This makes interesting reading too
Much too much... much too young?
Much too much... much too young?
The 'pornification' of British culture is causing numerous social ills including increased violence against women and teenage girls. That's according to a new Home Office report Sexualisation of Young People Review by the Chartered Health and Counselling Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos of London Metropolitan University.
Drawing on government research and statistics, lobby group publications and academic journals, together with input from a range of invited stakeholders, including Respect and Womankind, the review says that airbrushed adverts, sexist sitcoms, lurid music videos, easily-accessed internet porn, 'lads mags' and other forms of media are sending a message to children that women should make themselves sexually available and that men should be sexually dominant.
Papadopoulos's review, which follows similar publications in Scotland, the USA and Australia, further ties the sexualisation of modern culture to a rise in eating disorders, more and earlier cosmetic surgery, more girls aspiring to become pole dancers, acceptance of the 'rape myth', and sexual aggression.
The review, commissioned by former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in 2009, calls for more studies but says 'we should acknowledge that the research and evidence...points clearly to the fact that sexualisation is having a negative impact on young people's physical and mental health, and helping to normalise abusive behaviour towards women and children'.
The review makes numerous recommendations, including: promoting gender equality in schools; making digital literacy a compulsory part of the school curriculum; lads mags to be put on the top shelf; sexy music videos to be broadcast only after the watershed; and a rating symbol system to show how much adverts have been digitally altered.
The Home Secretary Alan Johnson welcomed the review and thanked Papadopoulos for her work. Janice Turner, for The Times, said the review 'brims with good sense.' However, other reactions were more hostile. Toby Young, in The Daily Telegraph, pointed to government figures showing that incidents of domestic violence against women have fallen, and likened Papadopoulos's review to a 100-page Cosmopolitan article. Janet Street-Porter, for the Independent on Sunday, highlighted Papadopoulos's work for the media and beauty industry, even going so far as to question whether someone 'who wears disgustingly expensive shoes is the best choice as a government expert on childrearing.'Dr Papadopoulos retorted that 'to suggest that the Home Office would employ me to conduct a review of such a serious nature because I am in her words "eye candy" is both offensive and ridiculous'
Elsewhere, the Cambridge-based research consultant Alison MacLeod used her blog 'the human element' to highlight anomalies in the review. For example, she traced the review's claim that 'a high proportion of young women in the UK aspire to work as "glamour models" or lap-dancers' to a web survey conducted by internet TV company Lab TV, which found 63 per cent of 1000 girls thought Jordan was a good role model.
The Psychologist asked Dr Petra Boynton, a social psychologist at UCL who specialises in research on sex, relationships and media, for her verdict. She told us that the review is 'well-intentioned' and 'passionately written' but that it was not 'robust enough to inform policy and practice'.
'The report mostly seems to have been informed by "desk-based research" with little indication of how literature was searched or appraised,' Boynton said. 'It is worrying that peer-reviewed research is presented as equivalent to a survey for Dove beauty products.'
'Statistics, studies and surveys are mentioned but not fully explained or referenced, so it is difficult to generalise from them. Focus groups are described in brief with no details of participants, procedure or analysis. Young people are constructed as passive recipients objectified by the mass media. Research that discusses how young people understand and engage with mediated culture is absent.'
Boynton added that a similar report on 'sexualised goods aimed at children' for the Scottish Parliament takes a more nuanced and investigative approach. 'It is this work, rather than the Home Office consultation that should underpin our understanding of this area and direct future research and practice,' she said.
However, Dr Papadopoulos told us she was pleased that the media response to her report had been so positive and that some of her recommendations had already been taken up: 'The PM spoke about backing the recommendation of an online "one-stop shop" for parents and for setting up a working group with the NSPCC to advise corporations on products targeted at children. An ongoing campaign on teenage partner violence is already up and running and getting very good feedback. Also I met with ministers last week and the DCFS have welcomed the recommendations for schools regarding gender equality and media literacy, and many of these are expected to be taken forward as well.'
'The report was rigorously researched and is evidence based - conclusions are derived from an in-depth, critical literature review as well as evidence hearing sessions from clinicians and front-line workers in the area,' Papadopoulos said. 'The findings are in accord with the APA report on sexualisation as well as the Australian government report in this area. This does not mean that we don't need more research. For obvious reasons, outlined in the review, longitudinal research in this area is not yet available.'
For other psychologists who are invited to author reports by the government, Dr Papadopoulos had the following advice: 'Make a lot of space in your diary! This type of work takes a lot of time and commitment - ultimately though it's extremely rewarding to be involved in a project that has the potential to make a real difference.'
--Christian Jarrett
Edited: 15/03/2010 at 01:12 PM by jonsut
When one considers that the high point of my teenage years was a copy of the Sun and Samantha Fox what is available now is a different world.
I mean - if you don't like it, or course you have the choice not to use it. 
