Sexual Socialization Is A Gradual Developmental Process

In Stephanie Hanes’ article “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect,” the author discusses how young girls have the desire to act older than their age and fulfill the narrowing looks created by the world surrounding them. Supporting this claim is the 2010 American Psychological Association (APA) report on the sexualization of girls. It describes that a girl’s value comes from mostly sex appeal that’s seen in magazines, marketers, music lyrics, and on television (Hanes). Hanes’ use of case studies, statistics, research, and storytelling provides the uprising issue to the reader and gives her opposition to this subject matter.

Perceptions of a Girl in Childlike vs. Sexualizing Clothing” written by the authors Kaitlin Graff, Sarah K. Murnen, and Linda Smolak, they do a study on how girls are perceived in societies eyes when dressed in a more sexual manner. In the study there are pictures of a fifth-grade girl dressed in either childlike clothing or super sexualized clothing. A group of diverse students are presented with three different types of pictures and they define whether the girl is average or above average in her achievements. Concluding in their study it presents that wearing more sexualized clothes do affect how they are looked upon and they don’t regard their achievements throughout life. In the study it states, “sexualization of women in advertisements increased significantly in the U.S. between 1983 and 2003” (Graff, Murnen, & Smolak 765) proving that sexualized advertisements have drastically been impacting societies ideal

Now-a-days, you can’t find appropriate clothing for your children because all stores are selling short-shorts and crop tops for 12-year-olds. This issue is contradicting; girls are being sexualized by being told not to wear clothes that show their skin, yet the only clothes that are currently being sold are clothes that only sexualize girls even more by showing too much skin that doesn’t fit their age group. Orenstein also argues that, “ For today’s girls, sexy appearance has been firmly conflated with strong womanhood.” Meaning, instead of having a princess birthday party at the park, preschoolers are now having mani-pedi spa birthday parties; or how the Elementary school cheer dance routine is more provocative; or when 9-year-olds are taught “all the ticks of beauty.” In our defence, when society depicts young women as sexual objects, they make young girls think that their beauty is more important than their brains(hence the reason why you can easily mistake a 13-year-old for a

The sexualization of young girls and women in society is a prevalent theme in mass media. Presently, the sexualization of females is commonly seen in various consumer items like clothes, dolls, and even in Disney movies, according to “The Sexualization of Girls Is Harmful” article. The author says that sexualization occurs when “a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy; a person is sexually objectified- made into a thing for others’ sexual use; and sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person (AboutKidsHealth).” Furthermore, the author provides statistics on how girls are being sexualized by the products they see and use

Freedom, opportunities, and information are some features of this modern society. Clearly, humans are now having a very different life compared to the past. Along with this well-developed world, people get more chances to express how they think, do what they want, and love who they love. Especially young people, they become more independent and are capable of living their own lives. However, while society provides people a lot of benefits, it actually makes their lives even more complex at the same time by leaving them pressures and confusions of who they really are. In her essay, “Selections from Hard to Get:Twenty-Something Women and the Paradox of Sexual Freedom,” Leslie Bell mentions that while in this new-in between developmental period American twenty-something women have more freedom and opportunities about their sexual lives than previous generations, they are struggling with the paradoxes of their relationships and desires. Bell suggests that social expectations and culture guidelines, which are conventions of female sexuality and stereotypes of being a good girl, prevent these young women from pursuing their sexual desires and limiting their relationships with men. However, even these women have chosen the way they live and what kind of sexual life they want in order to be bad girls to break those old rules, they ended with losing their identities. In general, female sexuality is impacted more by establishing a

In her evaluation, she analyzes how the princess characters sexualization may have an effect on the way that adolescent girls act. For example, she notes that Ariel, the Disney princess from the movie, “The Little Mermaid” moves and acts extremely sexualized as she only wear a seashell bra for clothing. In the plot of the movie, Ariel’s voice is taken a way in exchange for the ability to walk on land as a human, so that she may woo the man she has seen. As a result of this plot device, the only way that Ariel is able to accomplish this is by utilizing the sexualization of her body. As a result, this is teaching young girls in order to find love and happiness, the important part is that you have a desirable body and over sexualize yourself. The Prince in the Little Mermaid had no knowledge of what Ariel is actually like since she never speaks, thus showing that personality is not nearly as important as being attractive. These very same morales are further evaluated in Rachelle Michelle Johnson’s paper as she analyzes other movies such as “Pocahontas” and “Beauty and the Beast”. While analyzing these, she comes to the same result, that these movies show emphasis on sexualization over personality. The continuous exposure of these messages to these girls develop a new sense of what is important, thus making them feel as though they need to be more attractive to find happiness.

