The generation of 'damaged' girls
Pastor Dale Morgan
The generation of 'damaged' girls*
By Sarah Womack, Social Affairs Correspondent
Last Updated: 7:21am GMT 20/02/2007
UK - A generation of very young girls is being psychologically damaged
by inappropriate "sexy" clothing, toys and images in the media that are
corrupting childhood, leading psychologists warn today.
They say marketing takes unfair advantage of children's desire for
affection and the need to conform, leading to eating disorders, low
self-esteem and depression.
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Their report echoes a warning by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan
Williams, and follows a United Nations study last week saying that
British children were the unhappiest and unhealthiest in the developed
world.
The American Psychological Association's report says inappropriate
marketing is leading to the sexualisation of children by a consumer society.
Apart from clothing for five- and six-year-olds, with old-fashioned
frilly frocks replaced by mini skirts, plunging necklines and sequined
crop tops, the report specifically criticises "Bratz dolls".
These outsell Barbie dolls in Britain by two to one and come dressed in
miniskirts, fishnet stockings and feather boas.
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Disney's Little Mermaid or Pocahontas "which have more cleavage, fewer
clothes and are depicted as sexier than characters of yesteryear" are
also picked out.
"The consequences of the sexualisation of girls in media today are very
real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls' healthy
development," said Eileen Zurbriggen, the APA's task force chairman. "As
a society, we need to replace all these sexualised images with ones
showing girls in positive settings. The goal should be to deliver
messages to all adolescents — boys and girls — that lead to healthy
sexual development."
Her comments were endorsed by Dr Jean Kilbourne, the co-author of a
forthcoming book So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualisation Of Childhood, who
said clothing, toys and adverts were shaping a child's gender identity
and values in the wrong way.
She saw a direct link between what was happening and the rise in
under-age sex.
Dr Kilbourne told The Daily Telegraph: "You see these clothes
everywhere, tight T-shirts for little girls saying 'so many boys, so
little time', that sort of thing.
"Parents think it is clever but they cease to think that when their
child becomes sexually active at 12. There is huge pressure on girls to
look sexy and dress provocatively at a younger and younger age and boys
are getting graphic sexualised messages. But parents can say 'no' and
refuse to buy this stuff."
Recently Asda was condemned for marketing black lacy underwear to
nine-year-old girls.
Last night Sue Palmer, the education consultant and author of Toxic
Childhood, said: "The same mothers that dress their daughters up like
tarts are probably the mothers going on demos against paedophiles. They
don't make the connection between how they are dressing children and
what they are so frightened of — paedophilia." A Bratz spokesman said
its dolls were bought by over-eights. "The Bratz brand, which has
remained number one in the UK market for 23 consecutive months focuses
core values on friendship, hair play and a 'passion for fashion'."
The spokesman quoted Dr Bryan Young, a psychologist at Exeter
University, as saying "parents may feel awkward but I don't think
children see the dolls as sexy. They just think they're pretty".