being of children, it is a form of child abuse that should not be encouraged. Early eroticization is an illegal act because the natural course of the construction of sexuality is violated.

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We live in a world where children's beauty pageants are the order of the day; where more and more model girls start their careers sometimes before the age of ten. The fashion and cosmetics industry, advertising, magazines, video clips, and even some toys and children's programs such as Barbies or Bratz, build an eroticized social imaginary, and “girls as young as 6 are adopting the external cues of womanhood” (George). Moreover, children often use mobile devices and surf the networks frequently, without supervision. As a result, children of both sexes are exposed to messages, behaviors, and customs with high loads of eroticism that they are not prepared to understand (Rodríguez, Mónica, and Beatriz 180). But, amid a macho culture that places women as objects of desire and a source of perfection, they, once again, tend to be much more affected. The American Psychological Association approached this debate 13 years ago when it noted with alarm the increase in the number of images of children with a sexual focus (Díaz-Bustamante and Carmen 78). Their report raised some reflections on the consequences of this eroticization. The report stated that the danger of self-objectification increased the possibility of aggressive behavior towards girls and “sexualization of girls results in adults having negative perceptions about the girls’ intellectual, social, and moral capacities” (Díaz-Bustamante and Carmen 85). Degrading the value of women contributes to an increase in violence against women and to the reinforcement of sexist attitudes and opinions that in the long run end up in labor discrimination, sexual harassment, and undervaluation of their achievements.

Sexuality is part of human nature, but the eroticization of childhood affects the natural development of life stages and alters growth during childhood (George). Girls especially appear to be in a false maturity that they do not understand, surrounded by messages of sexy content, and “girls are acquiring the trappings of maturity” (George). It causes a lot of psychological and emotional damage and even exposes children and adolescents to sexual abuse. Because the more children are familiar with gestures, behaviors, and content of a sexual nature, the more likely they will be to divert their affectivity towards these issues (Goodin et al. 3). They begin to think that to be accepted and loved it will be necessary to have a sensual behavior, this exposes them to contexts of abuse because pedophiles and other abusers use a childish and sensual approach. The fact that they show a more mature attitude for their age often becomes an incentive for sexual predators, who take advantage of their innocence to abuse them. Premature sexual maturation can also lead to the adoption of risky sexual behaviors, such as early initiation of sexual experiences without being physically and psychologically prepared.

Eroticization increases the chances of depression and anxiety when these girls become older. If a white, pretty, and full-bodied woman is privileged as an ideal of beauty, and the girls suffer for it; When the requirement of these patterns is transferred to childhood, the consequences may be even worse (Savage 35). Girls who grow up overly concerned about their physical image are at increased risk of developing childhood depression and anxiety (Mandy). What happens is that unattainable goals and objectives are often proposed, such as being leaner or having bigger breasts, which causes them to end up frustrated and feeling dissatisfied with themselves. Thus “they (girls) begin to monitor their bodies according to narrow societal standards of feminine physical attractiveness” (Goodin et al. 2). In this way, they enter a vicious circle in which they focus more and more on their physical appearance, especially on what they want to change, which generates more anxiety and feelings of dissatisfaction. As a result, these girls develop a negative self-concept, at the same time that they reduce their social interaction and begin to manifest symptoms such as sleep disturbances, eating disorders, and poor school performance.

Eroticization also affects children’s self-esteem. Girls who have grown up under the influence of eroticism often build their self-esteem based on their appearance, their physical attractiveness, and based on the sexual desire that they awaken in the opposite sex, leaving aside the most important thing: their qualities and personal skills (Slater and Marika 20). This will make them emotionally vulnerable girls, with a tendency to victimization, low tolerance for frustration, and who find it difficult to set long-term goals. When a girl grows up thinking that she only has to take care of her physical appearance, it will become a serious emotional problem since she can end up having anxiety and depression even before reaching preadolescence. Eroticization also prevents creating healthy social relationships. Girls who have grown up under the influence of eroticism place more importance on the physical appearance and social status of their friends than on their personal qualities and abilities (Slater et al. 2054). Sometimes this makes them have many friends and are popular in their environment, but instead those relationships are built on frivolity, so they do not usually get emotionally involved with those around them (Starr and Gail 466). In the long run, these girls will end up feeling lonely and misunderstood as they do not have a strong support network to help them when they encounter a problem.

Despite the discussions around this topic, unfortunately, the eroticization of childhood is very present in society. Today, with the technology and speed of the mass media, children are exposed to various content earlier and earlier, including those that are not appropriate for their age (because they are aimed at the adult universe). The most disconcerting thing about erotization is that although this behavior has been denounced on numerous occasions by professionals such as psychologists, pediatricians, psychiatrists, educators, and various consumer organizations, it has not stopped. On the contrary, it seems that the tendency to promote an eroticized or hypersexualized image of childhood is increasing. Adults have a responsibility to encourage children to enjoy their childhood promoting that they have fun, play, explore, discover, and learn from everything around them. Everything else is part of the adult world and it is not up to the children to live it or be part of it. It is everyone's responsibility not to make children adults before they should.

Works Cited

Díaz-Bustamante-Ventisca, Mónica, and Carmen Llovet-Rodríguez. "Empowerment or impoverishment of children from social networks? Perceptions of sexualized images of girls on Instagram." El professional de la information (EPI) 26.1 (2017): 77-87. http://www.elprofesionaldelainformacion.com/contenidos/2017/ene/08.pdf

George, Lianne. “Why Are We Dressing Our Daughters like This? Maclean's: JAN. 1st 2007.” Maclean's | The Complete Archive, 1 Jan. 2007, archive.macleans.ca/article/2007/1/1/why-are-we-dressing-our-daughters-like-this.

Goodin, Samantha M., et al. "Putting on” sexiness: A content analysis of the presence of sexualizing characteristics in girls’ clothing." Sex roles 65.1-2 (2011): 1-12. http://web.mit.edu/end_violence/docs/sexualizing-girls-clothing.pdf

Mandy, Morgan. “Toddlers and Tears: The Sexualization of Young Girls.” Deseret News, Deseret News, 18 Nov. 2012, www.deseret.com/2012/11/18/20509994/toddlers-and-tears-the-sexualization-of-young-girls#toddlers-tiaras-a-young-beauty-contestant-prepares-before-a-pageant.

Rodríguez, Carmen Llovet, Mónica Díaz-Bustamante Ventisca, and Beatriz Patiño Alves. "The sexualization of children through advertising, fashion brands and media." Revista Prisma Social (2016): 156-189. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304205504_The_sexualization_of_children_through_advertising_fashion_brands_and_media

Savage, Shari L. Lolita myths and the normalization of eroticized girls in popular visual culture: The object and the researcher talk back. The Ohio State University, 2009. https://aaep.osu.edu/sites/aaep.osu.edu/files/Curriculum%20Vitae%20for%20Shari%20Savage.pdf

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 18 (2016): 19-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.004

Slater, Amy, et al. "More than just child’s play? An experimental investigation of the impact of an appearance-focused internet game on body image and career aspirations of young girls." Journal of youth and adolescence 46.9 (2017): 2047-2059. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5561163/

Starr, Christine R., and Gail M. Ferguson. "Sexy dolls, sexy grade-schoolers? Media & maternal influences on young girls’ self-sexualization." Sex roles 67.7-8 (2012): 463-476. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11199-012-0183-x