Sexualisation of Children
In the last week there have been lots of stories about the sexualisation of children. Several high street chains have pledged to stop selling clothes that would be inappropriate for young children such as padded bras and t-shirts that say slogans like 'Porn Star in training'. The trouble is we still see examples in the media every day...but not of the sexualisation of children but of hypocrites.
I remember reading a story a few months back about two young mothers who let their eight year old daughters dress up as Lady Gaga every weekend to perform at children's parties. These costumes are hardly the sort of thing you would want your child to wear normally and yet these parents seem to think it is the norm. Underneath the story there were many comments saying how bad this was, but there were others saying that the children were enjoying it so why stop it? These are the same commentators who go the comments pages of stories about underage sexual assults and accuse people of being all sorts of nonces.
The best thing though is when you have a story about the sexualisation of children in one of the tabloids and then a story next to it of a young woman with her tits and arse hanging out. Page 3 in the sun is my favourite example of this. They are the first to cry out about the sexualisation of children and next to it they put a picture of a topless woman. They are essentially saying: "Pedophiles are the most evil scum of the earth! Now look at this barely legal woman's breasts!".
There is a story in the Mail today (13/6/11) about pole dancing lessons for kids...WTF!? Apparently, so the teacher says, it frees children and makes them confident about their bodies. Now when I was a kid I didn't give a stuff about my body. I went out and rode my bike, or played footie, or hit a tennis ball against a garage door until my neighbours got sick of it. Pole dancing! I didn't know what that was until I was in my teens and even then I had no desire to do it! Why can't kids be encouraged to do normal activities for kids? Also if I was a parent and some strange woman told me that she wanted to teach my kids to pole dance I would want to know what her motives were. I bet these are the same parents who bang on about wanting to castrate child molesters and yet they let their kids do pole dancing...you cannot explain that one.
Now I am all for freedom of speech and learning to love your own body, but the media just takes it too far. I know that it is said that prostitution is the oldest profession, but do we need sex to be rammed down our throats (pardon the pun) all the time?
If we don't want to subject children to sexualisation then we should go with our gut instinct. Don't except dirty performances on shows like the X-Factor before the watershed. Don't buy the papers that flash pictures of young women's breasts everywhere. Perhaps the best thing we can do though would be to spend time with our children, encourage them to do kid stuff and show them responsibility and love of a family. The world does not owe us something and we are all responsible for our own actions, but when you are a child you need someone to guide you and show you the way.
I remember reading a story a few months back about two young mothers who let their eight year old daughters dress up as Lady Gaga every weekend to perform at children's parties. These costumes are hardly the sort of thing you would want your child to wear normally and yet these parents seem to think it is the norm. Underneath the story there were many comments saying how bad this was, but there were others saying that the children were enjoying it so why stop it? These are the same commentators who go the comments pages of stories about underage sexual assults and accuse people of being all sorts of nonces.
The best thing though is when you have a story about the sexualisation of children in one of the tabloids and then a story next to it of a young woman with her tits and arse hanging out. Page 3 in the sun is my favourite example of this. They are the first to cry out about the sexualisation of children and next to it they put a picture of a topless woman. They are essentially saying: "Pedophiles are the most evil scum of the earth! Now look at this barely legal woman's breasts!".
There is a story in the Mail today (13/6/11) about pole dancing lessons for kids...WTF!? Apparently, so the teacher says, it frees children and makes them confident about their bodies. Now when I was a kid I didn't give a stuff about my body. I went out and rode my bike, or played footie, or hit a tennis ball against a garage door until my neighbours got sick of it. Pole dancing! I didn't know what that was until I was in my teens and even then I had no desire to do it! Why can't kids be encouraged to do normal activities for kids? Also if I was a parent and some strange woman told me that she wanted to teach my kids to pole dance I would want to know what her motives were. I bet these are the same parents who bang on about wanting to castrate child molesters and yet they let their kids do pole dancing...you cannot explain that one.
Now I am all for freedom of speech and learning to love your own body, but the media just takes it too far. I know that it is said that prostitution is the oldest profession, but do we need sex to be rammed down our throats (pardon the pun) all the time?
If we don't want to subject children to sexualisation then we should go with our gut instinct. Don't except dirty performances on shows like the X-Factor before the watershed. Don't buy the papers that flash pictures of young women's breasts everywhere. Perhaps the best thing we can do though would be to spend time with our children, encourage them to do kid stuff and show them responsibility and love of a family. The world does not owe us something and we are all responsible for our own actions, but when you are a child you need someone to guide you and show you the way.
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