Sexualistation of Young People

Sexualisation of Young People Review
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Conclusion
The research summarised in this
section suggests that there are negative
consequences associated with the
sexualisation of children in terms of body
dissatisfaction, lower self-esteem, sexual
harassment and views on sexual violence.
It’s unrealistic to assume that we can
stop our children and young people from
seeing sexualised images and messages.
But what we can do is give them tools to
help them understand and interpret what
they see, and build up their confidence
so that they feel secure in their own
identity. In the past it was adult women
who felt the imperative to look ‘sexy’.
Now this imperative is in danger of being
adopted by younger and younger girls
who will inevitably face the same feelings
of inadequacy, failure to live up to an
unrealistic ideal, and a distillation of their
self-worth that it is only based on the
ability to attract attention from others.
Children who don’t feel happy about
themselves are more likely to latch on
to things that promise popularity and
acceptance. As the evidence in this
section shows, all too often that will
mean conforming either to the hypersexy
or the hyper-masculine norm. The
evidence suggests that children with low
self-esteem, and those without a close,
supportive family network, are most
vulnerable to sexualised content and
most likely to suffer negative impacts.
It’s a double whammy: there’s no one
there to moderate their activities so they
are more likely to have more frequent
and more prolonged exposure to
inappropriate material and when they
are exposed to this material there is no
one there to talk to about it or to help
make sense of it.
Many young women now believe that
the only confidence worth having is
sexual confidence – and while sexual
confidence is certainly important it
seems that what this hyper-sexualised
society is selling to girls is actually a
caricature of sexual confidence. From
the physical attributes of cosmetically
enhanced breasts to the ‘sexual scripts’
of pleasing your partner ‘no matter
what’, the porn star ideal of sexuality
and beauty is certainly not the only
and arguably not the best way for
young women to attain ownership of
their sexuality. Perhaps we need to be
discussing with young people that true
sexual confidence and sexual liberation
means that you don’t have to enjoy and
accept all forms of sexual entertainment
for the sake of seeming comfortable with
your sexuality.
Schools can help children develop
the capacity to interpret and filter
information and to recognise and value
diversity. As such perhaps we need to
consider the value of media literacy
and gender studies and begin to see
them as core to the curriculum we
teach our children. Sex education, too,
must focus on preparing young people
to form healthy, respectful, emotionally
fulfilling relationships. Focusing on
prevention of STIs and the mechanics
of sex, while important, does not
prepare young people for the complex
emotional nuisances, power dynamics,
and performance anxiety of early sexual
relationships.
Advertising is a multi-billion pound
industry because it works – it has an
effect – so to say that its impact on young
people hasn’t been proven is disingenuous.
What we need to consider is how the
effect of the media interacts with other
factors (psychological, familial and social)
to bring about a situation where young
people’s sexuality is commodified and
ultimately used against them.