In 2002 the Big Brother housemate Jade Goody stripped naked on primetime TV. The
following year Paris Hilton starred in a sex tape posted on the internet
that was viewed by millions. Last year Britney Spears flashed her genitalia
to the paparazzi, setting off a string of celebrity copycats. And two weeks
ago the singer Beth Ditto clambered out of her knickers live on stage,
tossing her undies into the crowd.
You’re nobody, it seems, until everybody has seen your never-nevers plastered
across the cover of Heat magazine. And it’s not just show-biz
exhibitionism that’s on the rise. Teenage girls are being swept up by
reality TV-style tits-out culture, becoming more willing than ever to bare
all.
Log on to social networking websites such as MySpace or Facebook, view the
videos on YouTube and you’ll find explicit photos of girls, as young as 14,
posing in their underwear or flashing for the camera. It’s not only socially
and morally worrying, but new research indicates that such practices may
cause long-term damage to young women’s mental and physical health.
Grace, 15, attends a girls’ school in North London. She has a MySpace and
Facebook page and her photo galleries are littered with pictures of her
gangly frame dressed in bra-tops, tight shorts and miniskirts. She sees it
as keeping up with fashion, just like having her tawny hair highlighted.
“Mum doesn’t like my clothes, she says I look too old, but I’m just wearing
what everyone else is. There’s nothing wrong with it. I think Mum would
freak if she saw my MySpace though; it has everything on it. She does say
that I’m growing up too fast, but I think that’s good.”
Grace (it’s not her real name) says her parents don’t pay a lot of attention
to her online life. “Mum doesn’t like me spending a long time on the
computer and when Dad saw one of the pictures he said I should take it down,
but he didn’t check all of them,” she says. Under current rules, you must be
over 14 to register with MySpace, though some politicians are increasingly
worried about teens misusing networking sites. The Attorney-General in the
American state of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, wants a state law that would
require children to obtain parental permission before creating profiles on
them.
Grace’s web profiles reveal in detail her adolescent tangles with boyfriends,
occasional vodka-swilling and snogging on the night bus. They also reveal
that she has friends from across the world, many of them men. “I suppose I
do like putting up sexy photos because it gets attention. But I do it
because it’s funny, not because I really think I’m sexy. And they’re all
idiots anyway,” she says of the men who write to her. “They think you’re
interested in them but you’re so not.”
Many of them aren’t just harmless idiots, though. This week MySpace reported
that it had identified and removed 29,000 convicted sex offenders caught
using the site. It might all seem harmless to Grace, but the comments on her
photos, posted by Grace and her friends, contain a rich analysis of her
appearance, revealing a strong preoccupation with appearing sexy. “You look
pretty fit here,” says one. “Look at your boobs, they’re huge,” reads
another. There is also a sense of one-upmanship as weekend antics are
compared. “You were so mashed last night,” reads one message. “What were
you up to in the toilet?” Another asks if a girl called Frankie “really
flashed a cabbie!”
Some feminists argue that this kind of exhibitionism is about women taking
control of their sexuality, but the trend seems to have more to do with
media adulation than emancipation. Research conducted in the past ten years
shows that girls are modelling their behaviour on women in the media. When a
poll by the Lab TV website asked nearly 1,000 girls who they considered a
“good role model”, the glamour models Abi Titmuss and Jordan topped the list.
In the same survey, 63 per cent of girls said that they aspired to be glamour
models rather than doctors or teachers, and a quarter thought that
lap-dancing would be a “good profession”.
The mental impact of all this increasingly exhibitionist behaviour among young
girls is complex, says Dr Sharon Lamb, Professor of Psychology at Vermont
University. She is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA)
taskforce, which wrote a report on the subject in April this year.
“What sexual exhibitionism encourages, and leads to, is the sexualisation of
girls; a process whereby a girl’s sense of self-worth hinges on her sexual
appeal,” she says. The report, which looked at research from the past 30
years, concluded that young girls’ preoccupation with appearance and
sexuality can have disturbing consequences for their physical and mental
wellbeing.
Especially worrying was a study by Dr Barbara Fredrickson, a professor of
psychology at the University of North Carolina, which reports that teens who
strongly view themselves as sex objects face an increased risk of developing
eating disorders, depression and sexual dysfunction. The APA report also
featured a 1998 study, in which the same researchers asked college-aged
girls to try on either a swimsuit or a sweater, assess their appearance,
then perform mathematical tests. The girls asked to wear swimsuits performed
significantly worse.
