Teenage Sexual Development - Research Paper Example

Section/# Teenage Sexual Development One of the more interesting aspects of human psychology and physiological development is that it is oftentimes defined and constrained by different people and/or cultures. What is meant by this is that even though definitive measurements and stages of psychological development exist within science, cultures and/or particular worldviews seek to differentiate and impacts upon the way in which this development ultimately takes place. Whereas this might be understood in a solely negative and non-evolutionary context, the fact of the matter is that human psychological development was not understood until the past few centuries. Conversely, some of humanity’s earliest attempts at science and philosophy were naturally religious and social in origin. As a direct function of this, it becomes clearly obvious that the extent to which culture and religion impacts upon a society with regards to defining appropriate mores of psychological development are not by nature inherently good or bad; rather, they merely exhibited an outdated and oftentimes faulty form of defining and constraining human development and behavior. One of the most sensitive forms of human development and behavior that can be discussed is with regards to sexual development. Due to the litany of different approaches, both liberal and exceedingly conservative, that exist concerning sexual development, it comes as no surprise that the level of deviation that exists between cultures the scientific communities, and different religious perspectives is extraordinarily broad. Through such an analysis, and more appropriate definition of sexual development within the teenage years, it is the hope of this author that the reader will be able to come to a more profound understanding of why many of the cultural norms and mores are able to impact individuals with regards the way in which sexuality and development is viewed by these stakeholders. Media and Sexualization Without question the society that we live in is one that is highly affected by marketing, media, and the representation of culture that we the individual is bombarded within on a daily level. Countless scores of research projects have been performed on the way in which individual integrate with these marketing ploys, the degree to which they allow marketing to affect their lives, and the percentage of income that such efforts are able to siphon off the viewer. Although this is a fascinating topic and doubtless deserves an even greater degree of analysis due to the fact that it segments many interrelated sectors of psychology, sociology, culture, gender, representation of self image, insecurities, and a litany of others, it is the belief of this author that as with many societal issues manifested within the current world system, the threat that is faced by children to these forces is even great. As a function of understanding this threat, the following analysis will seek to draw a level of inference with regards to the hyper-sexualization of children via marketing, the internet, advertising, and parenting. Ultimately, as these different factors will be analyzed and discussed, it is the hope of this author that a level of understanding and analysis can be drawn to the ways in which the sexualization that is taking place might ultimately be reduced. The first of these areas which will be discussed is that of the means by which the advertising media practically defines the way that current culture integrates with what is fashionable, acceptable, in demand, and necessary for achieving “happiness”. Although the advertising media is nothing new with regards to its ability to sway human judgment and define culture, as the documentary which has been viewed as a means of informing this response has indicated, the renewed focus that marketologists have placed upon the niche market of “tweens” has been a powerful determinant in exemplifying the means by which products are engaged to some of the at-risk teenage girls within our society. One of the sources that has been read as a means of informing this particular piece is that of Taylor Wolleck’s piece entitled, “Of The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization Of Young Girls And Five Keys To Fixing It”. As such, this particular journal entry details the way in which media, advertising, and marketing all work singlehandedly to mold and establish a culture that has and would not otherwise exist before (Wolleck 124). This is a seminal and important inclusion in the field of the literature on the topic due to the fact that it is one of the few journal entries that seeks to deal with the full range and scope of the issue rather than dealing merely with ways to curb its effect. Although it is the author’s belief that this text is important as well as influential in helping to expound nuances of the situation, it has however unfortunately missed the point with regards to providing any help at all with regards to reversing the trend. Ultimately, the source is useful as it provides a broad and overarching framework from which the reader can seek to approach the issue of media interpolation into fashion, culture, and attitudes towards sexualization of the youth of the nation (Egan 293). As the documentary illustrates, the identification of a distinct group that can be identified as “tweens” was ultimately a figment of advertisers and marketologists as a means to create a distinct group that they could target with product lies that would ultimately translate into a higher level of sales. Although it is not the intention of this brief paper to belabor the point of the “tween” market, seeking to understand it is integral in understanding the hyper-sexualization of culture that has been experienced over the past several years. In much the same way, marketologists have focused upon development sleek and highly sexualized means of integrating with this new “tween” market. Ultimately, the marketologists have realized that the fact of the matter is that most young people wish to be considered as older than they are. This strikes at the very core of early childhood developmental psychology. However, rather than attempting to understand the underlying reasons behind this, the marketologists have chosen to market products that are hardly appropriate for older teens – let alone “tweens”. This is done as a means of engaging a new market with products that the marketers believe that the target demographic will identify with and “grow into”. However, what is lost is a certain degree of childhood innocence. As countless studies have revealed, the increasingly provocative manner in which young girls are dressing, behaving, and interacting with one another is but circumstantial evidence with regards to the fact that this level of media penetration, advertising, and marketing has had, and continue to have, a profound effect on young girls (Durham 1). In this way, the second source which has been utilized to draw inference onto the this subject matter is that of Kirrilly Thompson’s “Looks Can Be Deceiving: Media Alarm And The Sexualisation Of Childhood - Do We Know What We Mean?". This particular piece draws a level of focus onto the measurable and discernable aspects of the ways in which the media actively seeks to carve out new market share among seemingly “unmarketed” populations (Thompson 395). From such a perspective the reader can quickly infer that such an approach as has been described by the authors is ultimately what has been employed to create the “tween” market where before none existed. The source itself helped this author to integrate a more powerful appreciation for the way in which marketing is able not only to seek to sell a product to key groups but to create these groups where they otherwise do not exist. As far as disagreement