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We are manipulative beings and use our body language and
voice to communicate what we want. Our basic drives nevertheless play a
paramount role in how we behave but are shaped by our upbringing through
parenting and peer influence. Just as a baby cries or a toddler has a tantrum in
response to their environment, people mature, refining their anger management
and personality to deal with the many encounters in their adulthood period to
achieve their goals.
Both genders have different biochemical make ups that
influence behavior. For men, testosterone is prevalent and is responsible not
only for the secondary sex characteristics such as lower pitch voice, growth of
body hair, increase muscle, and bone mass but also for the neurological
mechanisms that are involved with the emotion of anger and the visceral response
to anger. That mechanism can result in a violent display even under minor
provocation.
Furthermore, men are protective and jealous of their women
and will use force against a perceived rival. Men have a strong sex drive, too,
and are attracted to a woman's anatomy, their waist to hip ratio and other
features. This is enhanced with the perpetuation of images of semi-clad or
naked women in magazines, advertisements, and the Internet. [1]
Women have higher concentrations of estrogens than men. They
promote the development of female secondary sexual characteristics, such as
breasts, and are also involved in the thickening of the endometrium and other
aspects of regulating the menstrual cycle. Estrogen is considered to play a
significant role in women's mental health. Low levels correlate with
significant mood lowering. Clinical recovery from postpartum and postmenopausal
depression has been shown to be effective after levels of estrogen were
stabilized.
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Women are more nurturing than men, particularly with children
but also have romantic desires. However, in the courting process they want a mate
that will be a good provider and protector of their offspring. To that end they
are strongly attracted to men that have status. Men with symmetrical facial
structure are especially attractive as that is a signal of health (sufficient
antibodies) and thus longevity. [2][3]
In the previous post the emphasis was on boys, their risk
taking as adolescents, and propensity for aggressiveness. It seems that a lot
of it is testosterone driven, maximizing between the ages of 12-24, a period
that corresponds to the crimes committed by males. The aggressiveness they
demonstrate is universal but sociologists point out that it is particularly
high in the United States, a technologically and economically advanced nation.
[4]
Women get angry, too – it is part and parcel for the human
race, but women are often the recipients of assaults (from males) and only
about 5% likely to perpetuate a homicide. The issues for girls in Western
society today are more related to cultural sexualization and that plays a
significant role in developing their self-esteem and body image. [5]
Add the fact that environmental toxins are potential
contributors to the early onset of puberty in girls. In particular, Bisphenol A
(BPA) and phthalates, endocrine disrupting chemicals are commonly found in plastics
such a soda bottles and other packaging. Also, girls with an absent biological
father tend to start puberty earlier than girls with a biological father who is
present. [6]
Sexualization of
girls in our culture defined
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The rise in popularity of the term comes from the fact that
there has been an increase in the objectification of women as noted by the
increased frequency of showing females on television and movies clad in dress
that emphasizes anatomical characteristics. Furthermore they are often depicted
as being the object of romantic scenarios that eventually result in males winning
sexual approval. The women casted are almost always well-endowed and slim.
Advertisements, particularly print media, use relatively
thin models. Female sportscasters, athletes, newscasters, journalists,
entertainers are almost always beautiful. It is this continuous bombardment to
the eyes of youth that serves as a model of femininity. Children as young as
five get apparel that coincides with these adult standards and their parents
often approve of these clothes.
Media representations
affect a girl's psyche and present sexy role modeling
Girls are smothered with programs that sexualize women, and
they end up trying to emulate these people and validate their worth from them. Women
are objectified in programs such as Sex and
the City, Real Housewives, Keeping Up With The Kardashians. Ads
from Victoria's Secret particularly role-model body type and dress for girls.
What characterizations should be depicted in the media?
Stacy L. Smith of the USC Annenberg School of Communication &
Journalism and the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media states
"Both
young girls and boys should see female decision-makers, political leaders,
managers, and scientists as the norm, not the exception. By increasing the
number and diversity of female leaders and role models on screen, content
creators may affect the ambitions and career aspirations of girls and young women
domestically and internationally." [8]
Of course, advertising is key. Dr. Annie Abram adds "Research and focus
groups with target audiences indicate that it is the fantasy and quick lapse of
reality that drive men to purchase products featuring women. With successful
results, ad agencies continually use these images on television, magazines,
online, film and in most popular culture depictions. Sex sells, quite simply."
[9]
Compounding the problem, is the striving for validation and
that comes often from their female peers that police each other in the areas of
body image and sexuality. [10]
Sexualization affects
emotional and cognitive development
According to Anita Gurian of the New York University Child
Study Center, just before junior high school, girls' self-esteem can plummet.