“This is how sexualisation fragments consciousness,” says Dr Lamb. “These
girls were so hung up on their appearance they literally didn’t have room in
their heads to do maths. They learn that preoccupation from the women they
look up to in the media.”
Dr Glenn Wilson, reader in psychology at King’s College London, an expert on
exhibitionism, agrees with Dr Lamb. “Girls see celebrities acting and
dressing in an overtly sexual way and think that is the best way to get
attention.”
It’s Saturday afternoon and it could be any English town centre (I’m in
Banbury in Oxfordshire). You don’t have to look too hard to see Dr Wilson’s
point. Prepubescent girls strut past in wedge heels and crop-tops. Many of
their tops bear slogans such as “Little Minx”, “Heartbreaker” or “Who needs
brains when you’ve got these?”
In a high street store a mother berates her teenage daughter for trying on a
dungaree miniskirt she considers too revealing. “What do you want to wear
that for?” she asks: “It’s hanging off you.” She tugs at the hem and one of
the straps falls off her teenage daughter’s shoulder. The girl shrugs: “I
like it. Anna’s got one,” is her only reply, before she storms back into the
changing cubicle. Does her mother worry about the message she is sending
out. “Of course,” she says. “I know she wouldn’t let herself get into
trouble, but sometimes I feel that she doesn’t know what trouble is. It
doesn’t help that all of her friends dress like it.”
Though Dr Wilson believes flirtation and exhibitionism are natural for young
girls, he says that clear lines must be drawn. “Children want to be looked
at, but wearing items like thongs and revealing clothes sends the message
that they are sexually available. It also implies knowledge of sexuality
that just isn’t there,” he says.
Dr Lamb agrees. She feels that girls are being encouraged by celebrities,
clothing designers and toymakers. She cites Bratz Dolls as a prime example.
Since their launch in 2001, the Bratz, which typically come dressed in high
heels, strappy vests and miniskirts, have become queens of the toybox, with
125 million sales worldwide. “They come with painted-on stockings! That’s
giving girls the wrong message about what their body means,” Dr Lamb says.
Unlike their main competitor, Barbie, who is endowed with glamour-model
proportions but tends to focus on the relatively wholesome activities of
dog-walking and beachside barbecues, the Bratz primary focus is on material
goods, their appearance and interactions with boys.
There is a Bratz cartoon in which the girls go on allnight shopping benders,
and also a sister range called Bratz babies, fully made-up toddlers in
brightly coloured underwear. Typical slogans on the Bratz packaging are
“Flaunt it” or “Xpress it”.
The APA report found that girls’ fear of social rejection and unpopularity
drive them to choose sexualised clothing and once they are dressed up like
that they feel the urge to perform as adults.
When I talked to a gaggle of 13 to 15-year-old girls lounging on the steps
behind the Castle Quay shopping centre in Banbury they cheerfully confirmed
Dr Lamb’s beliefs. All the girls wear revealing clothing, including the kind
of high-heeled boots that most women could barely stand in. Why do they
dress this way? “It’s sexy, isn’t it?” replies one.
“If you dress like this you get noticed,” she says, throwing her arms behind
her back, pushing her flat chest forward and striking a suggestive pose. Who
notices you? “Everyone!”
They are being noticed by more than just the passers-by on their way to the
shops. All five of the girls have posted pictures on social networking
sites. At least one admits to having posed in a bikini.
Browse through the pages of MySpace and you’ll find hundreds of revealing
pictures of young girls. A search on the video site YouTube, one of the most
popular sites on the internet, reveals young girls dancing for cameras in
their underwear, or video diaries detailing their sex lives. Egged on by
their friends or by people they meet online, young girls have even been
stripping or masturbating in front of webcams.
