Girls gone hurting

If you’re as stunned as I am by the phenomenon of ‘girls gone wild’ all over the place and the tv news footage giving it….yes, exposure, but also more…well, exposure, take a look at this news story from the Beeb.

The media’s portrayal of young women as sex objects harms girls’ mental and physical health, US experts warn. Magazines, television, video games and music videos all have a detrimental effect, a task force from the American Psychological Association reported.

This is sure stating the obvious. Did it really take a task force from the APA — or any task force – to study the problem and draw this conclusion? We’re saturated with this, all the way through our television newscasts, and I’ve been on something of a tirade lately because of the sickness of it all. And that was without mentioning the whole JonBenet Ramsey fixation.

Sexualisation can lead to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as depression and eating disorders.

That’s why I contend that what happened to Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan — just to name a few — was the logical progression of their self-destruction that started when they became objects of the pop entertainment culture.

The task force was set up after mounting “public concern” about the sexualisation of young girls.

Research on the content and effects of television, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, films, video games and the internet was analysed.

Recent advertising campaigns and merchandising of products aimed at girls was also scrutinised.

It’s an ugly job, but good that somebody did it. So what to do about their conclusions?

The task force called on parents, school officials, and health professionals to be alert for the potential impact on girls and young women.

Potential impact? Could we back up a step or two and stop the stuff that’s having the impact on girls and young women? Or at least stop exposing them to it? 

And it advised that schools should teach pupils media literacy skills and should include information on the negative effects of images portraying girls as sex objects in sex education programmes.

So they looked at the infamous sex education programs in the schools. About time. But again, beyond warning about negative effects of images, stop the images, for crying out loud.

Professor Andrew Hill, professor of medical psychology at the University of Leeds, said it was hard to disagree with any of the reports conclusions. “If you look at teenage magazines, it’s all about sex.

“We are a visually absorbed society – our views of people are dominated by how they look.”

He added that the use of women as sex objects in the media and advertising was a difficult issue to deal with…

“One of the key things here is social responsibility – advertisers and other media need to be aware that the products they produce and images associated with them have an impact and it’s not always a good impact,” he said.

Okay, good to generate the awareness. Now what?

The answer has to be personal responsibility by each person, and especially every parent, to exercise discretion, discipline and restraint. And to respect human dignity at all times in all people. No exceptions.

Wouldn’t that solve just about everything?