The Sexualization of Early Childhood
American children are exposed to a barrage of sexual images in television, movies, music and the internet (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009). What I found to be interesting about this topic is that how it has become a norm and I am not really shocked about it. When they started having beauty pageants for the young girls that started from the age of five, and dressing them up as little women, I felt that was to much. The pageants was fine, but let them dress and look like children.
Young men and women are spoon-fed images that equate sex with violence, paint women as sexually subservient to men and encourage "hooking up" rather than meaningful connections (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009).
As young men and young girls see children see children their own age dress and act a certain way, they tend to look to what they are doing and try to mock that same behavior or style. The result is that kids are having younger and with more partners than ever before. Eating disorders and body image issues are common as early as grade school (Levin, D.E., & Kilbourne, J. 2009). One way that I have observed the sexualization is in my own personal life. My cousin has a daughter and the clothes that she buys for her is cute, but I noticed that the clothes are crop tops, so she has to put a tee shirts underneath so her seven year old daughter don't look to grown. Children these days bodies are more developed so they already look maturer than they really are.
- The messages that I have found with the sexualization of early childhood is that the kids don't get to develop a sense of self.
- The influence that it can have is children identifying with gender specific roles and what they must look like or act like.
What can early childhood professionals do to tackle this problem and reduce the negative effects that it has on young children?
- As an early childhood educator, we can provide materials and activities that are inclusive and diverse for every gender and culture.
- We can read books, use puppets and songs to promote diversity.
- Model positive behaviors and use encouraging words to identify feelings/emotions or events.
References
Levin,D.E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction], So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8), New York: Ballantine Books, Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf
Hello Takeisha, thank you for sharing. I also have friends and parents that dress their children in clothing that is inappropriate for their age. As you said they think it is cute an fashionable. Children's clothes aren't what they used to be and it often feels like some parents dress their children to be camera-ready mini fashionistas.Nowadays, parents want their children to look like adults.
ReplyDeletethe sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls. It's seen in movies, video games, music videos, music lyrics, and magazine (American Psychological Association, 2007 as cited in Iyamba,2011).
Reference
Iyamba, N. (2011 August 29). Provocative clothing can cause long-term harm to kids, expert says. https://www.ksl.com/article/17015782/provocative-clothing-can-cause-long-term-harm-to-kids-expert-says