Sexualization of Girls in America

[Anchor: Martha]

When we return, New York girls strike a pose…Is it a case of too much too soon?

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Several tornadoes struck the South and Midwest overnight and this afternoon, hitting several states and killing at least seven people. The storms also damaged businesses and homes, leaving thousands without power.

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In entertainment news, teen idol Miley Cyrus won’t be attending a red carpet event at Disney World tonight. The 15-year-old star of Disney’s Hannah Montana is keeping a lower profile because of the controversy surrounding the provocative shot of her in Vanity Fair magazine.

[Anchor: Yang]

That revealing photo has sparked debate about the sexualization of girls in America. Betwa Sharma reports.   

[TAKE PKG]

Revealing pictures of the 15 year old actor Mily Cyrus printed in Vanity Fair last week once again sparked the controversy of sexualization of young women in America.  Betwa Sharma reports. 

Cristal Joshua wants to be like Beyonce. The 15 year old says that image is everything and she dresses like her idol.

“Fashion and clothes is a big part of our teenage life right now, because it depends on what you wear for you to get noticed and for you to get attention,” said Joshua.

Teenagers like Cristal look up to these celebrities as role models. But often the young stars represent a sexualized image to their followers.

“I think they are exposed to much more explicit images than any previous generation,” a psychologist said. “There is no question about that.”

The sexualized persona celebrates clothes, alcohols, boys and drugs. And images on television and magazines make it tempting.

“The media, MTV, makes it look so much more fun,” Ruby Kaye said.

 And peer pressure plays a big role in the choices these young girls make.

“Its peer pressure,” said Nicole Karla. “So one person does it and then they tell their friend. And then that friend goes and tells another friend. So it ends up as a whole groups doing it and then you want to join in because your friend is doing it.”

All this behavior leads to one thing

“It is wanting to be desired by older men and to get that recognition of saying you know what I am going out with an older guy and in order to be noticed by that older guy you end up bragging things that make you look older and doing things that make you feel older,” said Kaye.

But it’s not only teenagers. Even girls in elementary school are exposed to sexually explicit material. We spoke to one first grade teacher who told us about the seven year old who came to school with a teenage magazine.

“And we had a discussion about like what you’re doing,” said Carlos, “You’re seven years old. And this is J-17. This is a magazine for seventeen year olds. It was just strange because I didn’t know it would be in their back packs.” 

Psychologists say it is unclear what sexualized images mean to the first graders, but one thing is certain.

“They are definitely conscious of beauty and want to look attractive,” said Carlos.

And from seven to 17 girls have been bombarded with sexually explicit images like never before. But some like Nicole Karla, who plans to go into advertising, wants to stop this trend.

“I definitely think I’m gonna have standards, because in today’s world, it’s gone way too far. We’re selling sex to little kids,” said Karla.

Betwa Sharma for Columbia News Tonight.

~ by supermann on May 2, 2008.