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Family Update - April-May 2007 Vol.22 No.1 2007

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Adult world must let girls be girls
First published October 10, 2006, in the Sydney Morning Herald, and reproduced with permission of the author.

To be “hot, hot, hot” is not a fitting encouragement for five- and six-yearolds,
writes Emma Rush.
BRAS for eight-year-olds. Lip gloss for six-year-olds.
Fashion and gossip magazines for girls from age
five. The sexualisation of children is changing the
experience of childhood, yet there has been little
public discussion of its implications.
Children, particularly girls, are under increasing
pressure from advertisers and marketers to adopt a
“sexy” persona from very young ages. Those who
apply the pressure claim they are simply responding
to little girls’ interest in looking “pretty”.
However, the forms “prettiness” now takes, which
include “bralettes” for girls as young as three, as
well as the language used to describe appearance
in girls’ magazines directed at readers from five
up (“hot, hot, hot”), give the game away. This
sexualising pressure places children at risk in a
number of ways.

The emphasis on “ideal” appearances brings some
of the agonies of adolescence forward many years.
In one recent study, about one-third of seven-yearold
Australian girls wanted to be thinner, despite the
fact that they were all within a normal healthy weight
range. The pressure to have a “perfect” appearance
places children at greater risk of developing eating
disorders at an age when nutrition is crucial - while
they are still growing.

The focus on sexual couplings found in girls’
magazines, pitched at readers aged five to 13, may
have dangerous implications for children who are
approached by predatory adults. These magazines
encourage girls to have “crushes” on men older than
themselves, with heavy coverage of adult female
celebrities and their boyfriends, as well as articles
on and posters of adult male actors and singers.
To sexualise children in the way that advertisers do -
by dressing, posing, and making up child models in
the same ways that sexy adults would be presented
- also implicitly suggests to adults that children are
interested in and ready for sex. This is profoundly
irresponsible, particularly given that it is known
that pedophiles use not only child pornography but
also more innocent photos of children.

One less obvious risk to children as a result of an
excessive focus on “sexy” appearance and behaviour
is that other important aspects of their lives can
suffer. The developmental period known as “middle
childhood” (about six to 11 years old) is critical to
children developing a sense of self and self-esteem.
Children of this age are beginning to understand
their place in the world, and are forming a sense
of their own competence and the kinds of activities
that are important. A significant part of this learning
occurs through play.

If children perceive being “sexy” as important and
their play times revolve around this theme (shopping,
makeovers, imitating pop stars and so on) then they
will miss out on other activities that better foster
physical and cognitive development, such as sports,
problem-solving games and imaginative play. As
a result, aspects of their physical and cognitive
development are likely to suffer.

Some seek to dismiss these risks as a “moral panic”,
arguing that children benefit from sexualisation
because their sexuality gives them a source of
power in a world in which most of the power is
held by adults. In fact, this very power imbalance
means that any sexual engagement children might
have with adults is more than likely to end in the
further disempowerment of children.

Rather than being empowered, children are being
exploited by the process of sexualisation. For
children seeking to become empowered in an
adult world, a more promising route is to focus
on developing cognitive and emotional capacities
that enable them to negotiate power relations more
maturely and with less risk to themselves. Such
capacities also enable young people to choose to
use their sexuality in a respectful way, rather than
for seeking to gain an advantage over others.

It is unrealistic to expect parents to stop the
sexualisation of children by “just saying no” to sexy
clothing, children’s make-up and so on. As any parent
knows, it is not that simple. Peer friendships take on
much greater importance in middle childhood and
the pressure to conform is keenly felt by children.
No parents want their child to be the one left out in
the schoolyard.

And no parents want to be put in a position where
they must monitor and regulate their children’s
activities. The sexualisation of children should be
tackled at its source: the advertisers and marketers
who are seeking to create ever-younger consumers
for their products. The burden of remedying the
damage caused by sexualising children should not
fall on parents, teachers, pediatricians and child
psychologists.There is nothing wrong with selling
products. But sexualising children to sell products
has social costs that are unacceptable.

Dr Emma Rush is a researcher at the Australia
Institute and and co-author with author
Andrea La Nauze of Corporate Paedophilia:
Sexualisation of children in Australia, October
2006 and Letting Children be Children:
Stopping the sexualisation of children in
Australia, December 2006.

These reports can be purhcased from their website
http://www.tai.org.au/

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