As a fifteen year old, I grew up using
websites like Nick Jr., Barbie, and McScene. Sleepovers would sometimes be
spent around a large computer, playing games late into the evening until the
parent shooed us up to bed. I don't remember the websites being too graphic in
language, but the images certainly don't stray far from what you would see now
in the media.
With tv shows like "Winx Club" being
all the rage among the seven year olds I played with, it makes sense that a
good portion of my time was spent watching the show, playing with the dolls,
and role playing the episodes with my friends. The fairies clad in dresses so
short I'm surprised I didn't see pubic hair, I idolized these cartoon
teenagers. With slogans like "The magic is in you, the magic is in
me", I fell right into the "trap" so to speak.
Even with feminist (some might go as far as
'hippie') parents like my own, I was still immersed from a young age in a
culture that contributed to the objectification of women and girls, labeling it
as pretty, cute and girly. My heart aches thinking of seven year old me and my
friends, printing out pictures of these characters and plastering our innocent
bedroom walls with them. Subconscious daily reminders for us that this was
considered "beautiful".
The image these shows portray of a
"perfect girl" is not achievable or realistic. Some make the argument
that it is fiction, therefore it's fine to have enhanced characters. I've never
been the kind of person who claims that anything unrealistic is damaging. What
is damaging is a society that raises girls (like myself) to admire characters
that are over-sexualized to the extreme.
We internalize what we're
exposed to, so when you show a girl images of a fun, sexy teenager who is also
popular, she will assume she should behave that way.
Nickelodeon, a basic cable network targeted at
kids aged 2-16 also has a popular website that promises games for
"all ages". Their toolbar at the top has a link to a website called
Addicting Games.
With shockingly sexual titles such as "Naughty Beach
Once while playing with a young four year old,
I found myself quite disturbed during our game of dolls. I was instructed to
have my doll fall in love with the prince because he had "ABS THAT
STRETCHED AS FAR AS THIS ROOM! HIS CHEST WAS TO DIE FOR!". When I said
"It was probably because he was kind and smart too, though” she replied
"Nope! He's usually very mean to her." What?! After repeatedly trying
to redirect the play in a gentler direction, it became obvious that my efforts
were useless. A constant theme in our game was my princess breaking up with the
prince, and him coming over to my apartment enraged. Once my princess told him
"I want time with my girlfriends", to which he lashed out about how I
don't care about him.
If this girl is just out of diapers and
already thinks that it's normal to marry a man because he finds her pretty
(even though he is cruel to her), how can we sit by and claim that that our
media doesn’t play some part? If a child is told a story, they're going to try
to replicate it in their play.
In order to build a culture focused around the
value and dignity every person holds, we need to stop reinforcing the idea to
the youngest of us that our value lies within our ability to attract others sexually.
Our value lies in our kindness, capacity to love, respect for others and our
shared humanity.
