Media Representations and Responsibilities - Report Example

Children Are Most Prone To Fall Psychological Victims to Sexualised Images: A Study A major chunk of advertisements that you find in the media todayare targeted towards the younger generations. As a result they are made to look vibrant, tempting, and as chic as possible. What nobody realizes is that talking of adult censorship in the advertisements is not enough to stop the sexualisation of children and the apparent harm that today’s mass media is bringing into the society. What we need is the understanding of how these visuals effect the mindsets of the ever inquisitive children who perceive of men and women around them on the basis of the visuals and advertisements that mass media offers around them. One may picture this. A young girl enters a toys shop and finds the girl’s corner full of stilettos and tiaras. She buys a few and takes them. She puts them on and is immediately transported to a dream land in which she is none other than Paris Hilton. While her parents are happy watching her happy, they have not realized that the experience would stay within the child’s psychology and she may anytime want to pursue a life when she grows up. The picture on the boys section is a tad bit brighter since there are doctor and builder kits for them. But everything bogs down to the same once these very kids open up media sources like television and magazines (Kiss, 2011). The present study endeavors to dwell upon all the factors present in today’s mass media and how they cause apparent or silent sexualisation of a child’s innocent mind by spreading such sexualized images and merchandise all over on the market. The Most Common Sexualised Tools The discussion may begin with the most used tools in mass media that one finds in contemporary culture. While these elements have been present in the society all along, their quality seems to be degrading by the day, with more adult and sexualisation being used to rivet the viewer’s attention and persuade him to purchase the product being advertised. Here is a quick listing of those tools and how some people have been using them to sell themselves or their services fast, keeping only importance of adult life in mind. Television commercials or banner advertisements, one look at the content being used in regular advertisements around us and we find a lot of sexy ladies and gents ravishing their bodies and glistening skin to the viewer. No matter what the advertisement is about, whether it for a related product like a deodorant spray or, a non-related product like refrigerator or washing machine, the advertisement still has a host of half-clad men and women calling on to the viewer to enjoy the life that they seem to by using the product. A half naked lady could walk into a tie and dye meeting and prove herself worthy of attention, just like how a processor that is sexy and smart like her would pep up the performance of a laptop or computer. Well, we could have the same product advertised in a different manner, but since exposure sells, so the advertisement makes decide to use story that is in no way connected to the product except on screen. There can be no doubt that the freedom of speech and expression has not only gotten us sexy lyrics, but lyrics of violence and depression too. Music is said to be the language of the soul and it is indeed sad that what can be used as therapy is being used as a cheap selling tool by contemporary songwriters. Children who grow up listening to such lyrics are prone to pick up the lines without understanding the depth, significance or vulgarity behind the words used. Soon, we watch teenagers following a new trend in language and it is only then that we realize that a certain song led to that cheap trend. The use of scantily dressed women and children in music videos is a practice that has been around for long. While every music video is built around the theme of the music that it portrays and the lyrics in the song, certain incoherent scenarios are often noticed wherein even a family union is pictured using dance sequences with women and men who are more compromising in their showcase of skin talent, than the situation demands. While it is very clear that to make a music video grow popular, such visual treats are considered the best tools in getting more downloads, they are the worst educators to an unassuming child’s psychology. A trailer to a movie is only supposed to showcase the content within the movie. However, in the promo campaigns, many moviemakers have chosen to make special shots that look more sexually alive and since these trailers are broadcast on all major satellite channels, children drink up the aesthetics without knowing that it does not represent the real story. You would find them on celebrity red carpets, magazine covers, and internet advertisements and banners, but what allures most to the viewers eye is when they are used in movies. While actresses adorn the costumes revealing a whole lot of skin, viewers are either jealous or desirous, and the children are clueless. They need to use such costumes suddenly transforms into a necessity in real life, since they do not always see such things happening or worn around them. If adults and young adults around them are found raving about the costumes, then hell be with modesty, children jump into the conclusion that this is what you must have in your wardrobe. Today, there is a growing