Objectification of Girls through Fashion Trends and Marketing - Literature review Example

Running Head: OBJECTIFICATION OF GIRLS                          Objectification of Girls through Fashion Trends and Marketing Name of Student Institution Objectification of Girls through Fashion Trends and Marketing Introduction The fashion industry, just like others recognizes the fact that sex sells. It therefore takes advantage of it. According to Reichert & Lambiase (2003), a large number of marketing campaigns aim at convincing consumers that having a certain commodity gives them a special form of sex appeal. From the psychological viewpoint, sexual imagery helps in attracting attention. Most people do not pay much attention to the content of advertisements. Non-controlled, spontaneous reactions to the advertisements are greater than the deliberate and more thought of ones (Hawes, 2010). Fashion marketing has a negative impact on the thought patterns of girls and further reinforces their sexual objectification. This paper discusses the use of sexual appeal in advertising and its impact on female children, with reference to the fashion industry. Advertising and the Objectification of Girls Females generally tend to be more conscious about what they wear. They also tend to have a greater interest in what they wear (Henslin, 2006). According to Shields & Heinecken (2002), fashion advertising therefore seeks to make them believe that there is an ideal, sexually appealing look that can be achieved through wearing certain apparel. Considering that the people chosen are the best suited for the role, the outcome of advertisements is an almost perfect image of the culturally defined beauty. In terms of objectification, this has two effects; making the women appearing on them appealing to men, and making girls believe that they should appear beautiful. Beauty would involve having to fit into the clothes and also having the physical attributes of the models. It therefore reinforces the values regarding feminine physical looks and sexuality. Sexual objectification is different from healthy sexuality, an aspect that is helpful in a human beings physical and mental health. Objectification is a situation where a person’s value ends up being attached to her sexual behavior or appeal. She is also held to standards which relate being sexy to being physically attractive, in addition to having sexuality being imposed inappropriately on her. Most significantly, she is sexually objectified, meaning that she is turned into a utility for other people’s sexual use (Giroux, 2001). The Fashion Industry and Objectification of Girls According to Henslin (2006), the marketing of clothing in many instances promotes the objectification of girls. For instance, there are Child Beauty Pageants during which girls aged even five years old wear make-up, fake teeth and hair extensions. Flirting with the audience by batting their eyes that have false eye-lashes is also encouraged. Furthermore, during the Victoria Secret Fashion Show event of 2005, models were dressed up so that they appeared like young girls wearing sexy lingerie. The fact that this was featured on prime time TV shows how acceptable it was to policy makers and even the public. The message passed across was that it was proper for young girls to expose so much sexuality hence their objectification. Television, the internet and magazines have a lot of images that portray girls as sexualized objects. TX lady (2011) explains that one of the world’s large clothing stores, Abercrombie and Fitch is one example of businesses that have in the past been accused of contributing to girl objectification. For instance, it marketed underwear for seven year olds, and shirts one of which had a highly inappropriate slogan across suggesting that with breasts, one does not need brains. The current fashion industry creates and markets products which promote the objectification of girls in particular and children in general. For instance, there is the encouragement of girls to buy very short skirts and pairs of shorts in addition to padded swimsuits. Such clothing is often targeted for children of ages as early as seven years (Shields & Heinecken, 2002). Henslin (2006) explains that there is the selling of ‘sexy’ clothing for instance lingerie and thongs made in children’s sizes. These are marketed to a category labeled ‘tweens’ and some stores define this as girls aged seven years and above. Cosmetics firms also market lip glosses, perfumes and other kinds of toiletries even specifically to young girls. Some brands are shown to be seemingly intended for them as a target group. Factors that Influence Objectification According to Shields & Heinecken (2002, the interpersonal interactions that girls have as members of the society have an impact on their vulnerability to sexual objectification. One of these is their parents. For instance, the attitudes shown by fathers have a powerful influence on gender typing and the possibility of their daughters conforming to the typing. In addition, the modern culture tends to stress that being thin amounts to being attractive. The ideal of being thin is therefore related to girls’ sexualization. It is in many instances reinforced in interactions between mothers and daughters. In addition, parents in the twenty first century have particularly shown a trend towards condoning the use of plastic surgery by their daughters. From past research, it has been shown that teachers will tend to encourage dressing up by girls more than they do for boys. Through their talk, it tends to appear that it is more important for girls to look into the mirror and take care of their appearance, or what is commonly referred to as ‘playing dress-up’ (Giroux, 2001). In addition, some teachers show negative attitudes towards girls who have bodies that are not in conformance with the thin ideal. Additionally, peers play a considerable role in enhancing the phenomenon. Boys tend to perceive sexuality in girls quite early. This happens irrespective of how the girls behave. Fellow girls on their part tend to enforce the need for sexiness and thinness among their friends, as they compete to achieve better looks and set standards for each other. Social aggression may for