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ody suits under minis; abayas

that t a little too suggestive

ly; shaylas that are drapedsensuously; tank-tops andthong-revealing jeans; neck

lines that leave little to theimagination; heavy – almost geisha-esque– make-up; practiced sway of the hips...fashionable you would think, if we weretalking about young ladies. But it’s scary, when it’s children, still shy of their teens, who t the description.Even in a country like Qatar, where dress

ing is by and large conservative – and, skinshow is less – one can’t miss the precocity.The word ‘sexy’ itself is used with suchgay, ignorant abandon. Anything appeal

ing is dubbed ‘sexy’ – be it the latest mobilephone, video game or album. Not to men

tion a person.It seems social and cultural grounding isstruggling to be heard against the might of big businesses and the media.From prescription glasses to undergar

ments, from school stationery to chewinggum, it is tough to nd something that isn’tcontaminated by a Bratz or a Barbie or aPower Ranger or an Anime.Have you tried shopping for a 7-year-old lately? It’s eerie how most clothes area miniature of what you would nd in theadults’ section – necklines that are meantto show off a cleavage, low rise jeans (seri

ously, are the designers playing some kindof a prank?) and bikinis.The glitz of celebrities intoxicates every interaction and every consumption of chil

dren who can be as young as 12-18 months.How do you handle a second grader whose career ambition is fame and fancy dressing, and her role-models are preco

cious kids from ‘children’s’ television?These gnawing, crippling worries thatmost parents face today nd an echo in the book,

So Sexy So Soon

, authored by DianeE Levin, PhD, and Jean Kilbourne, EdD,internationally recognised experts in early childhood development and the impact of the media on children and teens.In an interview to

Woman Today

, Dianeand Jean speak about the book and the is

sue, and suggest how parents can attemptto get back in control.

Do you think it is healthy or fair toblame the meDia for most socialevils or issues? When Will parentsanD teachers take responsibility?Where Do We DraW the line anD WhenDo We start saying no – the last bar-bie, ‘chilDren’s animation’ that hassexual innuenDos?

The media and marketers use sexual imag

ery and violence to capture boys’ and girls’attention and market products to them. So yes, we do blame the media for making itmuch harder for parents to do their job.Parents can learn a lot about helping theirchildren deal with the sexualised childhoodand can inuence the lessons they learn.But society should be supporting parents intheir efforts, not making it harder at every turn for them to do their job.Parents are often told that it is their jobto ‘just say NO!’ to all of the inappropriatesexualised content out there and that this will solve the problem. But even if parentssaid ‘no’ all the time, there still would be a big problem. Big business makes sure thereis absolutely no way parents can fully hold back the oodgates on their own.In the words of one very frustrated par

ent, “You can’t say ‘no’ to everything! Even when you do say ‘no’, much of what you say ‘no’ to slips into your child’s life anyway – ata friend’s house or as a birthday gift from a

Sex ,

SexineSS and

LoSt

ChiLdhoodS

In 2000, Dian and Jan prsntd tgthr ata cnfrnc and saw hw th issus that cn-crnd thm bth wr pwrfully cnnctd.Thy ralisd that thy culd cmbin frcsand writ a bk that dalt with th sxualisatinf childhd bginning with arly childhd andcntinuing thrugh adlscnc. Thy flt thiswas th bst way t hlp th widr cmmunityundrstand what was ging n and what culd bdn abut it.Th bk cam int bing fllwing yars fwrk in rlatd aras.Dian’s wrk has always fcusd n hw vari-us frcs in scity – such as mdia, vilnc,and markting – affct prschl and lmntarychildrn›s dvlpmnt, larning and bhaviur.Sh ralisd smthing nw was happning in thmiddl 1980’s aftr th Fdral CmmunicatinsCmmissin in th Unitd Stats drgulatd chil-drn’s tlvisin.

“For the rst time, programmes could be cre

-atd t markt tys and thr prducts t chil-drn. Prgramms immdiatly bcam mr gndr dividd – with vilncmarktd t bys (g, Transfrmrs and Pwr Rangrs) and an mphasis napparanc and sxinss marktd t girls (g, My Littl Pny and DisnyPrincsss). Sinc drgulatin, thr has bn a stady scalatin in thvilnc and sxualisatin in th mdia and in prducts dirctd at childrn,”sh says.

About ve or six years ago, Diane began to hear parents talking about having

a hard tim with yungr childrn and incrasingly xtrm issus rlatd tth sxualisatin f thir childrn. Thir ld apprachs wrn›t wrking andthy wantd hlp.Jan startd xamining gndr in advrtising in th lat 1960s. Sh dis-

cussed the sexualisation of young girls in her rst lm

Killing Us Softly

. Sh wasspcially intrstd in th ffcts f th mdia n adlscnts.

“It is time to stop blaming parents orthe sexualisation o childhood... Bymerely saying no, turns parents andchildren into enemies and cuts themo rom infuencing the lessons theirchildren learn rom what they see.”

