Sexualization of Children

To the OP and the first video: Well, to be honest, I don't think there's anything sexual about nakedness, or anything besides sex itself, so I don't care how much or little anyone wears regardless of their age, as long as it's weather-appropriate I guess, for their own sake. But I'm not stupid and know very well how other people see this unfortunately, so I guess the question is if you want to throw yourself in front of the wolves with or without a deer-meat scented perfume attached to you (Even though they'll eat you anyway if they're hungry). So, in a way, it's about protecting yourself (and your children? since that's the current topic) from people who DO see nakedness as something sexual. I guess wearing lots and covering yourself up is like wearing protective gear, even if it doesn't help, because if someone wants what's underneath, they won't care. Which is exactly why I don't think it matters anyway in the end. Either you have innocent thoughts when looking at someone, or you don't, what do the clothes have to do with anything? I guess it's more convenient to blame something outside of oneself.

I also find it ironic when people like the one in the video (who I assume to be sexual?) want to protect "THE CHILDREN" so much it hurts to watch suddenly stop caring as soon as these children reach a certain growth-level, after which they are suddenly happily sexualized by said people. Are they suddenly not the same person anymore? Are humans only worthy of a life free of being objectified as long as they don't make your genitals twitch yet? (Addressing people like the one in the video) This world is without true morals. Sad.

Admin wrote:Music videos are are probably the most sexualized form of mainstream media, and it's disturbing that a lot of parents are allowing their children to imitate what they see in those videos. Why are parents allowing that?

I don't think the dance movements (if there are any) or imagery themselves in such videos are the problem, unless a sexual act is explicitly shown (have we already come this far? I rarely watch popular music videos), but what we associate with them. People have been taught to associate so much with sexuality. I wish we associated nothing but sex itself with sex, that way we would have a lot more freedom for artistic expression, without anything somehow being related to sex. Well, sex is traumatic, so obviously many things will remind people of it, which is typical of traumas. I mean, people don't constantly relate things they see to pleasant memories they had, right? It's always bad ones. You never see someone screaming "Oh, look, that woman eating that banana in a weird way reminds me of eating banana split ice cream with my friends in the park, good times!" in the same way a shark attack survivor won't be reminded of the fun times they had as a kid splashing in the bathtub when they see water. In a way, people are proving my points daily without even trying.

Anyway. Of course nothing exists in a vacuum, and these people making such videos for example sometimes very cleary want it to come across that way, and I don't think intended message should be completely ignored, but it shouldn't become the whole of your interpretation of the art either, you should probably simply be aware of it. And each case has to be seen individually, I think, so even if a child, or anyone, really, does dance to something that was intended to be interpreted sexually that it saw in a video, doesn't mean the person itself sees it that way. If the person has non-sexual thoughts, then that's all there is to it. At the end of the day, it's nothing but body movements, after all. We shouldn't see movement, art, or our bodies sexually, is what I'm meaning to say. Hopefully my thoughts are coming across right. Probably not.

.

Why do you think that I disagree with you, exactly? Did I ever say that I think sexualization is okay? I obviously do not think that it is. I simply think that there's nothing sexual about nakedness, and that attitudes towards the human body are to blame (sexualizing it), not the human body itself.

Stars.of.Tears wrote:Why do you think that I disagree with you, exactly? Did I ever say that I think sexualization is okay? I obviously do not think that it is. I simply think that there's nothing sexual about nakedness, and that attitudes towards the human body are to blame (sexualizing it), not the human body itself.

I can understand what you mean. The human body is definitely not a sexual object on its own, although like you said it has obviously been perverted to appear as such.

☆x Pure Life x☆ wrote:Sexualization in Children's Media

http://safeshare.tv/v/ss5698518aa8f6b

That video gives some very concise definitions of what "sexualization" is, and what we mean. The two that stood out to me the most were "when sexuality is inappropriately imposed on a person" and "when a person's worth is based on their sex appeal".

Here's an article encouraging parents to better communicate with their children, in many ways, including about the shows they watch in order to help counter this issue in their childrens' lives: http://www.pbs.org/parents/experts/archive/2009/01/protecting-children-from-a-sex.html

Some of the comments are insightful, but some others are quite disturbing. Some commenters mentioned small children talking about "dating" because they see it in the shows that they watch.

"Some of the comments are insightful, but some others are quite disturbing. Some commenters mentioned small children talking about "dating" because they see it in the shows that they watch."

Oh, that reminds me of my preteen self. Certain television shows influenced my crush phase, that one's worth is based on having a boyfriend or girlfriend, and it didn't help that my peers in school poked fun at my appearance. Some kids would tell me that a certain boy wanted to go out with me, then laugh since it wasn't true. Thank goodness that those years, and my phase are over.

I looked at some more of the comments in the article I linked. Good thing that phase is over. That's awful you went through all of that. Do you think you may have just been imitating what you saw on TV, even if you did have a phase of wanting a partner? Did you think it was it a genuine want, or rather thinking you wanted one because of what you saw on TV?

I remember as a child watching a lot of the Disney movies, which showed the prince and princess getting married and "living happily ever after". That sort of made me think that marriage is supposed to be like a real-life fairy tale, and I also remember growing up with shows that mentioned dating. The way I understood dating, it was just going to candle-light dinners, kissing, going to the movies, and things like that. I thought that'd all happen and I'd find the right person when the time was right, but I didn't think any further into it.

Years later, I realized from others how sexualized dating actually is, and became disgusted with it.

I think it was a mix of television, peers, and my own insecurities that influenced my phase. I thought having a boyfriend would be nice because it was "normal" and I could have someone to like me for who I am since I was a school outcast and I didn't get much support from family members either. I wish I had someone in my life tell me that self-worth should come from within rather than be dependent on another person. I had to do that on my own.

.

.

I need to make sure I understood this correctly; is this a debate over whether any dance moves are inherently sexual, instead of just being sexualized (i.e: sexuality is imposed on them to the point of being seen as inherently sexual)? Either way, it's disturbing that there are children are doing those kind of dance moves at such an early age.

All of those sex offenses are from predatory people taking advantage of Disney's "family friendly" image. I've seen from some different sources the claims that Miley Cyrus and other former child stars that worked for Disney ended up turning out the way they did as a way of rebellion. They felt stifled by Disney's family friendly image that they rebelled by turning as family unfriendly as they could. What do you think of those claims?

I'll be keeping my eye on this thread. Disagreements are fine, but not if it devolves into insults or if it escalates.

.

☆x Pure Life x☆ wrote:I made very long and good post and everything disappeard when I clicked "send" I'm so stupid. I'm too lazy to use text editor and this is what happens. Now I become so tired that I will not make any posts until few weeks. It took long time for me to write all that. Oh SIGHHHHHHHH.

Ok, i'm upset and need to take a break. I can't write all that again because it was much (((((((((((((((((

I will probably visit the forum but not make any new post until it feels better, right now I feel "a bigh sigh".

That's awful that happened. I would've wanted to see your post. I've always found it useful to type everything in a text editor first and then copy it onto the forum. I'm sorry to hear that you've encountered that technical issue multiple times. Do you at least remember part of what you wanted to say until you can re-type everything?