The Australia Institute has recently released a report entitled, Corporate Paedophilia [pdf], that examines the early sexualisation of children and particularly young girls. The report, authored by Emma Rush, makes the point that some corporations are actively promoting this through the marketing of products such as padded bras and G-strings targeted at girls as young as six.
As the author explains:
Images of sexualised children are becoming increasingly common in advertising and marketing material. Children who appear aged 12 years and under, particularly girls, are dressed, posed and made up in the same way as sexy adult models. ‘Corporate paedophilia’ is a metaphor used to describe advertising and marketing that sexualises children in these ways. The metaphor encapsulates the idea that such advertising and marketing is an abuse both of children and of public morality.
In the past, the sexualisation of children occurred indirectly, primarily through exposure of children to representations of teen and adult sexuality in advertising and popular culture. The very direct sexualisation of children, where children themselves are
presented in ways modelled on sexy adults, is a new development. The pressure on children to adopt sexualised appearance and behaviour at an early age is greatly increased by the combination of the direct sexualisation of children with the increasingly sexualised representations of teenagers and adults in advertising and popular culture. This paper documents and analyses the sexualisation of children aged 12 and under in relation to three types of cultural material: advertising (both print and television), girls’ magazines, and television programs (including music video-clips). Other sources of children’s premature sexualisation, such as toys and material on the Internet, are not considered here.
Whilst the study focuses on Australia, the issue is by no means limited to Australia. I recall, for example, once seeing an English girl of about six or seven years dressed in a midrift top emblazoned with the words ‘Little Bitch’. And, of course, we have the obscene spectacle of poor Jon Benet Ramsey still fresh in many of our minds. This is, it seems, one social trend that is more or less universal.
Through the marketing of smaller variations of adult clothing such as G-strings and revealing tops, as well as through music videos featuring increasingly overt sexual imagery, young girls are having an adult sexuality imposed on them earlier and earlier. And as children inhabit an increasingly sexualised world, one can imagine that they will also find themselves facing social pressures to exhibit sexualised behaviours. On the one hand, this may manifest itself in children becoming sexually active younger (along with all the consequences that will surely follow); but, on the other hand, it is quite conceivable that the messages being sent to young girls about their sexuality will also be received by some men (along with all the consequences that will surely follow).
11 comments ↓
I have a 12 year old daughter and at her school you they wear uniforms; but when the girl’s leave school you can find a number of them basically dressed like hookers with g-strings and the whole nine yards. When you go clothes shopping for these young girls all of the clothes are tight and revealing and you gotta go all over town just to find a revealing outfit.
Are you sure you object to the sexualisation of children and not to sexualised messages in general? Would you not object to the same sort of clothing worn by adults?
Furthermore, there are cultures in which it is not unusual for girls of twelve to be married. Do you object to this sort of thing, and if so is it for moral or for practical reasons?
If this question is for me I am oppossed to this type of clothing being worn by any woman and second in this day and age there is no reason for any girl in any palce to be married at the age of 12 and that is for common sense reasons.
My following letter to the editor was recently published in The West Australian:
“The Australia Institute report on ‘corporate paedophilia’ was truly sad and disappointing. What are we to expect in such a time where sexual promiscuity has become a defined feature of Western culture?”
Joe: As a Muslim I naturally object to the sexualisation of society in general and think that the sexualisation of children is more or less just a symptom of that broader issue. However, there is still a degree of difference between an adult woman choosing to exhibit sexualised behaviour and dress, and a child that does not yet understand nor have the maturity to take responsibility for the consequences. I consider both to be objectional but it’s certainly more disturbing when it extends down to six year old girls.
As for your second question, I don’t support child marriages.
As always when dealing with the corporate world, the question and answer to this issue revolves around money. As you all know, corporate companies – clothes, make-up, music, films, games, phones – target younger children because more and more are getting larger sums of pocket money and they entice them with the thing they want the most – to be grown up. So we’re left with a generation that has the experience of youth and the youth of old age, a combination which means for every Nokia phone that is sold, a teenager becomes pregnant.
A parent who buys their daughter that leopard-skin mini skirt or make-up set (Ironically, they call these purchases ‘innocent fun’) will get more than they bargained for, as a child’s innocence once taken, is lost forever.
The long term solution would be for parents to stop giving children pocket money and also, to install enough morals in their children. Fear works well too (lol). The more disturbing issue is that ‘being grown up’ is associated with skimpy clothes and bastardising the English language but that’s a whole different kettle of fish.
Anyways, what happened to the times when children were happiest getting muddy, climbing trees, playing conkers, rearing pigeons, dissolving slugs with salt and getting up to the usual childish mischief? You have the rest of your life to be (and act like) an adult, enjoy your childhood while you can…..This has nothing to do with me not being allowed to go on a bouncy castle. Scouts honour. Anyways, so I noticed that there’s no warning on a Christina Aguilera album but an ‘Under 10s only’ sign appears on bouncy castles across the country. Equality for ABCs (Adults on Bouncy Castles) I say! lol
Moving on. Once I was asked to look after 2 young (Muslim) boys (8 and 10 years old) for a few hours, and while I went to quickly make them a snack, leaving a set of board games, books and (reluctantly) leaving the TV on (although I took the remote control with me) for their amusement. By the time I came back, they had opened my computer, accessed the internet, visited a Music website and downloaded a few songs. I walked in to them singing the chorus to Nelly’s ‘Hot in Here’ song. What surprised me most was they didn’t even see the problem, I quote, they “Didn’t understand what my problem was” (they were still miming the lyrics as we discussed the situation). My presence didn’t seem to warrant any sort of reaction from them until I turned it off, which caused a ‘Hey, that was my favourite part!’ response. They had become so desensitised that they didn’t realise what they were singing. They just couldn’t understand my disappointment. Whether they committed a wrongdoing or not; at least the children of yesteryear were surrounded by guidelines of what was right and wrong.
Mashallah very good comments, Baraka. Jazak Allah khair.
[...] Perhaps this is also why we are finding that young girls are more sexualized. A friend of my mother’s, who used to be a school principal at a middle school (ages 10-13), stated that she quit and took a job at an elementary because of the outrageous sexual acts that she’d find on a daily basis. [...]
Assalamu Alaikum,
This might be of interest… now there is sexy pole dancing kits for 6 year old girls too.
http://www.theage.com.au/artic.....89248.html
Wassalamu Alaikum
[...] This of course should not be taken to mean that the opposite extreme i.e., over sexualization of society and women does not exist. Of course the opposite also exists but this should not be used as an excuse to let the leaders of the Muslim community get away with anything. [...]
Sexualisation ‘harms’ young girls:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6376421.stm
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