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Comment by Alexander Mclean on January 19, 2011 at 18:03

I've worked in the fashion industry since the seventies and it's changed a lot in recent years.

 

Children don't have much space for self-development because most of their time is taken up with the continual pounding from products..

 

Well, we needed someone to live the life of a consumer and their parents were too old and they save too much money for the project to work.

 

Who's responsible? Parents, its their children.

Comment by Npong Balikawu Francis on December 27, 2010 at 9:45

I am strike with your piece. wonderfully put out. its waken me to my senses to abuses of women. each day they are used..... well the media is definitely projecting child abuse and sexual molestation of children. the use of children is a connective strategy i think-make up industry, dress designers and porn companies and the so-called beauty peagent contest. no wonder rape, defilement and sexual harassment continue to make headlines. clear observation and good article

Comment by Rafael Francis on December 26, 2010 at 23:24

TO Hanna,  27 December 2010

PART 2 of 2 (due to EJC message limitations)…

 

Likewise the damage to our young is irreparable, but can be minimized. I intend that our voice be heard in the measure that we are able to and make the “victims” aware of the consequences in most aspects of their future
lives by following the present trend.

 

I have written to Emma who has kindly offered her cooperation to our efforts on launching our site but not only that but to continue these efforts from a platform that should reach millions.

 

More on KosmosClub.com on my letter to Emma.

I sincerely hope that you will be one of our continuous contributors.

 

I look forward to hear from you

 

Rafael Francis

ps: I will also be writing to Yuliya Ivakhnina, who was the reason of my first search before I got “distracted” with your impacting article. I am pleased to see it’s at the top of the most popular articles
giving an indication that the subject is at the forefront of many people’s
mind.

Comment by Rafael Francis on December 26, 2010 at 23:23

TO Hanna,  27 December 2010

PART 1 of 2 (due to EJC message limitations)…

 

 

Dear Hanna,

 

I was searching for the contact details of Yuliya Ivakhnina of Zaporozhye, Ukraine when I come to your page at the EJC which I found of interest as I browsed through your writings and one in
particular strongly caught my attention… “Is There an Increase in Media
Pressure on Young Children to Dress and Act Sexually?”

 

This is one of the subjects on which I feel quite strongly for many reasons but it goes beyond that and it is through the pages of KosmosClub.com our forthcoming web site that I will be carrying forth the
subject.

 

Not just on the influences of the media but strongly from many other entertainment sources, movies and TV, and further more from what I see as cooperation from the schools where this behaviour is encouraged or at least
tolerated, to the parents that do not know how to act under the pressure,
parents have no advice and are themselves censored by their young allegedly on
the ignorance on the subject; and many other sources that are causing this
misguided and damaging behavioural pattern.

 

Not the least from the children, young adults and into their twenties which are the victims of these manipulations and do not know the grievous future consequences of this behaviour of loss of innocence and loss of
character formation and serious deterioration of ethics and morals.

 

In a way what is happening can be paralleled on smoking. Unscrupulous people “pushed” and “continue to push” the concept of  well being and sophistication by smoking but never telling their consumers/victims of the great and irreparable damage that
their industry was causing, even when finally faced down with accusing court
cases they unscrupulously maintained that their product was harmless.

...// part 2 follows

Comment by Iqbal Tamimi on December 20, 2010 at 11:00

Not only the media is increasing the pressure on young children to dress and act sexually, but also it is high jacking the image of childhood and using child looks in promoting businesses. You can see seductive women wearing children style accessories or clothes, cuddling teddy bears, licking lollipops and wearing ruffled short dresses designed for little girls. Pornography is a multi-billion dollar industry that misuses and abuses children and presents them in disturbing ways. Pornographers sell and produce films based on teen sex, torture porn, humiliation, and racist caricatures. 

Comment by Borut Tavčar on December 17, 2010 at 12:53

Media shouldn't be blamed for everything, but the answer to your leading question is positive. I have two doughters and I'm really concerned. That's the reason I'm allways telling them how important is what they have in their heads not how they're dressed. I often wanted to ask young girls that are on the street dressed like they are about to go swiming what message they want to express to others. That they are important for what they know and are able to do, or just that they are young meat.

Comment by Hanna McLean on December 14, 2010 at 14:31

Thank you for your insight Jason! That was a very interesting point you made about the fact that young people are biologically less flawed and in terms of evolution are thus more desirable when it comes to finding the perfect mate. I hadn't thought about it that way until now and I completely agree with your point. Evolution definitely does play a role in the creation of fashion based images. It has actually been scientifically proven that symmetry for example is a very important aspect in terms of selecting a proper mate hence the reason we feel the need to photoshop and edit images so that they are 'perfect' and/or visually pleasing. These images are telling us not only how we should look but perhaps also, what is aesthetically acceptable and what we should genetically pass down to future generations. 

 

In terms of solutions, I also agree that some notice should be given that these images have in fact been 'tampered' with or altered. I think it would greatly help change the perception of how we look at fashion advertisements. I also think that there is definitely room in the media industry for campaigns or, as you said, a magazine promoting all natural or real women. The media has illustrated this by promoting things such as the Dove Campaign for Beauty and the Pink Stinks Campaign in the UK, they just haven't really stuck to it as strongly as they could. Perhaps these things will change over time, although I do find that pretty hard to believe at this point...

Comment by jason brown on December 14, 2010 at 13:12

. . .

 

Compelling intro Hanna! I'm sure many of us have mused over similar situations. To answer your headline question: no and yes.

 

As an old hack, and the son of a fashion designer, I look back on ads from the 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s and there are some pretty dodgy Lolita allusions being made. However my impression now is that, yes, pressure on youth is much more prevalent than back then.

 

To your second, concluding question, I'd say, definitely. 

 

Coincidentally, tonight, TVNZ was playing the BBC documentary, Alesha - look don't touch, which highlighted how few teens realise that fashion images are ruthlessly retouched - thighs narrowed, bodies lengthened, breasts enlarged, body hair (e.g. arms) and other "blemishes" removed.

 

Legitimate porn companies in places like the US are required certify models as being older than 18 years old. Yet fashion mags regularly feature girls younger than 18, lower even than age of consent - 15, 14, even 13 and 12.

 

I'd say the compulsion to sexualise children goes deeper than just commercial imperatives - after all why do we consumers find such treatments so compelling? Perhaps because genetic selection is equally ruthless: that we instinctively note every blemish as we subconsciously rate potential partners as breeding stock. Youth = less blemished = greater appeal = more sales.

 

Possible solutions? 

 

I'd like to see fash mags required to certify models as R18+ and to carry health warnings, on retouched photos, much as ciggie packets now do for smokers. Perhaps there is market space for an all natural magazine that deals with real images of real girls, real women?

 

. . .

Comment by Hanna McLean on December 13, 2010 at 12:46

Good point Emma, I completely agree :) 

Comment by Emma Brewin on December 13, 2010 at 12:38

Yes definitely! Media has a real responsibility to portray positive images for children and young adults especially, and overtly/prematurely sexualised imagery is inappropriate.

 

I have seen newspapers picking up on this kind of story to criticise it, but then fashion magazines promoting it!

 

Everyone has responsibility on this though: manufacturers, retailers, consumers, government.