They’re sexy, they know it.“Sext Up Kids” explores hypersexualization of our children – consequences

[seabeyond]

You would have to live in a cave to not be aware of how sexualized young children are today. I only have to stand at my front door and watch the parade of very young girls walking to the high school down my street in clothing that I find both inappropriate and appalling or listen to boys brag loudly about how they “banged” someone over the weekend. Sometimes I feel like I’ve become a prude, but then I see films like Sext Up Kids and realize that it is good that I am uncomfortable with my observations and this movement in our culture. At least, I have not become completely desensitized to it.





TTG: How can parents become involved and aware with what is happening with our kids when it comes to sex, without completely locking them up?? How do we get our voices to rise above all the noise served up to them by our culture and the media?

MP: Experts tell us it’s even more critical now, to begin communication early and often with children about sexuality. Five or six is not too early, especially speaking in age-appropriate terms. If you come across porn, providing context about real-life sex as opposed to fantasy, is vital. Pre-teens especially who have not been exposed to depictions of mature loving sex, may grow up with a distorted impression of what sex should be, especially if they watch violent or extreme hard core porn. “No Judgment” seems to be the expert’s mantra. They believe if you judge your kid, he or she simply won’t talk to you. And point out healthy body images everywhere you see them in media to both boys and girls to counter the barrage of sexual imagery. Finally, one expert we spoke to says she gathers up all electronics at 10pm out of her teens’ bedrooms, partly so they won’t be tempted and also so they’ll sleep. There are plenty of texting bills that show texts from teens literally all night.



TTG: There seems to be a real tug-of-war happening in society when it comes to young girls. On the one hand, we are teaching them to be more empowered, more self-confident but on the other, we are objectifying and devaluing them more than ever. How do these two cultural ideals exist without more tension??

Girls graduate from playing princess to playing with raunchier dolls like Bratz and Monster High Dolls. What message do those dolls send girls? I think at every stage of girlhood now, we sell the idea that empowerment is about looking good. Our entire culture (Toddlers and Tiaras?) is now about selling the message to ever younger girls: your worth is in your looks. Even before puberty now, girls believe themselves to be valuable, primarily if they are attractive to boys. Facebook for girls, is much about looking hot, and being “liked” for it. That is a false sense of empowerment. And it gets more twisted as girls become teens as looking good becomes synonymous with sexual attractiveness. As Deborah Tolman, of the American Psychological Association tells us in the film, “ Showing yourself off as sexually empowered as a performance which is really what I think many young women are doing, many of them often drunk, certainly in the girls gone wild videos. It really is a performance and performance is not about your own body.

*


TTG: Maybe I’m a prude, but I was shocked to learn that 70-80% of teens are watching online porn. If this is how kids are learning about sexuality, are the concepts of love and romance lost for them?

MP: Not lost, but sure a lot harder to come by. Now there is a growing sense from some experts that intensive porn exposure in teen years actually prevents some young men from forming romantic relationships even when they find the girl of their dreams. I also hear from many young women in their teens and early 20’s, that porn-like sexual behavior is often requested from boyfriends. That is, once again, performing for boys. It’s not about allowing girls the freedom to experience sexual pleasure for themselves. Women in their early 20’s tell me they’ve engaged in all manner of hook-ups and one night stands that were border-line humiliating, because that’s what so many young men expect. We’ve got to ask ourselves – how did it somehow get to be okay that an 11 – year old boy can watch hard-core porn on his IPhone on the school bus? The porn industry has hijacked our kids’ sexuality, robbing them of the magic that many of us experienced: that first real and reciprocated romance.

*

http://thethirtiesgrind.com/2012/06/12/theyre-sexy-and-they-know-it-sext-up-kids-explores-the-hypersexualization-of-our-children-and-the-consequences/


*much more in the whole interview.


______________________

Sext Up Kids




The powder keg that is porn culture has exploded in the lives of North American children. The often-devastating consequences are explored in the new film Sext up KIDS.

