Sexualistation of Young People

Magazines
“A more sexualised media hasn’t been
great for women. We’re still labelled.
Can’t we just do what we like with
our bodies? Labelling and stereotypes
reinforce our inequality.”
Focus group participant 131
Young people consistently cite the media
as an important source of information
on sexual issues. 132 In the US, the number
of magazines targeting the teen market
rose from five to 19 between 1990 and
2000. 133 Nearly half of 8–18-year-olds say
they spend at least five minutes reading
a magazine the previous day, with 22 per
cent spending at least 20 minutes. On
average, 8–18-year-olds spend 14 minutes
a day reading magazines. 134
A dominant trend seems to be the
need for girls to present themselves as
sexually desirable in order to attract male
attention. 135 Articles, cover lines, photos
and adverts encourage girls and women to
look and dress in ways that will make them
attractive to men: so-called ‘costuming for
seduction’. 136 Both language and images are
sexualised, 137 with repeated use of words
such as ‘hot’ and cute’ reinforcing the
idea that these are the qualities to which
readers should aspire.
131 Women’s National Commission (2009)
132 Huston (1998); Buckingham and Bragg (2004);
Donnerstein and Smith (2001); Greenfield
(2004); Peter and Valkenburg (2007);
Thornburgh and Lin (2002)
133 Teen Market Profile (2005) Quoted in APA
(2007)
134 Roberts et al. (2005)
135 Carpenter (1998); Durham (1998); Garner,
Sterk, and Adams (1998); McMahon (1990)
136 Duffy and Gotcher (1996)
137 Rush and La Nauze (2006)
“Women’s magazines are a joke. There
should be more magazines that empower
women and focus on their rights, not just
their appearance.”
Focus group participant 138
Conversely, the ‘lads mags’ targeted at
young male readers typically feature
highly sexualised images of women that
blur the lines between pornography and
mainstream media. At the same time,
they promote an idea of male sexuality
as based on power and aggression,
depicting women as sex objects and
including articles that feature strategies for
manipulating women. 139
“It’s depressing that in this era women
and young girls can go into mainstream
shops and be bombarded by highly
sexualised images of naked young
women plastered over men’s magazines.
Inside, readers’ girlfriends are encouraged
to send in pictures of themselves topless.
In the name of what? Freedom of
expression? It’s a narrow and damaging
version of how young women should
behave with regards to their sexuality and
their relationships with men.”
Karen Bailey,
Stella Project Co-ordinator 140
138 Women’s National Commission (2009)
139 Taylor (2005)
140 Evidence provided to the review by
Karen Bailey (2010)
Sexualisation of Young People Review
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