Yesterday, the blog Jezebel discussed a recent segment that ran on ABC’s Good Morning America:
Good Morning America recreated the 1940s experiment in which 63% of African-American children given identical white and black dolls said they’d rather play with the white doll and 44% identified more with the white doll.
The original Jezebel post and the GMA video can be found here.
That made me remember a video that I had watched over a year ago, directed by a young African American girl, who ran the very same experiment and also filmed lots of interviews of fellow African American girls, discussing self image, body image, and discrimination. It was far, far more powerful and emotional than the GMA video. I highly recommmend watching it:
This kind of sexualization of ‘tween girls – defined as those between the ages of 8 and 12 – in pop culture and advertising is a growing problem fueled by marketers’ efforts to create cradle-to-grave consumers, a University of Iowa journalism professor argues in her new book.
“A lot of very sexual products are being marketed to very young kids,” said Gigi Durham, author of The Lolita Effect. “I’m criticizing the unhealthy and damaging representations of girls’ sexuality, and how the media present girls’ sexuality in a way that’s tied to their profit motives. The body ideals presented in the media are virtually impossible to attain, but girls don’t always realize that, and they’ll buy an awful lot of products to try to achieve those bodies. There’s endless consumerism built around that.”
Most depressing quote, about a 13 year old who wants to get breast implants:
(Announcer, V.O.)
And Jemma doesn’t just want bigger breasts. She wants them to look like they’re fake.
Feeling incredibly sad and outraged for 2 main reasons:
#1 – these teenage girls want to go under the knife at an age when they are not yet fully aware of the long-term repercussions of such serious surgery
#2 – for big media, who, by deciding to broadcast a program about teen plastic surgery, without the participation of experts weighing in, are essentially normalizing this behavior, making it appear a viable option. Totally irresponsible on their part. Where is Germaine Greer?