According to the APA
Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls (2010), sexualization occurs when:
·
a person’s value comes only from his or
her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics
·
a person is held to a standard that
equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being sexy;
·
a person is sexually objectified—that
is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than seen as a person with
the capacity for independent action and decision making;
·
sexuality is inappropriately imposed
upon a person.
As
a professional in the field of early childhood education, I have seen an
increase of suggestive sexual messages geared towards young children on today.
Growing up I remember being shielded from my family members if something came
on television provocative, but today there are sexual images plastered
everywhere. There are more dolls/toys showing off girl’s bodies than ever
before and suggestive sayings in music and even television programs designed
for children. It disturbs me to see how times have changed and makes me weary
of what will come next for future generations.
As
a child growing up, I can remember only two or three young girls engaging in sex.
In recent years, that once small number has nearly quadrupled. There have been an increase in teenage
pregnancies and this is the generation for the new age grandparents, ranging
between the ages of 30-40. When I was in college this show, “Teen Mom” aired,
and from the very beginning, I was against and still against watching the show.
I refused to watch a television program in a sense glorifying teen pregnancy
while those teen mothers gain a profit. So many of my classmates just fell in
love with the show but deep down I knew how being a teen mom influenced and
changed lives. My mother was pregnant with me at age 16 and had both my younger
siblings by the time she was 21 years old, and I know how rough and hard it was
growing up to a single mother. Although my mother did the best she could there
were days that I wondered how life would be if my siblings and I came much
later in our mother’s life.
Over
the past, few months I have noticed that one of my students insist on kissing
the other little girls. The student, in which I am referring to, has two
mommies and often speaks on how she does not have a daddy. The other day during
circle time, the students were sitting on the mat when the little girl turned,
grabbed her friend’s cheeks and began kissing her. I was shocked because it was
as if she absolutely knew what she was doing and had no regard. I immediately
stepped in and informed the child that although we like our friends that it was
not okay to kiss them and that hugs were how we showed our friends we liked them. The little girl nodded her head showing that
she understood but I had to figure out the best possible solution of expressing
that to her parents without making them uncomfortable, which was not a hard
task.
My niece is such a joy to be around and we have
discovered her love for music. Now I was always the singer in the family but my
sisters were the dancers (I have two right feet, not left). My niece has the complex that all electronic
devices are hers and is often times trying to get to the music. One day my
sister, my niece and I were in the living room, when my sister began dancing.
My niece then climbed off the sofa, bent over, and started shaking her behind.
Before I knew it I picked her up and expressed how little girls should not
dance like that, but my sister on the other hand did not agree. She laughed and talked how it was cute but I
felt it was inappropriate to allow a child to dance in such a provocative
manner.
According
to the article, “So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents
can do to protect their kids”, authors Levin & Kilbourne concluded the
following (2009):
“Both
boys and girls are routinely exposed to images of sexual behavior devoid of
emotions, attachment, or consequences. They learn that sex is the deļ¬ning activity
in relationships, to the exclusion of love and friendship. They learn that sex
is often linked to violence. And they learn to associate physical appearance
and buying the right products not only with being sexy but also with being
successful as a person. Such lessons
will shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, and values, and their
capacity for relationships, for love and connection that they take into
adulthood. While they struggle to make sense of all this, children are robbed
of valuable time for age-appropriate developmental tasks, and they may begin to
engage in precocious sexual behavior”.
Sexualization can
influence and shape gender identity, values and other things, but it is our
jobs as adults to show young children the importance of valuing themselves and
not relying on others to validate them. I believe if we as adults model good
behavior that young children will feed off it and do the same. I also believe
that by building confidence that children will step away from what others around
them are doing and follow their own lead.
This
week has opened my eyes in my awareness of sexualization of early childhood and
has shaped how I want to shield young children from these images, even though
they are healthy images. I just believe it is important to keep young children
pure and innocent and it is my hope that one day the rest of society will do
the same. Here below is a link to a video in which I found helpful in exposing
sexualization among young children. The link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWLdSwO_cwo
References