Dr Lamb believes that these girls engage in dangerous exhibitionist behaviour
because they are increasingly encouraged to perform and to take on the role
of a successful sex object. This is linked, she says, to an increase in the
incidence of depression, self-harm and eating disorders. In her private
practice Dr Lamb sees many college-age girls who have suffered as a result
of such exhibitionist behaviour: “One of my clients flashed her breasts for
a camera,” she says. “She now feels that she will never live down the shame
of it. In the moment, these girls feel powerful, but it is short-lived and
the negative results are lasting. Girls often experience a drop in
self-esteem, can become depressed and fail to form intimate relationships in
the future. This kind of behaviour is a growing trend and carries serious
consequences for girls’ mental health. We need to tackle it, now.” The
problem is becoming increasingly evident at that epicenctre of
self-exposure, the world of reality television. Dr Honey Langcaster-James, a
consultant psychiatrist at the University of Hull, is a TV psychologist who
has appeared on Big Brother and its Psychology Show. In
her private practice she sees former reality TV stars, including some of the
more recent Big Brother contestants. Using one-to-one coaching she
helps them to deal with traumas caused by sudden media intrusion, ardent
fans and the abuse that occasionally comes their way.
Dr Langcaster-James believes that children need more information about the
implications of exposing oneself (often all-too literally) in the media.
“Reality stars have little longevity and can end up emotionally damaged, but
we rarely see that side of fame; the worry, the constant attention can make
life horrible for people. If we did see it, I think girls would cotton on to
the negative implications of their behaviour.”
Dr Wilson adds that while we cannot ban children from watching screens, we
need to reduce the average six hours and 32 minutes a day that children
spend doing so. “It’s no new suggestion, but children should be cultivating
real-world friendships and interact with people outside of the computer,” he
says.
While much of the responsibility for this problem lies with the media, the
clothing manufacturers and the celebrities themselves, Dr Lamb believes that
solving the problem starts at home and in schools. “Media literacy is a key
goal. Encourage girls to cast a critical gaze over the media and they will
begin to realise that they have a choice about how they are perceived,
singularly and as a gender. Then we might see some change,” she says.
But while criticism of the media is the answer Dr Lamb hopes for, it is girls
criticising each other that is beginning to change attitudes among some
groups. “There is a backlash beginning,” she says. “Girls quickly go from
being popular to being derided for their slutty behaviour. It’s sad because
they do all these things to fit in, but go too far and they are soon turned
against.”
This is especially apparent in America’s growing Modesty Movement, exemplified
by modestyzone.net, a website founded in 2005 by Wendy Shalit, the author of
Girls Gone Mild, published last March. The site advocates modest
behaviour and features tips such as skirts should fall no more than four
fingers above the knee.
Modesty Zone also features a blog, Modestly Yours, which has 21 regular
contributors who comment on topics such as fashion and celebrities. In
recent years, clothing stores such as modestapparelUSA.com and
dressmodestly. com have joined the site in promoting cover-all outfits. In
the UK, pureclothing.co.uk offers thin tops designed to maintain coverage
while allowing girls to wear the latest fashions.
Shalit claims that it is the parents who are engaging in sexually
exhibitionist behaviour and that their children are pulling on the reins.
In her new book she says that parents are increasingly willing to accept
children’s desire to be “bad” instead of “good”. Because children naturally
rebel against their parents, the new trend is for them to act in responsible
ways. If Shalit is right, mums who dress in stilettos and a miniskirt will
have their children queuing for floor-length skirts by the end of the day,
because it seems the one thing that will never go out of style for teenagers
is challenging their parents’ expectations.
if she wants to look and feel good it should be left to her i see nothing wrong with her have you seen a doctor? we are going into a new world old days are gone sorry
bruce, shenandoah, virginia
'HELLO MOTHER!...HELLO FATHER!! When you talk about a "sex culture" among girls in their early teens, the obvious question that comes to mind is "Where the Heck are their parents? ? ?" Aren't parents supposed to be "in charge" any more...or is that idea now out of date and politically incorrect? Or are Mum and Dad too busy off doing their own things? My wife and I raised a daughter who is now a fine, university-educated young lady. No one had to tell us that we were responsible for her safety, education and upbringing: There was no "sex culture" in our home, no teenaged sex, no abortions ...no damned nonsense! Parenting...is a responsibility! To do it properly requires love, awareness, commitment and controls.....and, ideally, mature, married ADULT parents! Teenaged pregnancies are bad for adolescent mothers....and Bad for Britain! Parenting requires a sense of responsibility. Good kids don't just "happen": They are brought up that way!