tendency to project children in an adult like manner with costumes that highlight sexually important areas of the body, just like in the case of adults. This makes the child feel that he or she needs to look and dress that way. The form of electronic media that leads this psychological degradation today, is obviously the internet. Personal pictures of people on social networks and dating sites, coupled with free access to pornographic content and visuals has led children to understand that sexualisation is a way of life. It is sad since parents who are prone to correcting such notions are getting very little chance to monitor the type of content that their children get exposed to in the different websites that they visit. Other Media Outlets That Showcase Sexualisation: Magazines and merchandise that are being made available in the general market are all designed to keep the focus on how important it is to look and feel like an adult. While there are kid’s magazines showcasing glamorized children wearing designer wear similar to what adults wear, there is merchandise available in kid’s shops that encourage these visions. Like already mentioned, tiaras and stilettos are not a girl’s requirement today, but their presence in toy shops and kid’s corners make them desirable, and hence, they get bought. Psychological study: From a child’s point of view everything that he or she sees around is something that has to be learnt, understood, and emulated in life. While this may be normal as long as good things reach them, sexualised children portrayed in advertisements and magazines only snatch away their happiness, making them look forward to turning into an adult as soon as they can. The psychological impact happens in three different ways. Firstly, the child is unable to distinguish between regular television or story content and advertisement content, and takes both with equal seriousness. They are unable to realize that advertisements are solely created for commercial purpose and end up taking every scene and image seriously. Secondly, they are unable to recognize the intent or persuasion that is being used in the advertisement and feel that it is a very normal practice to wear outrageous clothes that the model is wearing or speak the language she is doing, or do the actions that he is doing. As a result, more and more children want to feel important by following what they are seeing and hearing. Even if they did not get to actually wear those clothes or live a life that allowed raunchy conversation, they still have a desire inside them that has developed by just hearing and viewing these ads. This brings us to the third most important part of the psychological impact that children undergo every time they view such advertisements which is mainly the language of the advertisement (Pitman, 2008, pp.4-7; APS, 2000). Children invariably do not understand the irreverent or persuasive note in the advertisement and use the same language in their daily life. As a result, many parents and peers are shell shocked by the behavior of an otherwise silent child and end up considering him or her as arrogant. Society’s Role and The Extension of the Impact: While one talks of cultural vandalism, the world of mass media does love to experiment with existing tools. However, it can play a great role in giving the society a sense of cultural balance by getting the right attitude in place for the right niche audience. There has been enough criticism about content degradation and psychological shockers that mass media has dished out till now, at least in the context of children, but there are also decent endeavors that have gone unnoticed. While mass media can restrict the content and fine tune it keeping in mind the child viewer, we have a larger question to answer here. Is the society full of adults going in the right direction by letting mass media elements govern the choices of a child’s life? Parents can influence only to a certain personal extent, while the society it is which has to redefine its role in giving children back their cherished childhoods. Enticing them with adult songs, dresses, and products, is actually amounting to stealing their childhood away from them, something that the children of today do not understand. Cherished memories of a hasty childhood get erased as children grow up aspiring to catch up with the young adults that they see around them. Society fails to put due emphasis on the importance and purity of childhood days, and starts treating children as adult like kids, even if they are not yet that matured (Victoria’s Child Safety Commissioner, 2008, p.12). Multiple tests, surveys, and assessments conducted all over the world, especially those in Australia (Pitman, 2008, pp.4-7) and UK (Papadopoulos, 2010), show us that children are only being treated as objects and the concept of sexualisation degrades their understanding of life around them. To add to the chagrin or assessment conductors, the beginning (APS, 2000, p.3) of activities over the internet is usually for educative purpose which slowly translates to recreational purposes as the child grows. Children who are subject to such living styles will never be able to cope with the demands of real life sexualisation since they are not mentally, emotionally, and physically capable. The society also needs to understand that for any human being, childhood spent in innocent surroundings is very important to build a child’s