Girls increasing want to feel and look beautiful, which seems normal. But then the age at which such feel consciousness arise is shockingly coming down.The media and advertising are increasingly exposing girls to products and images, which even preteen girls aspire to have. Good looking is deeply associated with looking sexy, and the result is that girls take to a new type of clothes and products that have a sex appeal.
However this sexualization has immense bearing on the development of girls. When not guided and handled properly, this phase of life could affect girls, both physically and mentally.The preteen girls of today are increasingly focusing on their sex and appearance, thanks to the mainstream media. Women and girls are increasingly offered products and images associated with looking and acting sexy.The Task Force of the American Psychological Association has undertaken several study reviews on sexualization of girls to conclude that sexualization is reflected in almost every medium, TV shows, magazines, internet etc.
The result is that today you have ten-year-old girls wanting extremely low cut jeans.A study by the journal Sexual Abuse show that 85% of the ads that evoked sexual interest in children, showed girls. Kids are being exposed to the wrong kind of sexuality that is being increasingly presented by marketers and media. The clothes for instance are too tight or too low. Girls increasing want to look good and looking good is inseparable from looking sexy. The customer market with its products and advertisement ensures that females once hooked into it, never get away.
The trend has now reached extreme limits, with these misleading advertisements, leading to physical and mental health complications in women. However parents have a huge responsibility in educating their children. Schools too can conduct courses, which highlight and raise awareness among girls as to how woman are depicted. Children need to be sensitized to this culture of degrading women so that they look at it differently and think how they need to react.
The media and marketing in all forms have probably gone to extreme limits to develop their business. The use of sex appeal based products and images lure girls to be like the model depicted. They aspire for the effects offered and begin to evaluate themselves from the angle of looking good or sexy.They gradually attach their self-esteem to their looks.
Their appearances become the primary goal in life for them, and everything gained or not gained is seen from the point of their personal look. They begin to lose focus in life and other activities, when caring for their beauty. The result is that they develop physical and mental health problems.Self eseem is associated to how we perceive ourselves.
It is related with how we feel and value our own talents and capabilities. The preteen girls of today experience internal and external pressures, which severely affect their self esteem. The self esteem of girls drop even as early as preteens, with body being the sole asset to decide their worth.It has been determined that girls between the fifth and ninth grades even go to the extent of hiding their accomplishments because they perceive that smart girls aren’t sexy.They face more stress in life due to personal relationships contributing to high stress level in girls.
The sources for all these perceptions which initiate a chain of destructive attitudes is the media including television, movies, videos, internet, advertisement etc, which portray women sexually.The APA Task Force report states that this new media has sexualization in all its forms and are accessed too easily. Sexualization is associated with several negative effects in girls. Objectification of body affects a girl’s comfort level with her own body, leading to self perception problems like shame and anxiety.
Sexualization is linked to three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women; namely eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression.Parents and schools have a very responsible position in ensuring that their girls don’t fall prey to the advertising tactics. They need to educate girls on the negative role of the media. Parents and schools can teach girls that looking good does not mean looking sexy.They need to be taught and alerted on how they can drift away when they begin to emulate the advertisements.
Girls need to be told of the importance of being physically and mentally strong and the value of accomplishments. Parents require listening to their girls to understand their problems. Schools can use the opportunity of addressing them as a group because schools play an important role in propagation of trends.Given the backdrop of media and advertising trend, parents still hold the key to ensure that the negative effects of the advertisements don’t affect them.The daughter needs to be encouraged to speak her mind. Getting the dad involved in it would also help as it has been studied that girls with hard working dads are more regular to college, more ambitious and more self protective.
Encouraging the daughter to speak her mind is a step in the right direction. Regular physical activity is crucial for the girls to make them feel competent and strong. It also helps them to defeat stress and depression. Sports and physical activity are very essential to lower the risk of chronic diseases.When watching movies and television with daughters, it would be advisable to discuss how girls are portrayed.
Girls need to be sensitized to the trends and intentions of the advertisers. It is necessary to talk to the girls and find out if they at any time feel bad for not possessing something or feel that having something might help them better with people (Gurian, 2006).Sometimes girls may worry about their looks and it would help to find out if they feel that people would like them more if their body, skin or hair looked different. It should be noted here that a girl’s first realization of herself and her aspirations are raised within the family.Parents can effectively develop a psychological climate that would enable their girl child to achieve her full potential.
They can help their daughters overcome negative feelings and become a self-confident woman.When the girl like wearing reveling clothes, it would help to find out what they like in such clothes. They can be told how certain clothes would require constant adjustment and scrutiny, which would distract them from whatever they are doing. It is not homes and parents alone that can confront the advertisers.Schools too have a responsible and a effective role in the proper development of girls.
Schools can have strict dress codes, while making girls understand on the need for the same. They can be taught on whether there is any value in chasing the ads and longing to identify with the models shown.Schools are the probably the best place to have a bigger impact for although the girls first awareness raises from within the family, it is the schools where it develops fast. Also explaining to a group helps clarify several questions and doubts.
The girls today are confronted with an increased awareness of their personal look, like never before. In taking care of their personal looks, they however risk a lot.They are surely not in control of the developments and definitely need help and guidance to overcome the situations faced. The society needs to be more responsive to the developments occurring with the girls. While emphasizing for an increased and effective role of parents and school, society must also reign in the media.ReferencesWeiner, Stacy (2007) Washington Post.
Goodbye to girlhood. [Electronic Version] Downloaded on 26th March 2009 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/16/AR2007021602263.htmlGurian, Anita (2006) NYU Child Study Center. How to raise girls with healthy self-esteem [Electronic Version] Downloaded on 26th March 2009 from http://www.
education.com/reference/article/Ref_Mirror_Mirror_Wall/?page=2American Psychological Association (2007) APA Press Release. Downloaded on 26th March 2009 from http://www.apa.org/releases/sexualization.html