Garth Rex, Glendale Heights, USA
It's a shame that these kids don't think a bit more about the longevity of digital media. A video of themselves masturbating aged 15 may be somewhat less funny when presented by their own teenaged son in 30 years time.
Also, good employers are media savvy and will check people out on networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace. Escaping from your tagged exploits may then be difficult and could be harmful to your prospects.
Finally, what might seem "fun" or even toungue-in-cheek when produced for your friends may have a different feel when digital images are copied off and shared or even sold to adult content providers who post them in the "webcam girls" section or whatever.
Dave, Nottingham,
I myself am 21, but was a teen when celebrities like Britney were in the ascendant. While I do agree that eating disorders are in the rise in British teens--and this is not a single-gender issue--I would argue that much more of this has to do with the competitive culture that many of these teens gorw up in: from competing for school places, to staying top of the class, and gaining the aesthetic look to project their success to those around them. However, I would also suggest that much of the media furore is unecessary--adolescence is a famously unstable time, in which many generations have courted parental disapproval before. Many of my parents' friends, for example, were moving to London at the ages of 14 and 15, something unheard of in the middle classes of nowadays--I would suggest that parents need to support their children, but trust that eventually they will emerge unscathed from the emotional adolescent mire, with a few hard lessons learned.
Alex, London, UK
People here are addressing the symptoms and missing the big cause.
We live in a "winner takes all" society. Huge wealth is available to a few whilst the rest of society is doomed to welfare dependency or corporate slavery.
This is not a gender issue. Success is achieved by being an entertainer, a sportsperson or a hedge fund manager. Given that becoming a hedge fund manager is not a realistic option for most people, that leaves sports people and showbiz as achievable exemplars.
Is it any wonder that young girls emulate entertainers? One can be Jordan, be a millionairess and live a life of luxury, or one can be a lawyer or a scientist, work a 50 hour week and struggle to afford a house.
This is reality, not a media projection. Until we do something about the huge inequalities of wealth, the unaffordability of decent housing, and the unrealistic demands of employers we will not see changes in the behaviours of our youth.
Simon Allen, Melbourne, Australia
Where are the parents who say "NO" to unwise choices and unacceptable risk taking.? And where are the interesting and exciting role models for young girls? They are certainly not often represented in the media whereas brainless bimbos are. Who decides what gets mentioned in the media?? I'm guessing men do.Celebs famous for T and A are just so boring unless one is fueled by testosterone.And then of course sex sells .Women still are not economically equal and little ones from non aspirational backgrounds really think they have nothing else to offer, nothing else to use to get on in the world but their bodies. It is awful that little girls think that they have to be sexy to be noticed and to be worth something.Like the sensible young person from Nottingham my daughter looked at a celeb mag in the docs surgery with disgust" Yuk how chav" Adults need to take responsibility and raise children with self esteem.
frances , Tunbridge Wells, Kent
Great comment by N.H. in Southampton. Once again, it all comes down to the 'virgin/whore' dichotomy - apparently, women can only be one or the other. When will our society finally grow up about female sexuality?
Kate, Manchester,
I see the impact of this everywhere - I like in America, so perhaps its more pronounced than what some of you see, but it's absolutely horrible. I've lost my smart, creative little sister (16) to this wave of sexualizing her body - I caught her posting VERY sexual pictures of herself on her MySpace, but was told I obviously didn't care if she wasn't in fashion with her friends. We only have a three year age difference - how did she manage to turn out this way, and I am completely opposite?
My "best friend" has never gone a day without crying about how "ugly" she is - she judges her appearance off of how often people ask her out or seem interested in her sexually! She's got wonderful parents - I just can't understand where this is coming from. Its like a virus in the air here, that slips into the minds of smart, happy girls and destroys their confidence and pride, until they only care about their sex appeal. Its absolutely tragic and makes me afraid to have children of my own!
Emma, Columbia, Missouri, United States
Although some say that a lot of people and friends do not act this way in their school and surroundings, it may not be where you are( or you may not notice whats around you) but it is happening! I totally agree with this article because my sister and her friends all believe what was said doing everything at a young age, from drugs to drinking, and even to trying to get into clubs underage( at 15!).
