The Sexualization of EarlyChildhood
Well, I must admit, this is a bit of a daunting subject to tackle! And believe me, it feels a bit overwhelming to approach this as I am raising teens in a world inundated with promiscuity and sexual images around every corner.
Only a generation or two ago, childhood was seen in the United States as a unique and vulnerable stage of development, a time for play and protection from adult preoccupations and responsibilities. In recent decades, however, we appear to have jettisoned these norms, and the lines that separate the lifestyles of even very young children from adults are blurring. Children dress like miniature adults in today's world, and creative outdoor play has been replaced by media entertainment saturated with sex, violence, and gender stereotyping. All these have been glamorized and marketed to children through dolls, clothing lines, video games, comic books, music magazines, television, and movies.
According to Olfman (n.d.), "a sexualized society places all children interlacing impoverished gender and human relationship models."
Children who are sexualized are prone to eating disorders, depression, low self-esteem, impaired concentration, risky sexual behavior, and unsatisfying sexual relation they are old. Children most harmed by sexualized culture are already at risk, growing up in poverty or in an abusive environment.
One example that readily comes to mind is Lewis-a friend of mine once told me how as a six years old boy, he was exposed to sex. Then, as a poor boy, he was taken advantage of by an older lady about thirty years old. The experience affected him profoundly that it was almost impossible for him not to have sex in a day by the time he got to high school. It seems that he has a beat of his humanity.
An acquaintance of mine was also exposed to pornography as a child. She got hooked, making her have unsatisfying sexual relations. As a result, she is incapable of true love.
Lastly, was a neighbor who relishes sexual violence and sees nothing wrong with such an act. He grew up in a home where washing pornography is a norm and playing violent video games depicting women as sexual objects is a pastime.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), the physical and psychological consequences of sexualized culture on children is that this sexualization of girls is harmful to their self-image and healthy development. "[Girls are] experiencing teen pressures at younger and younger ages. However, they cannot deal with these issues because their cognitive development is out of sync with their social, emotional, and sexual development," the APA reported.
The sexualization of childhood has centered on the very early introduction into a child's life of sexual references that convey social messages about their image and identity, norms of sexual behavior, and other gender-related beliefs and attitudes.
When children are introduced to such sexual themes even before they start school and are then bombarded with them subsequently, these experiences embedded within their wide range of socialization experiences determine how children then present themselves to the world( Gunte, 2014). It also affects the ways they formulate self-identities( Gunte, 2014). There is even a view that children are encouraged to see themselves as 'brands,' and their commoditized personalities are shaped by an early sexual awareness (Gunte, 2014).
Corrective education is the best possible antidote. Schools can make a significant difference by creating opportunities for an informative dialogue about the messages conveyed by ads, television programs and movies, computer websites, and merchandise. This should begin early in elementary schools.
References
Gunte, B. (2014). Media and the sexualization of childhood.
file:///C:/Users/18329/Downloads/9781315774305_googlepreview%20(2).pdf
Olfman, S. (2009). The Sexualization of Childhood.
https://books.google.com/bookshl=en&lr=&id=XfcrGojmbh0C&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=sexualization+of+early+childhood.&ots=tLYo85T0_e&sig=goW0g9yymfT7uy4sLfrbB6W8CI#v=onepage&q=sexualization%20of%20early%20childhood.&f=false
Our children are more exposed to sexual contest and sadly most of them are just acting how they see grownups acting as well. I have experiences with my students and students from other classes. “An eight-year-old boy comes home and reports to his father that he didn’t know what to do when his friend showed him pornography on the Internet during a playdate at the friend’s house” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 1). I found a girl with a boy, she was on top of him and when the teacher asked them what they were doing, she told the teacher she was playing “mommy and daddy” for her that was a normal thing because she sees her parents doing it, but how far can this go on? Sadly, most of our children are being target of a society that is going too fast and does not care too much of what our children can see on TV.
ReplyDeleteLevin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what
parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine
Lucy, the examples you shared from people you know are disturbing and illustrate well the harms inherent in the sexualization of childhood. I found the part you shared about children seeing themselves as brands disheartening as well. The way marketers shape children's view of themselves can be overwhelmingly powerful and requires us to counter these messages with anti-bias messages.
ReplyDeleteAs caregivers, it is our duty to protect children from developmentally inappropriate sexual experiences.
ReplyDeleteWhat a powerful and (disturbing) perspective you shared. It is so sad the impact the modern society and social media has on children's personal identities and viewpoints of what is considered healthy and normal.
ReplyDeleteA quick internet search reveals too many children as young as toddlers whose parents have shared videos of them dancing as well as singing along to songs meant for adults. These children do not understand what they are singing along to but are encouraged to move in a sexual manner as it garners a positive reaction from the adults watching. These videos are regarded as cute or funny, similar to the sexist onesies for babies. Then, when the child gets to school and does the same, we cannot just blame the media. I believe it is a combination of the two, and a challenge for educators to help by praising developmentally appropriate play behavior while redirecting the child’s inappropriate actions. We may not be able to change a parent mindset, but at minimum we can teach the child how to behave outside the home.
ReplyDelete