Sexualistation of Young People

Sexualisation of Young People Review
40
Corporate social
responsibility
Reports published in Australia 165
and the US 166 have called for greater
corporate social responsibility and
there are signs that at least some
manufacturers are prepared to listen
to the concerns of those working to
safeguard children. In the UK, Tesco
agreed to withdraw pole-dancing kits
from the toys and games section of its
website 167 following complaints from
parents. Toy manufacturer Hasbro
shelved plans to produce a range of
dolls based on the pop music group
the Pussycat Dolls, noted for their
revealing clothes and sexy image. 168
In autumn 2009, a group of large
companies including Mars, Lego,
Kelloggs and McDonalds, announced
the launch of Digital Adwise, a set
of online lessons aimed at teaching
children about online content and
helping them to think more critically
about media messages. “Children
and their parents need to better
understand how the internet works,
not just as a platform but as a means
for advertising,” said Nick Stringer, head
of regulatory affairs at the Internet
Advertising Bureau. 169
165166167168169
165 Rush and La Nauze (2006)
166 APA (2007)
167 Fernandez, Daily Mail, 24 October 2006
168 www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,196943,00.html
169 Ramsay, ‘Brands back lessons about online
advertising for UK children’, Marketing
Magazine, November 2009
Television
“By depicting violence against women,
especially young women, with increasing
frequency, or as a trivial, even humorous
matter, the networks may be contributing
to an atmosphere in which young people
view aggression and violence against
women as normative, even acceptable.” 170
The world as depicted on TV is
disproportionately male and it
disproportionately sexualises women
and girls. There is also a significant underrepresentation
of women and girls in
non-sexualised roles in films. In the 101
highest earning family films between
1990–2004 over 75% of characters were
male, 83% of narrators were male and 72%
of speaking roles were male 171 Females
on television are far more likely than their
male counterparts to be provocatively
dressed 172 ; sexual comments and remarks
are commonplace, and are predominantly
targeted at women. 173 In an analysis of
81 episodes of different prime-time US
programmes, researchers observed that
women’s bodies were frequently objectified
and that they were often subject to
insulting allusions to their sexuality and lack
of intellect. An average episode featured 3.4
examples of sexual harassment, of which
roughly two-thirds involved sexist or sexual
comments. Another analysis, this time of
workplace-based sitcoms, found frequent
comments characterising women as sexual
objects and jokes about women’s sexuality
and bodies. 174
Violence against women on TV is
increasingly common. A US report found
that depictions of violence against women
on TV had risen by 120 per cent since
2004 while depictions of violence against
teenage girls rose by 400 per cent. Over
170 Parents Television Council (2009)
171 Kelly and Smith (2006)
172 Eaton (1997)
173 Ward (2003)
174 Grauerholz and King (1997)