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Only a generation or two ago, childhood in the United States was understood to be a unique and vulnerable stage of development; a time for play and protection from adult preoccupations and responsibilities. In recent decades however, we appear to have jettisoned these norms, and the lines that separate the lifestyles of even very young children from adults are blurring. As widely known experts on the team that created this book explain, children begin formal education now in preschool, dress like adults, listen to the same music, play the same video games, explore the same Internet sites, and watch explicit depictions of sex and violence on TV and in movies. What is the impact of immersing children in a sexualized world? The Sexualization of Childhood first explains the nature of healthy sexual development. It then describes the ways in which children are being sexualized, and the physical and psychological consequences. It then looks at the lower and lower age at which girls are experiencing puberty, that reduction being fueled by the pseudoestrogens in so many of our foods and products, as well as obesity. Finally, it examines what we can do legally, politically, and as caregivers to protect children from developmentally inappropriate sexual experiences.
E-Book Content
The Sexualization of Childhood
Recent Titles in Childhood in America Sharna Olfman, Series Editor All Work and No Play . . .: How Educational Reforms Are Harming Our Preschoolers Sharna Olfman, editor Childhood Lost: How American Culture Is Failing Our Kids Sharna Olfman, editor No Child Left Different Sharna Olfman, editor The Last Normal Child: Essays on the Intersection of Kids, Culture, and Psychiatric Drugs Lawrence H. Diller Bipolar Children: Cutting-Edge Controversy, Insights, and Research Sharna Olfman, editor
The Sexualization of Childhood
EDITED BY SHARNA OLFMAN
Childhood in America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data The sexualization of childhood / edited by Sharna Olfman. p. cm. — (Childhood in America) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–275–99985–8 (alk. paper) 1. Girls in popular culture—United States. 2. Sexually abused teenagers—United States. 3. Children—United States—Social conditions—21st century. 4. Children—Health and hygiene—United States. 5. Body, Human. 6. Exploitation. I. Olfman, Sharna. HQ777.S435 2009 305.23082'0973—dc22 2008028205 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2009 by Sharna Olfman All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008028205 ISBN: 978–0–275–99985–8 First published in 2009 Praeger Publishers, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.praeger.com Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10
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For Lisa and Bess Olfman: May the circle be unbroken
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Contents Acknowledgments 1 The Sexualization of Childhood: Growing Older Younger/Growing Younger Older Sharna Olfman
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I Growing Up in a Sexualized Culture 2 Pornography, Lad Mags, Video Games, and Boys: Reviving the Canary in the Cultural Coal Mine Matthew B. Ezzell
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3 A Royal Juggernaut: The Disney Princesses and Other Commercialized Threats to Creative Play and the Path to Self-Realization for Young Girls Susan Linn
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4 Girls Gone Grown-Up: Why Are U.S. Girls Reaching Puberty Earlier and Earlier? Sandra Steing