Young Girls and Too Much Sex

Our culture is encouraging kids to grow up entirely too fast. We already know about the effects media has on body image. When inundated with images of emaciated women, girls often want to emulate what they see. One might expect this sort of behavior and desire from a pre-teen or teenager. However, a recent study shows that girls as young as six want to be perceived as “sexy.”  In a recent blog entry at Huffington Post, a study concerning the sexualization of young girls was discussed. In the study, it was found that:

Most girls as young as 6 are already beginning to think of themselves as sex objects, according to a new study of elementary school-age kids in the Midwest.

Now, to me, six seems awfully young for kids to be thinking about needing to be sexy or attractive to others. The study was conducted in the following manner:

Psychologists at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., used paper dolls to assess self-sexualization in 6- to 9-year-old girls. Sixty girls were shown two dolls, one dressed in tight and revealing “sexy” clothes and the other wearing a trendy but covered-up, loose outfit.

Using a different set of dolls for each question, the researchers then asked each girl to choose the doll that: looked like herself, looked how she wanted to look, was the popular girl in school, she wanted to play with.

Across-the-board, girls chose the “sexy” doll most often. The results were significant in two categories: 68 percent of the girls said the doll looked how she wanted to look, and 72 percent said she was more popular than the non-sexy doll.

There’s lots of speculation about why the girls chose the “sexy” doll. Some believe that it’s because they associated “sexy” with popular. I have a few questions, however, about the study before I can make any judgments.

1. How did the researchers define “sexy?”
2. What were the dolls actually wearing in terms of garments?
3. Did the researchers impose any bias themselves toward the sexy dolls through facial gesture or voice intonation?

My guess is that 3 was accounted for during the research process, but the question still has to be considered. My thoughts are that part of the reason that children are identifying the sexy dolls isn’t just about popularity, but about identifying the doll with a more mature/grown up image. By that same token, however, what’s happening to all of the dolls? Dora the Explorer, My Little Pony, even Rainbow Brite have all been made over to be more “sexy.” In addition to cartoons taking a bend toward this trend, children’s programming and clothing has become much more risqué in the last 20 years. Is it any surprise, then, since American culture is dripping in forbidden sexuality, that our children will identify themselves as wanting to appear sexual? It’s a disturbing trend, and it is contributing to the nationwide trend of growing up too fast. In a world where toddlers have cell phones and first graders want to be seen as sexy, how do we protect our future generation from rushing into adulthood?

What do you think about these trends? Post your thoughts in the comments section.