Selling A Culture 1

Selling A Culture; How Advertisements Affect Young Girls

Aadel Bussinger
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Abstract

Marketing directed at girls causes the acceptance of self images and behavioral standards that are

not in line with most traditional values. Ads demoralize and objectify children and teens with

sexual themes and provocative products that force an awareness of sexuality without providing

boundaries. They promote a faulty view of self esteem and encourage girls to replicate the

licentious ideals and activities depicted by such. Defending themselves with claims of a pre-

existent market does little to nullify the impact that these campaigns have had, and continue to

have on our culture.

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Bikini swimsuits, padded bras, sleeveless tops, and 3-inch heels are all on the

market for this coming summer season. Browsing the major retailer’s online shops will give you

an array of choices for your beach and party events. The startling aspect is all these items are

found available to purchase for children. Bikinis as small as size 2T (as in

toddler) are available on the Children’s Place website

(http://www.childrensplace.com), and padded bras can be bought for girls

as young as 6 through such merchants as Justice and Kohl’s

(http://www.shopjustice.com, http://www.kohls.com). Such items are not

just accessible through a deep search of a website. These “adult” items

are being aggressively marketed towards today’s youth at a grievous cost

Figure 1 to our culture. Browsing the sites, one will be exposed to literally

thousands of images portraying the grown-up dressing of children, suggestive posing, and

sexualized products.

Children in our country don’t stand a chance against the onslaught of media images that

tout ideals like freedom from rules and responsibility, materialism, and external beauty. Still, the

overtly sexual statements in ads directed at young girls seem to be the most egregious of these.

A report by the American Psychological Association explores the “sexualization of girls” by

reviewing evidence and theories related to this issue. Many theories in the report directly or

indirectly point to the media as a powerful influence on the development of sexual values and

norms in our society. Sources such as internet, advertisements, and products that appeal to kids

are cited as areas where young girls are being objectified and sexualized (APA, 2007).

Another report focuses in on the problem with youth marketing; “Fashion advertising

typically dresses and poses adolescents seductively, portraying older females as younger and
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more virginal and prepubescent girls as more sexualized” (Brown, 2008 p. 24). In the images of

one particular site, girls and boys are posed together in playful yet evocative scenes suggesting

“flirty” relationships (American Eagle website 77kids, (http://www.ae.com/77kids).

These and many other ad campaigns are designed to sell the latest fashions to our girls.

But what is really being sold? One article argues that such advertising sells the self image that is

forever bound up in sexual prowess, power, and popularity. When young girls should be

exploring their interests and talents, they are instead locked in a materialistic and sexually

dependent existence (Lamb & Brown, 2006). Not only does this expose girls to sexuality too

soon, it also causes anxiety about physical appearance and performance. This anxiety can lead to

unhealthy habits such as extreme dieting, depression, and acting out relational and sexual

situations they are not yet mature enough to handle.

There is another effect on our youth that many reports have examined. Since we have

such an obsession with sex in our culture (and continue to push that fixation onto our young

girls), we have seen the gradual reduction of childhood and the arrival of grade school dating.

There was a time when elementary school kids would pull pony tails and call out cootie curses to

the opposite sex. These days we find 8 and 9 year old girls chasing after boys, calling them “hot”

and dishing on the latest boy band. Children in our society are growing up in an environment

where sexual innuendos abound, however they lack the guidance to process these messages and

discern the reality of their values, choices, and future. As Whitehead and Pearson attest,

“teenagers also lack what earlier generations took for granted: a normative sequence for the

timing of sex, marriage and parenthood. Today’s teens struggle in a culture that no longer tells

them how these three events should be sequenced, or what the optimal sequence might be” (2006

p. 10).
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Advertisements rarely promote traditional or biblical values such as sexual abstinence,

marriage, and modesty. More than likely, young girls will view themselves in light of what they

see reflected in their daily lives. If they are continually being objectified in the media, especially

in the products they buy, they will seek out behavior and ideals similar to those being portrayed.

This “self-sexualization,” according to the APA report, stems from a reflection of the trends and

values upheld in a culture and results in girls focusing their conscious development upon the

sexual aspect of their being (APA, 2007 p. 18).

Another report puts it this way, “Media have become a ubiquitous superpeer from which

young people learn what to expect and what is expected of them. By normalizing and giving

permission for sexual activity, permission that seems to override parental disapproval, media

may be the most powerful and universal influence on young people’s sexual attitudes and

decision-making” (Brown, 2008 p. 30). It is no longer the parents that are influencing children

as to what constitutes acceptable behavior and dress. The media and youth marketing schemes

are priming children and pumping teens for a lifestyle. This way of life is affecting our entire

nation and the way we view children, and they view sex. In an article from ABC News, Matt

Spector quotes the editor-in-chief of Common Sense Media: “’You show an ad of a girl looking

like she's just had sex or about to have sex in rumpled sheets wearing a certain type of

underwear, that creates a model of what's OK for a kid,’ Perle said” (2008, p. 1).

Don’t retailers and marketers just promote what kids and teenagers are asking for in the

first place? Some might make the point that the advertisements have sprung from a supply-and-

demand market. Researches and reporters are not so quick to agree, however. Many are

suggesting that the creators of such exploitative ads would never subject their own children to

such filth. Could you, as a parent of good conscience, ask your children to imitate the dress and
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poses of some of these ads? Can we truly say that children have the developed sense of self to

know the difference between what they want, and what the media tells them they want?

What you see everyday affects your life. When children are constantly exposed to sexual

messages through ads peddling goods, they absorb the conduct portrayed. When young girls buy

into these suggestive themes, they become the victims of an unhealthy set of standards that is

detrimental to normal social development. As much as the media and merchants are guilty for

this onslaught, parents and educators are now responsible to help guide our youth in scrutinizing

the ideas to which they are exposed.

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References

American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the

APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. Washington, DC: American Psychological

Association. Retrieved from www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html

Barskaya, G. (Artist). Figure 1 [Photograph] Retrieved April 28, 2010, from

http://www.photoxpress.com/stock-photos/female/model/face/374186

Brown, J. (Ed). (2008). Managing the Media Monster: The Influence of Media (From Television to Text

Messages) on Teen Sexual Behavior and Attitudes. Washington, DC: National Campaign to

Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.

Lamb, S. & Brown, L.M. (2006, August 10). Isn’t she special? Excerpt from: Packaging girlhood. The

Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved from http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0810/p09s01-

coop.html

Spector, M. (2008, July 29). 'Gossip Girl' and others branding sex in ads. ABCNews. Retrieved from

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=54657331

Whitehead, B. & Pearson, M. (2006). Making a Love Connection: Teen Relationships, Pregnancy, and

Marriage. Washington, DC: National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy.