sexualisation of women

It really breaks my heart to see that so many young girls/women think that in order to be considered beautiful they need to pose in a sexualised way, sometimes in minimal clothing, lingerie, or nothing at all. I have watched as so many girls that I have thought of as little sisters over the years have put images up of themselves that have horrified me because all I can think of is that not only are they potentially going to attract predators, but they also obviously believe on some level that they will only ever find love through sex.


Don't try to tell me that the media has NOT impacted the development of young viewers because it pretty friggen clear that there is an entire generation of young women who think that to be somebody they need to be a sex icon. How badly have we failed our young women and young men - sex sells in advertising, but it has sold far more than a product, it has sold out our children and our youth. And it isn’t the minority of young women who are selling themselves out, just a quick look around on facebook and you realise how prevalent it is, and how YOUNG some of these girls are!

I probably just sound like a prude and an “out of date, need to keep up with the times” person to some of you... but you know what?? This is NOT what I want for MY daughters.

I want my daughters to know that they are BEAUTIFUL, not merely sexy. I want my daughters to know that they are intelligent, of value, creative, precious, vivacious, fascinating (I use this word in a NON-SEXUAL manner), compassionate, loving - and that in knowing their worth they will never feel the only chance they have of attracting a man is to cheapen their sexuality. A man who needs to see that first to be attracted to them has no right to my daughters and cannot offer them the kind of home I want them to have because he will have missed their FINEST assets – themselves!!

And I DON’T want this for my son either!!!

I’m so fed up with having to constantly filter what comes through our home because EVERYTHING is sexualised now!! I do NOT want my son to think that the only satisfaction he can have in life is found in sex – it’s a lie and it is degrading to him and to women. I want him to know what it is like to love a woman because he respects who she is, not because he wants her for sex.

And it is getting harder and harder for me to protect my children.

Anyway, enough of my thoughts... if you want to read some research for yourself rather than hear me drone on and on... read the following...

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/116/1/S1/303
http://forums.newspeakdictionary.com/img/Inadvertent_exposure_to_porn.pdf
http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eca_ctte/sexualisation_of_children/gov_response/gov_response.pdf
http://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&lr=&id=y3ZLN1jcpngC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=statistics+impact+advertising+sexual+children&ots=km_vaoDdvB&sig=DuUVFk7SDTPr0mlBPdWAXJBQaW4#v=onepage&q&f=false
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/asr/v001/1.1pollay.html