Girls Gone Mild

My daughter jumped in the car one day last fall and declared with a troubled voice, “Mom, all the kids in my class say Pooh is for babies.”

My heart sank. We’ve been warned that kids grow up fast, but I honestly thought we had a few more years of Tigger and Pooh. After all, she was only four. Fortunately, my husband lobbied a persuasive defense for Pooh and the little bear still remains in our daughter’s good graces. His days are numbered though – he’ll be left behind by High School Musical any day.

It’s not easy preserving the innocence of childhood these days, especially for little girls. Bratz dolls dressed like pint-sized prostitutes line the aisles of toy stores. Abercrombie & Fitch sells thong underwear for 7-12 year olds. Even Disney has joined in with modern, scantily-clad princesses like Ariel and Jasmine.

There are few places to hide from sexualized images of women and girls – images that promote women not for any positive character quality but only as attractive objects for sexual satisfaction.

Television, the grocery store, even some of our own North Dakota businesses are getting in on the action. A Fargo radio station this summer bought a billboard featuring a woman’s torso in a bikini with the words “Turn us on.” A local dance studio teaches preschool girls to shimmy and “shake their booties.”

One recent Sunday while reading the newspaper in his Pooh character PJs, my husband pointed out the Halloween costumes. Each of the costumes -- expressly marketed to teenage girls -- was a different play on a common theme. A sexy pirate, naughty nurse, French maid, little devil. All of the teenage models boasted unnaturally skinny figures, sizable busts, bare legs and a flirty pose – perfect for a Halloween party with pubescent boys.

Sexualized images of women are so common many of us stopped being surprised by them long ago. I’ve been snapped out of my silent submission more than once with questions like, “Why are princesses so skinny Mom?” or “Why does that girl have a tattoo way down there on her back?”

The impact these images have on adults is one thing. But what are young children who are developing their attitudes about themselves and each other suppose to think when bombarded by these powerful messages? What are teenagers, raging with hormones, to do when faced with sexual images everywhere?

The answer to these questions is fairly obvious. Young people are becoming sexually active much earlier. And although teenage pregnancies are down, STDs in people ages 15-24 are rampant, even in North Dakota. Adolescent girls struggle with eating disorders and some even resort to plastic surgery to measure up to the images of perfect, sexy women surrounding them every day.

It’s easy to feel defenseless among all of these powerful forces, but we do have a number of good weapons to defend our kids. The American Psychology Association recommends:

• Turn off the TV or watch programs with your kids so you can identify with them the stereotypes.
• Boycott toys, books, videos and magazines that promote sexualized images of girls, including many popular teen magazines.
• Encourage involvement in activities that promote the building of inner character not outer beauty.

If ever there were a cause for a modern feminist movement, this is it. The sexual revolution of the ‘60s liberated women sexually. Now we need a new revolution to fight the superficial sexuality that threatens to define us.

Let’s wear the bras but burn the Bratz dolls.