Alyzza, San Diego, CA
Whatever happened to "there's a time and a place for that"? There are plenty of occasions for teenage girls to wear bathing suits -- while swimming, for example. And I don't think most people object to girls who wear short shorts to compete in running races.
What's happening is that some people, at least, have decided that a thing that's acceptable SOMEWHERE cannot possibly be unacceptable ANYWHERE. And so you see girls wearing bathing suit tops to go shoe shopping, which is silly. A person who does this will certainly be noticed, not just because the look is sexy but because the behavior is bizarre outside its normal context.
Someone who lives all of life this way never develops a sense of context, and therefore can't figure out how to shift behavior from one situation to another. I'm sure that's part of the damage. Just imagine going through life with no clear idea of the difference between intimacy and public display.
M.C., Maryland, USA
Well said, Daniel from Boston. This grooming of girls is being done by society, but if done by an individual would lead to police action.
Sarah N., London,
My dauther thinks she is not fashionable enough. She is not part of the club of interesting girls at school. Fortunately I brought her up with music and books, so she has her hobbies and some other unfashionable girlfriends with the same hobbies. But she feels alone when she sees the big mating around her and thinks she will pass the rest of her life an old maid (at 15!). It is hard to bring up a child according to one's values if it seems to make her lonesome. Sometimes I think it is much easier to live like the rest, even if it's stupid.
Mother, Zurich, Switzerland
gabi, Zurich, Switzerland
A very small part of teenagers act like this in my experience.
I am 13 and none of my friends act this way.
If anyone at my school did people would think they were a charv or a slut.
Its not like a go to a posh school or anything much the opposite i go to a public school which is certainly not posh,
It is really younger children that thinks its cool to be like that because of things like bratz and barbie. Also teenage boys call people who act the way you described sluts or slags.
So, while some teenagers like me act this way in my opinion the majority don't.
I would feel embarrased if i ever acted this way.You can tell people who act like that are very fake and insecure or whatever.
eleanor, Newcastle upon Tyne,
And alo,,
when me and my friends read like Heat and stuff we see celebs like lindsay lohan and were like-what is she doing.
We dont really take them as like role models music is a much bigger influence than any celebrity and i dont listen to that much pop or rihanna or anyone like that.
eleanor, Newcastle upon Tyne,
I bet that the so-called Modesty Movement is propelled and supported by Christian zealots. It's another way of polarising femininity. "Chaste", "virginal" and "proper" define one version, "impure", "promiscuous" and "indecent" define the other. No middle ground. Telling a girl to be "modest" is patronising - the idea behind it is that girls need to be protected from themselves because they're not intelligent enough to exercise judgment. Also, why the emphasis on re-educating girls? What about the men who drool over these pictures of semi-nude adolescents? What have they been taught about male-female relations? This isn't just about kids wanting to fit in. It's about the whole notion of gender difference and sexual roles, and the way society wants to keep them stringently in place. Adults are no less influenced than teens. There's a whole load of girls, and yes, boys, who don't buy into this nonsense. Their less confident peers won't catch on until the rest of society does.
N.H., Southampton, UK
Problem is, kids having kids. They want to be friends with their children, nothing wrong with that, but some have a complete inability to parent. These parents should stop glamourising some of these 'flaky' celebs and introduce their kids to real role models and fulfilling interests which can be fun too. Encouraging spotty, revolting, testosterone fuelled boys, urghh! - get a decent education and wait a few years to meet [hopefully] intelligent, handsome and decent men who'll treat you with respect. You can pick up rubbish any time, anywhere.
Jenny, London, U.K.
When young girls expose themselves on the internet, the blame needs to be dropped in the laps of the parents. Computers should never be placed where an adult cannot supervise. Firewalls and entry passwords can be installed. There is absolutely no excuse for any child being put in the path of an online predator. What has happened to parental backbone?
Kim Righetti, Upland, Calif. USA
These have something to do with influence from adult websites.
Internet pornography destroys the moral values of people, especially the minors. An internet domain suffix must be created exclusively for adult websites eg. .xxx, and a universal law must be pass by all countries that adult websites being hosted by them use only one universal domain suffix. Therefore it would be much easier for parents to block these adult websites and protect their children from surfing on these sites. Unlike the current settings where adult websites were very difficult to filter.
