Sexualistation of Young People

are affected by media content, since
although they may believe and say that
they understand specific messages their
behaviours often indicate otherwise.
A recent study from Western Australia
examined how interactive advertisement
games (‘advergames’) on a breakfast
cereal site influenced children’s attitudes. 112
The children were split into two groups:
those that played the game and those that
did not. When questioned both groups
made it clear that they believed that fruit
was healthier than the fruity cereal in
the advergame they were playing, so the
game did not override the healthy eating
messages they had been taught – or so
they told the researchers. However, when
it came time to make a choice between
the sugary cereal and other kinds of
food, it seems that the advergame had
a huge influence with 54% of the group
who had played the game making the
less healthy food choice as opposed to
only 32% in the other group. Advergames
work by making implicit associations
between the product and the pleasure
derived from playing the game. This is
what makes certain media or advertising
messages so powerful, they can change
children’s behaviour even though they do
not believe that their minds have been
changed at all.
All of this suggests that exposing children
to images and messages that they are not
yet equipped to deal with may well have a
negative impact. It also suggests that while
children themselves may believe that they
can understand and contextualise, say, a
Playboy logo on a pencil case or an attack
on a prostitute in a video game, such
encounters may be having a profound
impact on attitudes and behaviour at an
unconscious level.
There is evidence to suggest that
unconscious emotional connections are
much more enduring than cognitive
112 Mallinckrodt and Miserski (2007)
conscious ones. Several studies have
underscored the fact that it is not
what young people say to a group of
researchers (or to themselves for that
matter) that influences behavioural choices
but rather the associations between
behaviours and the ‘aspirational’ constructs
promoting them. 113
It is important to acknowledge that the
way that young people internalise media
and advertising messages is complex:
young people’s attitudes are often based
on their subconscious feelings, which
can be affected by ‘subtle emotional
appeals’ that are not well controlled by
conscious reasoning. In addition, in cases
where young people have not developed
advertising literacy skills, it is then that
conscious learning is often dominated by
unconscious learning. 114
Even where images and messages are
being consciously absorbed, without
guidance from a trusted adult, children
and young people may be unable to
understand and contextualise violent
or pornographic images or content and
assume that they are appropriate models
for behaviour and an accurate reflection
of how the world works. So, for example,
exposure to violent sexual images could
lead impressionable young men to assume
that women want to be forced into sex,
which has serious implications for gender
equality in sex and relationships. 115
Children with learning disabilities may find
it particularly difficult to moderate or filter
out unhealthy images or constructs. Sara
Delaney, team manager of the Sexually
Harmful Behaviour Team in Birmingham,
speaking during the review’s evidence
sessions, pointed out that there is a
lack of guidance generally on discussing
sex and relationships with children that
113 Dal Cin, Gibson, Zanna, Shumate, Fong and
Bargh (2002)
114 Mayo and Nairn (2009)
115 Emmers-Sommer and Allen (1999)
Sexualisation of Young People Review
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