Sexualistation of Young People

Sexualisation of Young People Review
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Plastic surgery
“Sexualisation leads to poor self-image and
lack of confidence in girls that affects health
and the capacity to reach potential.” 294
Rising levels of body dissatisfaction and the
de-medicalisation of plastic surgery has
led to a major increase in the number of
women seeking to achieve the thin ideal
by surgical means. The UK spends more
on plastic and cosmetic surgery than any
other country in Europe, with the total
figure for 2009 expected to reach
£1.2 billion. 295 As many as 15 per cent
of those who undergo cosmetic surgery
have body dysmorphic disorder, where
sufferers become fixated on what are in
reality quite minor physical flaws. 296
In 2005, over 77,000 invasive plastic
surgery procedures were performed
on young people aged 19 or under in
America. 297 By 2008, the total number
of plastic surgery procedures (including
minimally invasive procedures) carried
out on young people aged 13–19 had
reached 219,136. 298 According to the
American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 299
young people are having plastic surgery to
fit in with their peers and to improve their
self-esteem and confidence. Evidence also
suggests that a growing number of parents
are allowing their daughters to undergo
plastic/cosmetic surgery in order to treat
poor self-esteem or poor body image. 300
294 Coy (2009)
295 www.cosmeticsurgerybible.com/2009/news/
uk-cosmetic-surgery-negligence-claimsincrease/703)
296 www.cosmeticsurgerybible.com/2007/typesof-surgery/breast-enlargement/breast-implantslinked-to-suicide-risk/105)
297 American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS)
(2008)
298 ASPS (2008)
299 ASPS (2008)
300 ASPS (2008)
Mental health
Exposure to the sexualised female ideal
is linked with lower self-esteem, negative
moods and depression in young women
and girls. 301 Adolescent girls exposed to
adverts featuring idealised women have
significantly higher State Depression
scores 302 ; and frequent exposure to films,
TV and music videos featuring idealised
images is linked to lower self-esteem 303
(particularly among Black and Latino
young people), 304 stress, guilt, shame and
insecurity. 305 Researchers have suggested
that internalising conventional ideas
about femininity leads girls to question
their worth as individuals and that, the
more depressed they become, the more
likely they are to suppress their feelings
about their bodies and ignore their own
‘authentic’ voices. 306
In a longitudinal study spanning four
years, Stice and Hayward et al. identified
body dissatisfaction, eating disorders
and depression as accurate predictors
of which girls would go on to develop
‘major depression’. 307 Another, shorter,
longitudinal study by the same researchers
found that although there was no
statistical relationship between long-term
exposure to thin images, the internalisation
of the thin ideal and body dissatisfaction,
dieting and bulimic symptoms, vulnerable
viewers were suffering adverse effects. 308
Links have also been identified between
feeling dissatisfied with one’s life and the
consumption of online pornography.
Researchers observed a vicious circle
301 APA (2007)
302 Durkin and Paxton (2002); Mills, Polivy, Herman
and Tiggemann (2002)
303 Rivadeneyra, Ward and Gordon (2007); Ward
(2004)
304 Rivadeneyra, Ward and Gordon (2007)
305 Stice and Shaw (1994)
306 Tolman, Tracy, Michael and Impett (2006)
307 Stice and Hayward et al. (2000)
308 Stice and Spangler et al. (2001)