Mark Herd, London,
I agree with what has been written in this article. However, once again I find the media being hypocrytical: On the one hand these girls are being (rightly) slated for wearing revealing clothing and behaving immodestly, yet on the other hand we see the media criticising Muslim women for covering themselves and trying to behave appropriately. It just goes to show that humans can never be pleased and so, thats why Muslim women follow God's Commands and eventually, the masses find that its correct after all.
Shy, London, England
Maybe our youth should be encouraged to be skinny. Obesity overwhelms our societies. Take a look at the models on the "modesty apparel" websites. They all look like Lane Bryant hefty models to me.. I would think they have a rather hard time selling their marketing message, "buy these clothes and you'll look like our models." & isn't this just another installment in the age-old "the kids are growing up to fast and everything is going to hell in a hand basket and when I was a kid things were different/better" story? I think that started with Socrates & will probably never end & yet the next generation WILL turn out fine with probably no more incidence of neuroses than the one before and the one before and the one before...
Jim B, Indianapolis, USA, IN
Young girls turning into young women are sexually attractive because Nature has designed humans in this way in order to perpetuate the species.
Sexual attraction is merely a signifier of health and the ability to reproduce . Sex is neither right nor wrong but an emotion.
Authoritarians throughout history have attempted to control sexual behaviour because control is control per se.
If we examine different societies around the world we find that there is a direct correlation between a liberal society and sexual freedom.
Mike Freeman, London, London
What do you honestly expect? We have had sexual liberation for some 4 decades now, and the TV and films are full of nudity, sex and exhibitionism. Now why do you think children grow up thinking this is cool?
It is no answer to appeal to some 9 o'clock watershed - in a way this is worse, it just signals to children that to be adult you have to be a nudist/violent/rude/whatever type of person to be adult, or at least to like that sort of thing.
Pandora's box is open and the poison is out in society. All our role-models are sexualised to a phenomenal degree - I was reading somewhere about the pressure young actresses come under to strip on camera, they do so, they are well paid for any loss of modesty involved, they win awards, why do you think children want to do the same? They are just imitating their heroes.
I am interested to see that we finally perceive that harm can result. STD's up, unwanted pregnancies up, mental problems up, birthrate down. What a mad society we have made.
Richard, London, England
I think that the greatest problem here is not media or society's attitude (although they are partially responsible too) but how parents treat their children and what they teach them. If mothers will stop telling their daughters that the most important thing in their life is to get married and have children, maybe the girls will start to think of other things than boys. And also if parents will be interested in something like art or theater or traveling and encourage their kids to the same (encourage, not force), young girls will understand that world is a lot wider. I'm 17 myself and I remember very well how it was to be 13, already then I understood that fitting in has nothing to do with clothing.
Ilze, Jelgava, Latvia
I couldn't agree more. I note that many people now are quite nude under their clothes, and it's even reported that more and more people are born nude. It's disgusting. Surely a government that can put everyone on camera at all times can do something about this?
Taken aback in Tunbridge Wells
Emma Hoopskirt, Tunbridge Wells, Little Britain
What I don't understand is why all of society doesn't realize that this overt sexualization of young girls is no different than a pedophile grooming his next victim. Instead, anyone who is critical this disturbing cultural trend is marked as a "prude," as if anything done within the realm of sexuality is sacred and not to be questioned--ever. It is because sexuality is so powerful than we must be aware of inflicting such a distorted sexuality onto children, who can easily be radicalized in a way that scars them psychologically.
Daniel, Boston,
Jailbait teenies. Please keep in mind that while sexual relations with a sixteen-year-old are absolutely legal, irrespective of the age of the other party/ies, photographing the event falls into the category of "engaging in child pornography". So membership of the "Sex Offender's Register" beckons. Also, while the law winks at a Romeo and Juliet situation, when one of the parties reaches 16, it becomes illegal if they don’t “cool†it. Once they both reach 16, everything’s fine again. Hardly surprising Britain’s teenage pregnancy rate is high enough to be a national disgrace. Britain is en-route to terminal meltdown, and this is a component. Because when an unmarried/under-age teenager “falls†pregnant, her entire life-aspirations go out of the window. No higher education, white-collar career, good marriage, respectability, bona-fide member of the middle class. “I could da been a contender.â€
Andrew Milner, Yokohama, Kanagawa