instance be expressed by teenage peers through characterizing others as ‘sluts’. Girls’ popularity is further based so much in the interest that they get from boys and on what is considered to be their physical attractiveness (Reichert & Lambiase, 2003). Henslin (2006) explains that apart from the other people, many young girls also tend to partly contribute to their own objectification. This happens through the kind of behavior and choice of clothes that they make. Usually, such choices are determined by their need for social advantage. In girls for instance, the fear of being rejected and lack of popularity in case they do not conform are contributing factors to the behaviour. It is the responsibility of adults as parents to manage the sort of media that children, especially girls are accessible to. This is because they tend to carry a lot of confusing messages. Although an effort could be made to instill positive outlooks in children, being consistently exposed to the images may possibly change the ways they perceive sexuality and modify the way they view women, whether they are boys or girls. Effects of Objectification on Girls Sexual objectification through fashion has a lot of negative implications on the girls, boys and the society as a whole. According to Shields & Heinecken (2002), one of the ways of understanding the effect is through the objectification theory. According to this, being portrayed in the ways that young girls do in fashion marketing has a lot of undesirable effects on the girl, and the future woman that she will grow to become. There is a combination of cognitive, socialization, psychoanalytic and socio-cultural understanding of ways through which the issues arise. The things that a girl observes in the world around her cause her to self-objectify. This involves a process during which she views herself from the perspective of a third person. She controls and assesses her own body’s sexual desirability to other people according to attractiveness standards that have been culturally set. Meanwhile, she ignores her own achievements and state of health. The forces that promote objectification of young girls influence their development while they are undergoing their most vulnerable times (Giroux, 2001). Cultural messages relating to fashion marketing and sexuality reach children who are too young and unable to handle them well. This influences their formation of identity during adolescence, hence lack of self-esteem at a very critical period of the child’s identity development. Consistent monitoring of one’s appearance also tends to cause shame. Such feelings come up due to the feeling that she has been unable to attain the cultural standards for conduct as a girl. Most girls do not fit the cultural standards for sex appeal, namely being slender and ‘sexy’. Because of this, it is common for many to feel shameful and inadequate (Henslin, 2006). Giroux (2001) explains that there is presently a greater focus on looking attractive as a way of enhancing one’s success and acceptance than was the case before. The existence of a sex-saturated culture has a negative effect on the psychological development of girls. Fashion advertising always uses idealized models. The girls used, whether young or older are usually selected basing on the criteria. The younger they are, the more likely it is that their girl audiences will feel that they should look the same. In extreme instances, dissatisfaction with one’s self image might result in plastic surgery for instance liposuction, and breast implants. The purchase of beauty and cosmetics products as well as clothing that markets the young girls’ sexuality also goes up. Parental Role in Privision of Guidance The common exposure that fashion marketing offers especially to girls who read fashion magazines leads to dissatisfaction with their bodies. According to Shields & Heinecken (2002), this is one of the possible reasons why some teenage girls contemplate going through plastic surgery.  They also at times resort to extreme kinds of diets and ways of losing weight. Because of this, as they grow up, there is need for parents to share the information that their daughters have in relation to fashion. They should discuss with them the various stereotypes, portrayals and aggression that arise. An emphasis on ethical instruction and spirituality can also help to regulate the effects of fashion marketing and other social forces on the girl’s perception. Conclusion Modern day culture focuses a lot on fashion and beauty, and young girls are the most vulnerable as they learn to be obsessed with the two aspects. It encourages small girls to end up growing up fast and want to be labeled as being ‘sexy’ much earlier. The effects of sexual self-objectification are quite disruptive to an individual’s physical and cognitive functioning. This is because when one pays more attention to looks, the effort tends to leave less cognitive resources for the completion of other life tasks. Girls generally do not choose to take up their behavioural and dressing patterns independently. Rather, they are influenced by the interpersonal and cultural forces that exist within their society. The fashion industry has contributed much damage on the young females’ perceptions of beauty, and unfortunately this usually implies a trend towards sexual objectification. It has promoted unhealthy and unachievable standards of body image through advertisement.  The end results of these are inferior body image, self esteem and in some instances, eating disorders among young girls. References Giroux, H. (2001). Stealing Innocence: Youth, Corporate Power and the Politics of Culture. Basingstoke: Palgrave Hawes, D. (2010). Care for Some Sexy Toilet Paper? - Sex in Advertising. Retrieved on 26 July 2011 from Henslin, J. (2006). Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. Boston: Allyn & Bacon Reichert, T.and Lambiase, J. (2003). Sex in Advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal. London: Routledge Shields, V. and Heinecken, D. (2002). Measuring Up: How Advertising affects Self-image. London: Dover TX Lady. (2011). Girls – Abercrombie Targets 7 Year olds as Sex Object with Advertising Push up Bra Bikinis. Retrieved on 26 July 2011 from Read More