By VANI SARASWATHIDIANe e LeVIN (LeFT) AND JeAN KILBoURNe

October.2009

2009Sept.

filial

worldwide

women

filial

friend or relative. This was true when my child was four and it’s even truer now thatshe’s fourteen! And it’s not good for any

body when parents and children treat eachother like enemies all the time.”It is time to stop blaming parents for thesexualisation of childhood. While knowinghow to say ‘no’ well is an essential parent

ing skill, no amount of saying ‘no’ can off

set the harm that today’s sexualisation ishaving on children and families. Just say

ing no, turns parents and children into en

emies and cuts parents off from inuencingthe lessons their children learn from whatthey see. Everyone who cares about chil

dren needs to work to replace this empty slogan with education and actions that willmake a difference.

at What age Do We start aDDress-ing these issues With our chilDren?shoulDn’t the boys be eDucateDtoo, since they WoulD reinforcestereotypes?

When we rst talked about writing this book, we both agreed that it had to be about

A fur-yar-ld girl, in th dramaticplay ara f hr prschl, bginsswaying hr hips and singing, “Baby,I›m yur slav. I’ll lt yu whip m if Imisbhav.” Whn hr tachr gsvr t talk t hr abut it, sh vlun-trs that sh larnd th sng frmhr ight-yar-ld sistr. Aftr ding abit f rsarch, th tachr discvrsthat th wrds ar frm a highly ppu-lar Justin Timbrlak sng.Hallwn cstums fr yung girlsar s suggstiv and risqué thsdays that Nwswk runs a strytitld

Eye Candy: Little Girls HalloweenCostumes Are Looking More Like They Were Designed by Victoria’s Secret Every Year. Are We Prudes or Is This Practically Kiddie Porn?

A six-yar-ld casually asks at dinnr,“What’s a blw jb?” Bfr his par-nts can rspnd, his tn-yar-ld sis-tr knwingly scrchs, “oh my Gd,I can’t bliv h askd that!”An ight-yar-ld by cms hmand rprts t his fathr that hdidn’t knw what t d whn hisfrind shwd him prngraphy nth Intrnt during a play dat at thfrind’s hus.(

Excerpt from the introduction to the book

)Childrn grwing up tday ar bm-bardd frm a vry arly ag withgraphic mssags abut sx andsxinss in th mdia and ppularcultur. Fr instanc, yungr childrnhav Bratz dlls, which surpassd thsals f Barbi dlls in 2006, and Star

Wars action gures, which experience

an xplsin f sals f highly ralis-tic vilnt tys vry tim a mvi isrlasd. As childrn gt a littl ldrthr is th Manhunt II vid gam,an xtrmly vilnt gam that cr-

ated a restorm of protest upon its

rlas fr nt carrying an A (Adult)rating that wuld hav kpt it frmth hands f childrn and yuth, andVictria’s Scrt thng pantis frtwns (8-12 yar-lds) and tns.Many industris mak an bscnamunt f mny using sx andvilnc t markt thir prducts tchildrn. Whatvr thir rac, thnicgrup, cnmic status, r gndr,and whthr thy can affrd t buy alt r vry fw f ths prducts, chil-drn ar dply affctd. W havhard scrs f stris, such as thns abv, abut childrn wh arlarning t lk and act in ways thatdisturb and vn shck many adults.(

Excerpt from the introduction to the book

)

boys as well as girls and that it had to start with early childhood.The foundation for later sexual develop

ment and behaviour is formed when chil

dren are young. Bombarding children withinappropriate and harmful sexualised im

agery undermines this foundation. Whatchildren see can frighten and confuse themand seriously harm their ability to grow up to have healthy attitudes about them

selves and their bodies, and to have caring

relationships.This happens with boys as well as girls.Girls are taught to dene success and happi

ness as being pretty and owning the ‘right’things. Boys are taught a very narrow de

nition of masculinity, based on toughnessand insensitivity and to judge girls by how they look and dress.Therefore, we need to help both girls and boys deal with the sexualisation of child

hood from a very young age. But we needto do it in ways that match the level of de

velopment and unique experiences of eachchild. In

So Sexy So Soon

, we give many ex

amples of parents actually doing this.

a multi-cultural society coupleDWith unrestricteD information toaccess; are We fighting a losingbattle?

We might be ghting a losing battle – butit is one we will denitely lose if we don’tght. We have to address this as a publichealth issue and use public policy and otherstrategies to change the environment, justas we have done with tobacco and HIV. It’simportant to work to elect ofcials who will be on our side rather than on the side of these huge industries. Among other things, we need to work for campaign nance re

form in the United States so that politicians will not be beholden to these industries andcan make policy for the good of the publicand of children. Other countries will needto nd their own ways to get their govern

“...we need to help both girls and boysdeal with the sexualisation o childhoodrom a very young age. But we needto do it in ways that match the level odevelopment and unique experiences oeach child.”

Thong panties, padded bras, and risqué Halloween costumes for young girls. T-shirts that boast ‘Chick Magnet’ for toddler boys. Sexy content on almost every television channel, as well as in books, movies, video games, and even cartoons.Hot, young female pop stars wearing provocative clothing and dancing sugges

tively while singing songs with sexual and sometimes violent lyrics. These prod

ucts are marketed aggressively to our children; these stars are held up for our young daughters to emulate – and for our sons to see as objects of desire.Popular culture and technology inundate our children with an onslaught of mixedmessages at earlier ages than ever before. Corporations capitalise on this disturb

ing trend, and without the emotional sophistication to understand what they aredoing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially;some may even to engage in precocious sexual behaviour. Parents are left shakingtheir heads, wondering: How did this happen? What can we do?(

From sosexysosoon.com

)

it’s all outWar.

Commonsense pittedagainstmarketingjazz.

2009October

October.2009