A Scary Study on the Sexualization of Young Girls
Another Halloween…and with it, I noticed the increasing sexualization of costumes aimed at young girls. For a while, we’ve battled the sexualization of women; in a scary continuing development, there is a significant impact on girls at younger ages, even kindergarten age girls! Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois have performed research using paper dolls to study how six-year-old girls react to sexualized women. This study raises interesting statistics and discusses why your daughter may have sexualized thoughts.
At our all-girls summer camp program, we are intentional about modeling behavior that can help inoculate our girls against the pervasive effects of popular media. Here are some additional tips from the article that can help girls from objectifying themselves.
- Being involved in sports. Such involvement has been linked to greater body appreciation and higher body image. (The article’s researchers cautioned, however, that a previous study found that girls in “aesthetic” sports like dance are more concerned about their weight than others.)
- Mothers being intentional. The study shows that moms who reported using media as “teaching moments” were less likely to have daughters focused on objectification.
- Mothers being good role models. Moms can avoid demonstrating objectified and sexualized behaviors themselves. There’s substantial evidence that daughters model themselves after their mothers. (Dads, we’re not off the hook though, because we can play an important role in how young girls see themselves.)
Do folks have specific tips to share that can additionally help buffer against the sexualization of girls?