From tiny tots strutting bikini-clad bodies in beauty pageants to companies marketing itty-bitty thongs and padded bras to 9-year olds, images of ever-younger sexualized girls have become commonplace. Add to that: ever-younger boys with 24-7 access to hard-core internet porn. It saturates their lives - from skate parks to the school bus – by the time they’re eighteen, 80 percent of boys are watching porn online. Toss social media into the mix and kids can not only consume X-rated images, but can also now produce them. Sexting has become a Grade 7 right of passage.

Sext up KIDS exposes how growing up in a hyper-sexualized culture hurts our kids. Teens and pre-teens show and tell what they are doing and why they are doing it. Experts reveal startling new research, tracking how the pressure to be sexy is changing teen and sexual behavior in alarming ways, as “anal becomes the new oral.” Parents and educators struggle to help kids navigate puberty in a world where the line between pop culture and porn culture is increasingly blurred. For every parent who thinks, “that’s not my son or daughter,” Sext up KIDS

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episode/sext-up-kids.html#


*there is a three minute video on this site that is interesting and informative.

[seabeyond]

1. btw... i wanted to say, after a decade and half of this garbage, we are really seeing the effects

the destruction, the consequence of this world for our kids and people are taking it a lot more seriously, with a lot more research in this.

[LiberalLoner]

2. All I ever see is "don't take my porn"

Does not matter how bad the consequences get.

[One_Life_To_Give]

3. High School? Seems like it starts in Pre-School these days.

6,000 years ago we had to grow up fast. Today when you can take 24yrs to grow up. Why do so many want to arrive earlier than anytime in recorded history. There is more than enough time to be a grown-up after you have taken the time to be a kid.

[petronius]

4. Every single time I open one of these threads or watch one of these trailers

I see something that shocks/sickens me more than the time before...

Do parents involved in this sort of thing seriously not see that it's different from little girls trying on mom's shoes?

[seabeyond]

6. i am seeing more and more studies. i am seeing more and more discussions. as i watch younger and

younger girls get this message. maybe now.... people will start recognizing. i showed my niece this thread that has a 4 yr old girl this. we had a discussion. she says, already at four she is dealing with this. is the shirt long enough, lift your arms. the shorts have to be to here. the dresses need shorts or tights. if the shorts are right at the line, they discuss. what do you think.... she asks the girl. and lets her decide they are too short.

friggin four

this is the niece that had many issues. parents gave a thong at 10 to not show underwear line. padded bra at 11. she had all this to sort out with herself. i was so glad to hear that it is something she addresses with daughter.

now, deal with the "princess" mentality the father is teaching the little girl. if it isnt one thing, it is another.

[BrendaBrick]

5. This is such a seriously hot issue with me

that I can barely see straight enough to read it all right now! Have bookmarked and will reply later...

[seabeyond]

7. i am sorry it hits so close to home. i hope

we hear from you, what your issue is with this. your experience. that causes you to react so.

there is anger. i get that. but, it seems to be more with you.

[BrendaBrick]

8. For starters.....the tip of the iceberg here:

[seabeyond]

9. wow. wow wow wow.

i dont know anything about bruno or anything. was this one of his movies out in theaters?

i am gonna do some googlin...

wow. thanks

edit... so i guess he does these short clips on controversy?

[BrendaBrick]

10. oh yeah buddy.

Sacha Baron Cohen is truly a master of satire! Have you ever seen his movie Borat? That was his first movie. Hilarious!!!!

Trailer here:

The second was Bruno. Before that he was on HBO (I think) with the *Ali G* Show, which I think first originated in the UK. (I think you can probably research any of his clips and know where he is coming from.)

He's a master of disguise who plays dumb in order to expose the idiocies of our society. I rank him right up there with the antics of the *Yes Men*. Do you know about them? They do incredible antics as well in an effort to expose all the CRAP that some folks find serious!

Thinking and doing outside the box - to be sure!

[redqueen]

11. W T F

That has to be fake. Those 'parents' have to be in on the joke. They just have to.

Seriously.

[seabeyond]

12. i keep thinking so, too. nt