with this source, it is the opinion of this author that the source’s author has nearly perfectly defined the situation without overlooking any key topics or subject areas. A somewhat new dynamic onto the scene has been the way that the internet seeks to integrate with and advertise/market a range of products to the shareholders and demographics that have thus far been discussed. As a function of this, this author has come to understand the role that traditional marketing and advertising plays with this particular market is even less than with other markets due to the increasing technological savvy and access that these shareholders have to emerging technological trends; i.e. cell phones, iPads, laptops etc. Moreover, the widespread use and distribution of social networking and internet access means that these same marketers and advertisements which have been briefly mentioned in the first part of this analysis are quite literally able to bombard the target audience commensurate with the level of time they spend online. As a function of understanding the unique relationship that the internet plays in quietly marketing to this demographic, the following case study has been analyzed: “Girls And Incendiary Objects: Unpacking The Discourse On Sexualization”. This particular case study of course deals with the level of threat that the phenomena of the internet has with relation to self image and the way that marketers and advertisers are able to integrate with the end consumer without the troublesome aspects of television gatekeepers, parental oversight, or a litany of other costly and perhaps wasteful marketing externalities. The journal entry itself comes from a peer reviewed journal entitled, “Sexuality and Culture”. As such, the level to which the piece was analyzed, and reviewed prior to publication leaves little room for doubt in the mind of the reviewer that due diligence has been performed with reference to the veracity of the claims made therein. Ultimately, the author tries to make the point that although the hyper-sexualization of children is alarming, far more alarming is the somewhat unguarded Trojan horse of the internet. Due to the fact that it is able to integrate with the consumer directly, thereby providing far more results per dollar of advertising spent, it is something that is omnipresent within the lives of internet active tweens. Ultimately, this author fully agrees with the premise and conclusions that this article and author makes with relation to the role that the internet plays on consumer actions and the sexualization of youth. Finally, one cannot hope to understand the situation with regards to the cultural hyper-sexualization of the nation’s children without analyzing the role that parents play in either attempting to ebb such an onslaught or outright ignore its presence. For this purpose, the final article entitled “But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!” Social Knowledge, Social Structure and Ideology Critique” has been analyzed. The particular article in question seeks to deal with the ways in which parents can provide a stop gap with relation to the incessant marketing and sales driven efforts that have thus far been enumerated upon (Haslanger 72). Ultimately, this source takes the role of the parent a bit further than this author feels comfortable with. Although there is a happy medium to be found between parental control and the degree and level to which the child is able to make his/her own decisions, it is the belief of this author that the advice given within this particular journal goes over the line and ultimately encourages the tween to rebel against a rather complete and totalitarian approach that is advocated on the part of the parent. However, although it is a bit overboard on the response, the text helps to expound the key issues related to this topic in a way that helps to engage the reader with the scope of the issue. Sadly, the proliferation of media that exists within the current environment creates a situation through which this media has an increasingly powerful impact with regards to the way in which sexuality, culture, and gender are defined. Whereas it is not the goal of this author to argue for a return to Puritan times, the inescapable fact that can be realized, with respect to teenage sexuality, and a definition thereof, has to do with the fact that even though sexual education and the behavior of role models continues to play a powerful role with regards to the manner through which behavior is defined and evolves, the images, roles, theories, and interpretations of sexuality that are foisted upon society by media continue to define, the broadest sense of the word, the way in which teenage sexuality has come to be understood. Naturally, a degree of sexual liberty and freedom was required as compared to the early understandings of chastity, virtue, and abstinence; however, the ever increasing sexualized manner through which women are presented within the media, the use of underage girls to promote sex laden messages, and the emphasis upon overall net worth as an individual being predicated upon sex appeal has done an inconceivable amount of damage to the level of self respect, emotional strength, and defining elements of teenage sexual development over the past several years. Many authors have gone further and even argued that the explosion of sexually provocative imagery and content within the current media is partially to blame for the rapid increase in emotional issues that so many teenagers are now experiencing. Whereas emotional difficulity is not outside the norm during the formative years of adolescence, the overall understanding of individuals that put forward such a postulation is predicated upon the belief that the current culture creates sch high expectations that many girls, and boys, turn to a level of hopelessness, despair, depression, and self harm as a means of escaping from this pressure that surrounds them on a daily and hourly basis. In conclusion, the topic of the sexualization of the nation’s youth is a weighty and extraordinarily important one. Due to the fact that it pervades nearly every aspect of marketing, culture, inter familial relations, and child identification as well as internet usage patterns, it is something that cannot be succinctly defined. As a function of this, it has become the understanding of this author that in order to seek to provide a degree of remedy to the situation that has been described, sole responsibility cannot be placed upon the target demographic, the parent, or the advertiser. Rather, each one of these must bear a degree of responsibility and should conduct themselves according to the mores and norms that have been described at length within the articles which have been discussed. Works Cited Durham, Meenakshi. The Lolita effect : the media sexualization of young girls and what we can do about it. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2008. Print. Egan, Roger, and Gail Hawkes. "Endangered Girls And Incendiary Objects: Unpacking The Discourse On Sexualization." Sexuality & Culture 12.4 (2008): 291-311. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Haslanger, Sally. "“But Mom, Crop-Tops Are Cute!” Social Knowledge, Social Structure And Ideology Critique." Philosophical Issues 17.1 (2007): 70-91. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Thompson, Kirrilly. "Because Looks Can Be Deceiving: Media Alarm And The Sexualisation Of Childhood - Do We Know What We Mean?." Journal Of Gender Studies 19.4 (2010): 395-400. Academic Search Complete. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Wollek, Taylor. "Review Of The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization Of Young Girls And Five Keys To Fixing It." Journal Of Youth And Adolescence 40.1 (2011): 121-124. PsycINFO. Web. 25 Feb. 2013. Read More