personality. While obsession with sexuality ruins it, children also suffer severe personality glitches which translate in their behavior and also appear in their later lives. Nature of Psychological Impact: Visible and Non visible As is evident from the study, the deep impact that sexualisation of children through mass media tools has on the younger generation is often severe. Also, the extent to which this occurs can often be the most important indicator of the failure of a society. A society cannot hope to stand tall with individuals who lack sexual integrity, something that often happens due to forced sexualisation in childhood. This might happen only when there are a huge number of severe cases of oppressed, violent, and sexualized childhoods. While a childhood gets ruined when such a thing happens, it is also not uncommon to see partial degradation in personality of the child who is growing up watching such advertisements. An indirect (non-visible) indicator of how harmful the persuasive tone of an advertiser can get, is the attitude that you may see a child holding towards life. In today’s world parents do not have much time to devote to the mental maturing of their children. There are many homes which have immensely apparent communication gaps. As a result, advertisement and media starts defining the lifestyle that a child develops and also influences the attitude (APS, 2000, p.21) that he holds towards life and the process of growing into an adult. Children these days are found to be more self-centered, hasty, and advanced in their thinking. We could attribute this to the energy that is prone to this age. However, cases of child depression, suicide attempts and sibling rivalries re on the rise. This is the negative attitude that the advertisements are propounding to children who grow up thinking that achieving the adult order of life is the main goal of childhood. When you fail to do that you are a social failure who is not fit to be in society. While the tenderness of childhood succumbs to the negative impact of such a feeling, the child is more prone to losing his balance and even though is brought back to normalcy, grows with a shaky or unsure personality. Desire to grow into a star like adult is something that grips the imagination of children really fast, and when this is happening through depiction of sexualized images or videos, children are only prone to explore adult desires as fast as they can. With no apparent help from elders, this desire often leads many children to fall prey to the antics of pedophiles and exhibitionists. The growth of desire is pretty evident when a child starts talking the jargon and wanting to wear clothes that are adult-like, or visit places, parties or even websites which are not meant for them. If the desire is not removed from their minds is when they run the risk of falling in the wrong hands. The behavior of children is the most visible factor that changes along with the growing psychological impact. They either turn too much sensitive or they turn arrogant. Usually, the changeover in induced through a minor visual or dialogue that they see and carry into their personality, which changes further and becomes behavior defining factor when elders start disapproving of it. Irreverence towards elders, refusal to adhere to norms, and fights with peers are the negative impacts that such advertisements can cause on a child’s behavior. Conclusion: Mass media was a tool that has always been used to attract the attention of large number of people through one advertisement or announcement. There are both sides to this coin as in, good advertisements sure do a great job in improving brand equity and informing the average audience about a certain set of products or services. But, when the advertisements turn into exposure of flesh and flirting, then the impact and moral degradation that it causes in children of the society is often horrifically sad. And to add to the damage, use of sexualized images of children ruin whatever little of childhood is left for these future citizens. We are definitely not being wise by dishing out content that looks to ruin the most sacred and innocent part of life. Period. References: Australian Psychological Society. (2000). Media Representations and Responsibilities: Psychological Perspectives, Australian Psychological Society, retrieved on April 29th, 2014 from: http://www.psychology.org.au/Assets/Files/media_position_paper.pdf Kiss, J. (2011). Sexualisation of children – who is to blame?, The Guardian, retrieved on April 29th, 2014 from: http://www.theguardian.com/media/blog/2011/jun/06/sexualised-children-media-blame Papadopoulos, Dr. L. (2010). Sexualisation of Young People Review, Crown Publishers, retrieved on April 29th, 2014 from: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http:/www.homeoffice.gov.uk/documents/Sexualisation-of-young-people2835.pdf?view=Binary Pitman, S. (2008). The impact of media technologies on child development and wellbeing, OzChild, retrieved on April 29th, 2014 from: http://www.ozchild.org.au/userfiles/docs/ozchild/research-papers/ImpactOfElectronicMedia.pdf Victoria’s Child Safety Commissioner (2008). Senate Inquiry Into The Sexualisation Of Children in the Contemporary Media Environment, Child Safety Commissioner, retrieved on April 29th, 2014 from: http://www.ccyp.vic.gov.au/childsafetycommissioner/downloads/submission_senateinquiry_media_sexn_of_kids.pdf Read More