The Oversexualization of Young Adolescent Girls: Implications for Middle Grades Educators

Today's girls and women are graduating from college, graduate, and professional schools at a rate that outpaces their male counterparts and are successful in the workforce at record levels (www.education-portal.com, 2007). Despite their achievements, there is also a current cultural trend that increasingly sexualizes girls and women and reduces them to limiting gendered stereotypes (Murnen, Smolak, Mills, & Good, 2003). As highlighted in Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, today's young adolescent girls are frequently exposed to sexualized, unrealistic ideals portraying how girls and women should look and act (American Psychological Association [APA], 2007). According to Levin and Kilbourne (2008), children of both genders from all cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds are affected by these trends. There are many reasons this problem should be of concern to middle grades educators. For students to achieve at high levels, educators must develop middle grades schools that are safe, inviting environments in which all adolescents can learn (National Middle School Association [NMSA], 2003). Further, as indicated in NMSA's Standards on Middle Level Preparation (NMSA, 2001), middle grades teacher candidates should be knowledgeable about students' development and aware of "how the media portrays young adolescents and comprehend the implications of these portraits" (p. 4). Therefore, all educators should be aware of the sexualization of girlhood and the potential harms it can cause to girls' academic, career, psychosocial, and sexual development. In this article, we describe these effects on girls' development and give concrete implications for professional practice designed to counteract these cultural trends. Oversexualization of young adolescent girls To fully understand the impact of sexualization on girls today, it is helpful to explore some aspects of the current cultural context in which they live. For example, on an average trip to the mall, middle school girls are inundated with sexualized merchandise marketed specifically for them (Levin & Kilbourne, 2008). They might see Victoria's Secret thong panties and bras designed for "tweens"-girls between the ages 7 and 12. They could visit Abercrombie and Fitch and purchase a tight-fitting T-shirt that reads, "Who needs brains when you have these?" Visiting a major department store, they might find the popular clothing line Pornstar, tween-size sweat pants with "Juicy" emblazoned across the backside, and padded bras in sizes as small as 30 AA. In tween specialty shops, they can purchase thongs stamped with a four-leaf clover and the slogan, "Feeling Lucky?", Playboy Bunny merchandise, and a "Future Porn Star" T-shirt. At the bookstore, they will find their favorite teen magazines, with articles titled "Hallway Makeout Sessions: Dos and Don'ts," "Your Total Turn-Him-On-Guide," and "Boy Bait: 41 Moves He Can't Resist" (as cited in Oppliger, 2008). As she leaves the mall, she might be listening to Lil Wayne's song "Lollipop" or Britney Spears' "If You Seek Amy." She may then go home and watch MTV, VH1, CMT, or BET, which are laden with images of nearly naked women provocatively dancing for the pleasure of men. She might also view reality shows portraying women as "catty" and "gold digging" (Levin & Kilbourne, 2008). It is clear that middle grades students are tuned in to these images. One study revealed that 49% of children ages 10 to 17 who responded to a Children Now poll indicated that they watched music videos daily (cited in Brown & Lamb, 2006). This is problematic, in that the more students are exposed to these sexualized media images and messages, the more likely they are to adopt attitudes that reduce girls and women to sexualized stereotypes (APA, 2007; Martino, et al., 2006; Ward & Friedman, 2006). Developmental considerations The NMSA standards indicate that an understanding of the development of students is critical knowledge for middle level educators (NMSA, 2001). …