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Drop the sex objects
Thursday April 19 2007 17:24 IST
Toufiq Rashid
Womens organisations have been saying it for years, now scientists agree:
Sexualisation harms young girls. American Psychological Association reported
that the medias portrayal of young women as sex objects harms girls mental
and physical health.
Sexualisation can lead to a lack of confidence with their bodies as well as
depression and eating disorders.
Sexualisation was defined as occurring when a persons value comes only from
her or his sexual appeal or behaviour, to the exclusion of other
characteristics, and when a person is portrayed purely as a sex object. I
would just say it is a form of exploitation which commodifies the gender
(female), says Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Senior Psychologist VIMHANS.
Utilisation of the female form for advertising, glamorising the stereotypical
role of females as home breakers, cunning, vampish or just forgiving and
subservient on the other hand. The womans form these days sell everything that
is desirable from a pen to a household appliance or even a vehicle, selling
concepts and ideas which are shallow, says Dr Nagpal.
Young pop stars dressed as sex objects, thongs flashing models, even male
accessories and cars having skinny models as their ambassadors. The content in
movies, TV serials, music videos, even lyrics, advertising, games, comics,
internet everything focuses on this image.
Youngs girls look at themselves from the images the media wants them to believe
in, say experts. It gives them a negative feeling about their bodies, faces and
harms them both physically and mentally.
Young girls look at media as a career to be rich and famous in a short time,
according to Dr Nagpal. Eating disorders, mood swings, starving, losing their
sleep, exessive exercising and gyming, and depression are some of the
consequences.
We have seen cases where girls just stop eating. We have ample evidence to
conclude that sexualisation has negative effects in a variety of domains,
including cognitive functioning, physical and mental health, says Dr Nagpal.
Girls force their parents to give them money for liposuction, plastic surgery,
and nose jobs. According to him, there is enough evidence to show that media
is responsible for hampering healthy sexual development.
Dr Nagpal says it is a multi-pronged approach: It starts from self and than
goes to schools, teachers, parents who are important in moulding our lives.
Parents, school officials, and health professionals need to be alert about the
potential impact on girls and young women.
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