Jane you referred to a need for companies to advertise responsibly. This got me exploring a different thought. I wish some retailers would behave more ethically when it comes to stocking products. Let us leave women’s fashion out of this (sweatshop clothing) and focus on products for little girls. I know when the retailers here made available padded bras for our little girls this outraged many of us, but the padded bras are still around despite our outrage. In a book I read recently “Full frontal Feminism, A young woman’s guide to why feminism matters.” by author Jessica Valenti, I learnt that Tesco a large superstore retailer in the UK has made available the “Peekaboo” stripper pole and stocked it in their toy aisle. AAAARGH, what next!? Will we see similar here and if we speak up, would it make a difference?

Speaking up will make a difference, it may not remove the product or prevent irresponsible advertising but it can raise awareness. It just reaffirms for me my belief in how important it is to educate our youth on the media. Unfortunately I don’t think much will really change in the way some company’s are choosing to market their products to young girls until there is strong political leadership and government legislation to catch up with the advertising and marketing that is encouraging the premature sexualisation of our children. Lets continue to have discussions with girls around advertising and that will be one step in the right direction.

To read anarticle by Dr Emma Rush from The Australia Institute on the issue, Child sexualisation is no game, go to http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=6422

For a start, the girls who spoke are older. There is a big difference between a 12 year old and an 18 year old! I really think younger teen girls should have been given a voice. After all, the panel were discussing the appropriateness of having girls as young as 12 (ie: young Maddison I mention in a previous blog – ‘Youth and sex sell baby” ) subjected to the adult modelling world.

I was chatting to NSW presenter Kellie earlier and she made another excellent point (thanks Kel) – the fact that teen girls are media savvy and intelligent does not make them immune to the media’s objectification / sexualisation of images of girls and women. Quite the contrary, Kel was arguing that in fact “a little bit of knowledge can be a dangerous thing” in that we only then feel more guilty for buying into the hype and negativity as we KNOW WE SHOULD KNOW BETTER.

When we ask girls in our workshops on deconstructing the media whether they are aware of air brushing etc, they respond that yes, they are.

When we then ask do they still look at images and wish they more like the girls pictured, again they respond yes!

The clincher – they then inevitably tell us that this makes them feel even worse about their self doubts…” I am supposed to be smarter than this, I know it is all rubbish and tricks but still maybe my teeth should be whiter…” etc.

I certainly had this compounded guilt over D&G perfume…the self talk went something like: ” You know this ad. is wrong, and you know that by buying their products you are silently endorsing their portrayal of women…why do you still have their products in your house? How committed are you Danni?”

When I binned it all you will be pleased to know the voices stopped.

Love this opportunity to bounce ideas off you all! Would love to hear from any teachers or students who read this blog….

My extended arm was overlooked by Jeff throughout the night – I keenly wanted to interject at numerous points to express my passion for the topic and turn the panel’s conversation towards the importance of the question.

I felt most compelled to speak after the 2 young models commented on their experience in the advertising/modeling industry. I would have liked to have firstly commended and affirmed their confidence, and then proceeded to point out that they are in the minority when compared to many other girls. The majority of girls we work with are in a more vulnerable position and do not necessarily have the confidence to speak out. As we know, models are exposed to an industry in that suggests life is all about looks and sex appeal. I would have loved to have pointed out the fact that most advertising is suggesting a lifestyle that encompasses far less than what is the real meaning of life.

Let’s talk about what will HELP. My list of factors that will help minimise the affects of the media’s sexualisation of children would have included:

THE IMPORTANCE OF:

Family and friendships
Meaningful conversations
Knowing one self
Knowing your OWN beauty,
Respect
Balance
One’s own intelligence
Dreaming and working towards achieving what you believe
Being critically savvy and aware
Being a media participant and not just a media consumer
Self empowerment.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to vent on your wonderful blog.!!