It scares me how influential the media has taken the
topic of sex into society. Sexual
relationships that you had with people use to be between you and that person,
sex never left the house. Now it is
something that is broadcast throughout the media, without a bat of an
eyelash. I was having this discussion
with an assistant this year, and was talking about cartoon network. I am sure that many children fall asleep to
their televisions on, while watching a cartoon show. Here is the question though, how many parents
actually turn the television off? Are
they aware that after midnight cartoon network turns into AdultSwim? There are cartoons that are still played on
the channel, but they are directed at adults.
Including their language both verbal and non-verbal, and their clothing
options. How many children are waking up
in the middle of the night, and are watching this, or falling back asleep
listening to what these shows are talking about.
Unfortunately I have too many examples of children I
worked with, or have observed through the media that are exposed to a highly
sexualized environment.
1) I
worked at a daycare in California, and I loved the parents and the
environment. Every day after the older
kids got home from school we would always have a “dance party”. This helped our older kid’s burn off some
much needed energy, and our younger kids had fun hanging out with the big
kids. Needless to say they were rocking
out to The Wiggles, or Barney, but it was exciting for them. One day it got awkward. One of our 4 year olds grabbed one of the
chairs from the sensory area, and started dancing in front of it. I asked her what she was doing, because
frankly I was confused. She said “a guy is supposed to be in the chair” and
proceeded to “air grind” the invisible man in the chair. My jaw dropped! “Children as young as four learning to gyrate
to songs in ways that might have stunned grown-ups a few decades ago” (Levin & Kilbourne) . That was a first for me!
2) A
few years ago my older lived in Las Vegas.
One Thanksgiving my family headed out there to be with him, my younger
brother was probably between 8-9 at the time.
We were driving down the strip to see my brother’s site that he was
working on, and I remember my mom having to cover my little brothers eyes
because there were Victoria Secret ads on the side of the busses. It wasn’t displaying a nighty, it was several
models with their backs turned only wearing a thong. I do not think this type of advertisement was
necessary, Victoria Secret is a common name, and I do not think that giant bums
on a bus was going to increase their sales.
All it did was give my mom an anxiety attack because my lil brother
couldn’t enjoy the sites, because there was a sexual ad on every corner. Hence reminding my mom why Las Vegas is
labeled as “Sin City”.
3) Ever
seen the show Toddlers and Tiaras? Well unfortunately I watched it one time,
due to a friend’s recommendation. Wow
did I get a show! There was a girl on there, and for one of her outfit changes
she was dressed as Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, before Richard Gere came
along. The 3 year old did not pick out
the outfit, but her mother did, who saw nothing wrong with the outfit
4) Levi’s
unbuttoned commercials and billboards were popular when I was living in
California. I remember one of their commercials’
coming on, and thought that I was an X-rated film that got turned on the
television. I could not find the commercial that I
remember seeing so long ago, but come to find out, there are a lot of their unbuttoned
commercials’. I am sharing a link to one
of their jean commercials’, and I recommend, if you watch it, not around
children.
“Children growing up
today are bombarded from a very early age with graphic messages about sex and
sexiness in the media and popular culture” (Levin & Kilbourne, p. 2) . Sex is everywhere, why, because sex
sells. Children are being hit with
sexual messages everywhere they go, and it is hard for parents to regulate how
they are exposed to it. You go without
televisions in your house, but they can still witness it driving to school, or
by friends.
I think that this is
always going to be a constant battle with parents and children. As hard as your try to prevent certain
situations, they are still exposed to things.
I think having parents be aware of what they talk about, and let their
children watch on their own is very important. Children can be left to explore
cable channels, and YouTube as often as they want, and it does not stop the
messages from coming. Parents and
teachers need to be active in fighting the apparent sexual overload that
children are being exposed to.
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteDo not even get me started with that Toddlers and Tiaras show. It gives out information that you have to have perfect everything in order to be beautiful and accepted by the judges. The make-up, the outfits, the fitted dentures when they have fallen baby teeth, it is all just rediculous. When children are young, the foundation is being laid for the kind of sexual relationships they will have when they grow up (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009). These girls, and sometimes boys, are learning that they have to `look` perfect in order to be liked and accepted by others. It`s scary to think where their future is going. They should have a `Where are they now?` episode with some of those children. It would be very interesting to see how it has effected their lives now that they are older. Thanks for sharing.
Stephanie
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
Jessica,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post and I admire your courage and the position you are taking on this issue. I agree with you that parents and teachers need to be active in fighting the apparent sexual overload that children are being exposed to. However, I want to believe that to some extent teachers are doing their best and some parents are trying. The battle will not be won until the government take the lead in this war. Some years ago, I heard that British Prime Minister, Mr Cameron voiced his support for an all new home internet services, laptops or mobile phones that would have the option to ban adult material. He was quoted to have said "this will be a giant step forward for protecting childhood and making Britain more family friendly". Good talk, But we need government at all levels to walk the talk. Thanks for your post.
Jessy,
ReplyDeleteOh my!! My jaw dropped when I read your first example! It really makes me wonder what children are viewing to be able to copy something like that, and who is letting them view such things. But at the same time, these things such as inappropriate movies and games are made accessible to children at such a young age. I think as advocates for children it is partly our job to suggest to the makers of these products to make them less accessable. Thanks for sharing!