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February 21, 2007
APA: Sexualizing Girls is Bad
It's sad that it takes a major report by the nation's pre-eminent psychiatric association to point out what should be an obvious truth - that sexualizing young girls is a bad thing.
As readers of this blog know, I am now the (extremely proud) father of a daughter. Parenthood brings a lot of joy, but also gives me a whole new slate of things to worry about. Before my daughter was born, people told me that parenthood would cause me to look at the world through an entirely different prism.
They were right. My daughter's not leaving the house until she's 30. At least.
A report of the American Psychological Association (APA) released today found evidence that the proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harmful to girls' self-image and healthy development...Much of the blame in this has to go to parents who not only tolerate this nonsense, but purchase inappropriate clothing, toys or media for their children. If these parents had not created a market for this sort of thing, it would not exist."The consequences of the sexualization of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy development," says Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, chair of the APA Task Force. "We have ample evidence to conclude that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains, including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, and healthy sexual development."
The report does have its faults. From my skim of it, it is a bit harsh on the role of men. However, it's good to see this problem addressed from someone other than the usual conservative suspects.
Posted by slublog at February 21, 2007 12:00 AM
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Comments
Exhibit 1: Britney Spears.
Posted by: MainiacJoe at February 21, 2007 10:40 AM