Sexualistation of Young People

Sexualisation of Young People Review
36
Children in magazines are often dressed
and posed in such a way as to draw
attention to sexual features that they do
not yet possess, while advice on hairstyles,
cosmetics, clothing, diet, and exercise
attempt to remake even young readers
as objects of male desire, 141 promoting
premature sexualisation. 142 Young girls are
encouraged to see themselves as objects
that must be sexually connected to a man
in order to feel complete. 143 While these
findings are mainly drawn from the United
States, UK magazines feature very similar
themes and content.
Airbrushing: portraying
images of ‘unattainable
perfection’
In a recent study of over 1,000 women
carried out by consumer cosmetics
company Dove, 144 more than two-thirds of
women stated that they lacked confidence
about their bodies as a result of viewing
digitally altered images of models, while
a fifth said they felt less confident in
their everyday lives. A quarter of those
questioned said that images used in
advertising made them feel self-conscious
about their appearance. Nearly all the
women surveyed – 96 per cent – said
they would like advertisers to be honest
about the extent to which they were
airbrushing or digitally manipulating images.
141 Duffy and Gotcher (1996)
142 Rush and La Nauze (2006)
143 Garner et al. (1998)
144 news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/
Airbrushed-Pictures-Of-Models-Again-Blamed-
For-Womens-Increasingly-Poor-Self-Esteem/
Article/200911415471304?lpos=UK_
News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_
Region_2&lid=ARTICLE_15471304_
Airbrushed_Pictures_Of_Models_Again_
Blamed_For_Womens_Increasingly_Poor_
Self-Esteem
This survey backs the findings of a group
of experts and researchers from the UK,
USA, Australia, Ireland and a number of
other countries. The group recently sent
a letter to the Advertising Standards
Authority in response to the Authority’s
call for more evidence on the impact of
advertising on body image. 145 Citing over
100 studies into the effects of idealised
media images on women and girls and
further studies documenting the impact
of the muscular ideal on young men and
boys, the group reached the following
conclusions:
• poor body image is linked to
eating disorders, cosmetic surgery,
extreme exercising, unhealthy
muscle-enhancing activity,
depression, anxiety and low selfesteem;
• idealised media images have a
negative effect on a significant
majority of adolescent girls and
women, and this starts from an
early age;
• advertising images of average-size
models are just as effective as
images of very thin women;
• there is a lack of awareness about
the extent to which images are
being altered; and
• better media literacy can reduce
both the negative impacts of
exposure and the tendency to
internalise the thin ideal.
145 The Impact of Media Images on Body Image
and Behaviours, Misc. (2009)