The Seualization of Early Childhood

While reading the article ‘So Sexy, So Soon’, I was deeply discouraged, saddened and a bit taken aback as the article was rather thought provoking.   Although I was aware of children being sexualized at a very young age, I never realized how big a problem it was.  Gone are the days when children used to play ring games in their backyards.  We now live in an era where children from a very young age are exposed to electronic gadgets and the media which bombard them with graphic, negative messages about sex/sexuality and as a result children are growing up too fast and missing out on their childhood as they are more concerned with adult issues. While I agree that children should learn about sex/sexuality, it should be done in a healthy and age-appropriate manner.  Levin and Kilbourne (2009) explained that there is a difference between sex/sexuality and sexualization.   According to them, “when people are sexualized, their value comes primarily from their sex appeal, which is equated with physical attractiveness” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 4).   Therefore, with the proliferation of sexualization, from an early age, children are learning lessons which are neither normal nor good.

One example of the sexualization of children is the Barbie dolls that girls play with.  Barbie portrays an unrealistic body figure of long skinny legs, thin waist, long flowing and perfectly applied makeup.  She is really the epitome of beauty.  This gives young children the message that this is the ideal body and that they need make-up to look beautiful.

Another example of the sexualization of children is the television show ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’.  In this show very young children compete in a beauty pageant.  For this shows children are being dressed in skimpy clothing, wear tons of make-up and hair extension,heir skins are getting sprayed on tans and they are embodied with artificial beauty such as fake eye lashes and teeth.  In this shows I believe that children are taught a narrow definition of femininity and sexuality as it encourages them to focus on appearance and sex appeal.  As such they learn that their value is determined by how beautiful or sexy they are (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

  

A third example of the sexualization of children is something I witnessed.  I saw a very young child about 5 years gyrating to Mr. Vegas’ ‘Bruk it Dung’.  She was dressed in a very skimpy outfit.  At some point in her dancing she actually did a split and began gyrating on the ground while her mother was watching and cheering her on.  I was rather speechless, as these dance moves are not appropriate for children.

The exposure of children to such sexualized cultures can have a profound effect on their healthy development.  As Levin and Kilbourne (2009) noted “instead of children having the positive experiences they need for healthy development, many children are having experiences that undermine it (p. 4).  These experiences teach children that their appearance and sex appeal is more important than who they are as individuals.  More so, they lessons learnt through these experiences “will shape their gender identity, sexual attitudes, values and their capacity for relationships for love and connections that they take into adulthood” (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009, p. 2).

As Levin and Kilbourne (2009) suggested, these messages are very difficult for children to comprehend and often leave them confused and frightened.  Therefore, as early childhood educators we need to take the time to speak to the children about these messages so as to contradict some of these negative messages.  Likewise we need to be advocates for our children as well as the families as the incessant sexualization of children through the media can lead pathological sexual behaviors such as sexual abuse, pedophilia and prostitution (Levin & Kilbourne, 2009).

Reference

Levin, D. E., & Kilbourne, J. (2009). [Introduction]. So sexy so soon: The new sexualized childhood and what parents can do to protect their kids (pp. 1-8). New York: Ballantine Books. Retrieved from: http://dianeelevin.com/sosexysosoon/introduction.pdf