Sexualisation of girls: let's not deprive children of their childhood

Sexualisation?

Sexualisation refers to current trends in modern culture and media in which sex has become visible in ever broader ways. Numerous studies indicate that more and more advertising campaigns portray people, especially women and girls, in a sexual manner, inducing competitiveness over appearance, beauty and seduction skills.

A younger and younger problem

Usually the problem concerns young girls, and involves teaching them a style and behaviour more common to mature women and portraying them in a sexualised manner. If girls wish to purchase the products and clothes designed to make them physically attractive, or model their identities on sexy celebrities, it is a sign that they have become sexualised. Modern societies are neglecting the problem. Adult standards for looks and behaviour targeted at girls are manifest in numerous fields, especially advertising campaigns and TV shows. Entertainment for kids, with fashion or beauty shows designed for girls under the age of 10, also promotes their sexualisation - as do the growing number of products like toys or clothes.

An emerging debate: increasing awareness of the impact on children

The emerging debate over hyper-sexualisation has been reinvigorated recently by an advertisement in Vogue magazine in which 10 year-old girls were photographed with heavy make-up, modelling grown-up clothing like tight dresses, high heels and jewellery. Parents and adults have, too, their part of responsibility in this process. Some encourage their children to undergo plastic surgery, some convince them that an attractive physical appearance is an important goal in life.

Parental organisations, as well as public authorities, in the EU Member States are becoming aware of the dangers which an increasingly sexualised society entails for children. It forces children to start perceiving themselves as objects to be evaluated exclusively by their appearance and thus entails the risk of great disappointment once they realise they are not meeting the standards. In consequence children can develop a disturbed and negative image of themselves at a very early age, leading for example to eating disorders, low self-esteem or severe depression. This development is an important challenge for modern society.

What next?

MEPs in the European Parliament, and especially in the EPP Group, do not want to remain passive and have started preparing a strategy for addressing this challenge. On Wednesday 6 June, the author of a report on the topic, Polish MEP Joanna Skrzydlewska, and her colleagues in the EPP Group are organising a public hearing during which numerous guests and experts from, amongst others, parental organisations will present their views on the problem. The hearing aims to raise awareness of the issue among public authorities and develop concrete strategies to counter it.