Sexualistation of Young People

In France, a group of 50 MPs has
introduced legislation calling for all digitally
enhanced images to be clearly marked.
The bill had its first reading in the French
parliament in September.
“We want to combat the stereotypical
image that all women are young and
slim. These photos can lead people
to believe in a reality that does not
actually exist and have a detrimental
effect on adolescents. Many young
people, particularly girls, do not know the
difference between the virtual and reality,
and can develop complexes from a very
young age.”
Valérie Boyer, Member of Parliament 146
Advertising
Sexualisation in advertising is not a new
phenomenon. Content analyses of TV
adverts stretching back to the 1970s show
that gender-stereotypical ideas and images
are widely used. 147 Nevertheless, over
the past three decades there has been a
dramatic increase in the use of sexualised
images in advertising. The overwhelming
majority of these images feature women. 148
For example, in a recent study of 72 beer
and non-beer ads randomly selected from
prime-time sports and entertainment
programming, 75 per cent of the beer ads
and 50 per cent of non-beer ads were felt
to be ‘sexist’, 149 and featured women in
objectifying roles. 150
146 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/
france/6214168/French-MPs-want-healthwarnings-on-airbrushed-photographs.html
147 Courtney and Whipple (1974); Furnham
and Voli (1989); Lovdal (1989); Rudman and
Borgida (1995); Russo, Feller and DeLeon
(1982)
148 Reichert et al. (1999)
149 Defined as sexual and limiting in gender role
150 Rouner, Slater and Domenech-Rodriquez
(2003)
There has also been a significant increase in
the amount of sexualised images of children
in circulation. 151 Increasingly, young children in
adverts are being dressed, made up and
posed like sexy adult models; conversely,
adult women are being infantilised. 152
Theorists argue that this ‘age compression’, 153
in blurring the boundaries between
childhood and adulthood, is enabling the
values perpetuated by some marketers to
encroach further and further into childhood.
The Advertising Standards Authority
(ASA) 154 recently ruled that an advert for
American Apparel clothing ‘could be seen
to sexualise a model who appeared to be
a child’. The advert consisted of six photos,
with the model gradually unzipping her
hooded top further and further until
her nipple was exposed. She was styled
wearing natural-looking make-up. Although
the model in question was actually 23, the
ASA stated that some of the shots made
her appear to be under 16.
While adults may be equipped to understand
why such images are inappropriate, it is
important to remember that children and
young people are often not.
“Research establishes clearly that most
children under the age of approximately
eight years do not comprehend the
persuasive intent of advertising. Such
children lack the capability to effectively
evaluate commercial claims and
appeals, and therefore tend to accept
the information conveyed in advertising
as truthful, accurate, and unbiased.
Consequently, children in this age range
are uniquely vulnerable to commercial
persuasion.” 155
151 Rush and La Nauze (2006)
152 Rush and La Nauze (2006)
153 Lamb and Brown (2006). Quoted in Coy
(2009)
154 www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_
ADJ_46886.htm
155 APA Task Force on Advertising and Children
(2004)
Sexualisation of Young People Review
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