Because women were eager to adhere to that standard young girls began engaging in relationships in their youth. This phenomenon subsequently lowered the age in which it was socially acceptable to sexualize a child. The media pushed an objectifying idea of a young, beautiful and married woman—whose value is determined by her beauty and by her husband—and the tangible implications as a result of the objectification of women soon followed suit. This is demonstrated through the implementation of sexualized and unnecessary beauty products for prepubescent children.

We as a society are also sending out mixed messages to our youth. On one hand, we present images of young, scantily-clad girls being the epitome of style and fashion, yet we simultaneously discourage this behavior in our nation's youth. We lock away pedophiles in institutions, and strictly prohibit

In speaking of sexuality Levay and Baldwin (2012) discussed the great experiences that occur from sexuality, but also stated that “at its worst, sexuality bring prejudice, anguish, violence, and disease.” Even in this day and age, sexuality still requires much more research and educating of society. This article will discuss four topics of sexuality, discuss a couple of recent controversies, and chose one topic for future focus and research.

There is a strong correlation between sexual health and sexism. It can be successfully argued that sexism has a negative impact on sexual health, with women as the primary victims. Since sexism is typically patriarchy-focused, women usually have a harder time securing protection for their sexual health. This is not to say that men are not negatively impacted by sexism. Sexism encourages men to embrace anti-social values supporting the depreciation of women’s sexual integrity intentionally and unintentionally. Therefore, the kind of mentality sexist men have about women’s sexuality is distorted. This socially divisive tool has an excessively negative impact on women’s knowledge of sexuality, the attitudes women have about their bodies, how women treat their bodies, women’s attitudes about their role in sexual interactions with men, and more. Unfortunately, this is something that people are exposed to at a young age. Adolescent boys and girls are conditioned to accept unhealthy ideologies about sexuality (Golanty & Edlin, 2012, p. 152). This is a developmental stage during which teens are quite impressionable when it comes to messages the media sends out to them regarding sexuality, especially in the U.S. (Golanty & Edlin, 2012, p. 152). These messages are not exactly truthful and supportive of one’s well-being. The adolescent stage also involves a lot of sensation-seeking through sexual exploration (Golanty & Edlin, 2012, p. 152).

Objectifying the human body has become normal in popular culture, and adults are not the only ones suffering psychological issues, like eating disorders, because of it. With so many mediums, an attempt to block sexualized content from children becomes difficult. “Sexualize” is not to be confused with “sexual” or “sexuality”. Merriam Webster defines the term as, “to make sexual; endow with a sexual character or quality.” An appalling fact is that the more unscrupulous an advertisement is, the better, and advertisers have moved on from naked adult bodies in ads, to naked children. Advertisements in malls, mannequins wearing thongs and panties, video games with big breasted and scantily clad women, television shows, movies, commercials, the list is vexingly long. Sex sells, and the use of shocking imagery has always made companies stand out negatively, particularly when it involves sexualizing children.

Sexuality has always been an issue of conflict and debate in society, especially since males and females are classified differently from the moment their gender is determined. This restraint of sexuality has been due to a heterosexual, patriarchal society’s ability to mold how men and women should and should not behave. As a result, sexuality has come to reflect society’s expectations, and throughout history, male and female sexuality has always been distinguishable, ensuring males maintain control of the power hierarchy. Yet, humans have always been having sex – either for reproductive purposes or for pleasure – and while both genders have the right to their own sexuality, it has evolved to be looked down

It is the placing of emphasis on a person’s sexual appeal or behaviour to the exclusion of other distinctive characteristics. Linda Papadopoulos (2010) stated that the key question to ask include what is the impact of sexualization or objectification on children, what is the long term impact of early exposure to adult sexual themes and in what ways does cultural exposure impacts on parents roles in protecting and educating children around sexuality in a developmentally appropriate

Providing a well-rounded research study, the article contributes important ideas in regards to how toys and media, such as over sexualized dolls and idols, can influence young girls’ self-sexualization and ideal

Starting from early adolescence, I knew that my journey towards adulthood would be different from my peers. One of my first memories of middle school was in fifth grade, being around a group of boys in my class and hearing them talking about women’s bodies and discussing them in a sexual manner. I was taken aback, I could not understand why they would desire to engage with someone in a sexual manner. In the back of my mind, I knew that sex was a violent act and nobody wants that to happen to them. It was unclear why those boys would want to do something so horrid to someone they found attractive.