“Lolita was the victim”
A new article on the cover of Time focuses on the sexing up of teenage girls – image wise. It gets as something I’ve argued against for years – and with my own daughter. Girls are exposed to images related to sex, looking sexy, acting sexy, dressing sexy (can anyone say Libby Lu? [see left picture]) are increasingly younger ages. The focus of the article is not on the images of sex sold to teens in shops like Hollister, but at a younger crowd of girls, 10-14.
A question asked is if the exposure to girls dressing more provacatively, and wearing more provocative clothing, is encouraging sexual behavior at younger ages. In short, the answer is no. The statistics on sexual behavior don’t show an increase despite the deluge of imagery in ads, tv, movies, magazines and news stories, like a certain 17 year old daughter of an Alaskan Governor who became pregnant.
The concern though is with self-image and what girls learn to expect of themselves. Here’s a quote:
The real problems arise when the media unanimously suggest that hotness is the only identity worth trying on. And when they venerate physical desirability in young women without explaining how to use it responsibly. And when they define desirability in such a narrow fashion that many girls feel they have to amp up their sexual signals to measure up. One of the clear findings last year of the APA task force was that an early emphasis on sexuality stunts girls’ development in other areas. “When kids are about defining themselves, if you give them this idea that sexy is the be-all and end-all, they drop other things,” says Sharon Maxwell, a psychologist who specializes in adolescent sexuality.
The piece then talks about further consequences of wanting to feel desirable, which is finding a boyfriend and then the sex part. 
A solution it says, is to bolster girls’ images of themselves in broader terms. It goes deeper than that, of course. In addition to girls seeing themselves as more than sexy or pretty, they also need to have self-respect, a sense of self-worth, have a sense of purpose and a commitment to the future (not said in the article, but true from research). And they need a lot of support from peers, parents, teachers and the community. They need good models of being female – and being more than sexy and desirable. And as the article does note, some media literacy won’t hurt. To help them think about those sex scenes on Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill and consider the consequences. Or to look beyond the immediate images presented in their clothing, to who they are a human beings.
A wonderful site: Girls Inc. is recommended. And I do too. In addition to girls learning to question media images, they can be empowered to create their own. (Alice is taking a digital media class for her elective this year. Dare I hope that she has the interest to use the media to be her voice?)
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