Why? "Starting in the pre-teen years, there is a shift in focus; the body
becomes an all-consuming passion and barometer of worth." [11]
The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force
on the Sexualization of Girls reports that sexualization affects a child's cognitive and
emotional being. "What young women believe about themselves and how they
feel in the present moment about themselves were shaped by how they were
treated and what they were exposed to when they were girls. Cognitively,
self-objectification has been repeatedly shown to detract from the ability to
concentrate and focus one's attention, thus leading to impaired performance on
mental activities." [12]
The YWCA reported that the "Young women of this
generation have learned from a very young age that the power of their gender
was tied to what they looked like—and how 'sexy' they were—than to character or
achievement." [13]
Women have internalized the message and gone to great
lengths to change their appearance to be beautiful. The American Society of
Plastic Surgeons reports increases in a number of procedures from 2000-2005. Botox
injections rose 388%, tummy tucks 115%, buttock lifts 283%, as well as a 3,413%
and 4,101% increase in upper arm and lower body lifts, respectively. [14]
Leading psychiatrist
writes about the subject
Dr. Leonard Sax, noted psychiatrist and author, specializes
in gender matters and his books Why
Gender Matters, Boys Adrift, and
Girls on the Edge have been read
widely. He cites research as well as anecdotes from his own practice. [15]
Sax feels that shows
such as Twilight and Taylor Swift
cause a reversion to traditional gender roles of males as the dominant gender. However,
girls in this role do not value virginity as they did a generation ago and do
not maintain the "gatekeeper" role during the proliferation of the
relationship to intercourse.
Sax maintains that the
cyberbubble (social networking and electronic communication) lessens
conversation skills because texting, which is predominant, has replaced
talking. Girls do not develop a true sense of self by having time for
themselves because they are connected to peers all the time through messaging
using the vast number of online avenues.
Girls will then not
have a well-developed sense of identity, and will take on identities such as ''thin
girl'' or ''athletic girl'' or "straight A girl". These obsessions
can appear in the form of eating disorders, cutting, drug and alcohol abuse, or
even in seemingly healthy activities like sports and school.
The girl feels that
there is no room for failure in her quest, and Sax noted that she experiences a
devastating blow when the obsession no longer serves a valid identity in their
life. The girl is lost in the void that she created.
His advice:
· Parents should take control of what their
daughters wear.
· Teach your children how to pray, regardless
of religious affiliation, and to help them find a sense of spirituality.
· Have daughters rub shoulders with your adult
community and converse with these people to learn from these role models.
· Purchase food and beverage products that have
phthalate free packaging. [15]
References
[1] Rozin, P., & Fallon, A.,
Body image, attitudes to weight, and misperceptions of figure
preferences of the opposite sex: A comparison of men and women in two
generations.
Journal of Abnormal
Psychology, Vol 97(3), Aug 1988, 342-345.
[2] Buss, D.M., & Schmidt, D.P., (1993), Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological review, 100, 204-232
[3] Barber, N. (1995). The evolutionary psychology of physical attractiveness: Sexual attraction and human morphology. Ethology and Sociobiology, 16, 395-424
[4] van Bokhoven, I., Salivary
testosterone and aggression,delinquency, and social dominance in a
population-based longitudinal study of adolescent males, Hormones and Behavior,
2006, Vol.50(1), pp.118-125
[5] Daly, M., & Wilson, M., (1988), Homicide, New York: Aldine de Gruyter, p.149
[6] Khetan, S. Endocrine Disruptors in the Environment, Wiley, 2014
[7] The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force
on the Sexualization of Girls, 2007
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx
[8] Stacy L. Smith, USC Annenberg School of Communication
& Journalism
[9] Dr. Annie Abram The over sexualization of girls in the
media and its frightening consequences, May 8, 2013
Retrieved from http://patch.com/connecticut/norwalk/bp--the-over-sexualization-of-girls-in-the-media-and-00fff9c651
[10] YMCA, Beauty at Any Cost: The Consequences of America's
Beauty Obsession on Women & Girls,
Retrieved from http://www.ywca.org/atf/cf/%7B711d5519-9e3c-4362-b753-ad138b5d352c%7D/BEAUTY-AT-ANY-COST.PDF
[11] Ruth Conniff, Saving Girls' Self Esteem, The
Progressive, Sept 2, 2009
Retrieved from http://www.progressive.org/rc090209.html
[12] The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force
on the Sexualization of Girls, 2007
Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx
[13] YMCA, Beauty at
Any Cost: The Consequences of America's Beauty Obsession on Women & Girls,
Retrieved from http://www.ywca.org/atf/cf/%7B711d5519-9e3c-4362-b753-ad138b5d352c%7D/BEAUTY-AT-ANY-COST.PDF
[14] American Society of Plastic Surgeons, 2006c.
[15] Sax, L., Girls on the Edge: The Four Factors Driving
the New Crisis for Girls-Sexual Identity, the Cyberbubble, Obsessions,
Environmental Toxins, Basic Books, 2011
