The sexualisation of girls in popular culture: neoliberalism, choice and invisible oppression
Conference Contribution ResearchOnline@JCUAbstract
The sexualisation of girls in popular culture has captured both scholarly and public attention in Australia. Almost as soon as Emma Rush and Andrea La Nauze's reports, Corporate Paedophilia (2006a) and Stopping the Sexualisation of our Children (2006b), presented evidence that corporations were sexualising children through their advertising practices, others heralded these claims as obsolete (Egan & Hawkes, 2008). The concerns, however, have not abated; instead activists from a range of backgrounds have mobilised against corporate advertising, professionals have published advice books for parents on bringing up girls in this current context, and governments have considered a range of public policy responses (Albury and Lumby, 2010a; Smith and Attwood, 2011). We argue that at this time of heightened awareness and debate it is important to use a feminist lens to examine the way the sexualisation of girls has been framed and discussed. The research reported in this paper specifically examined the way experts and members of the public identified and talked about the sexualisation of girls on a televised debate and an Internet discussion board that followed the broadcast. The 2007 televised debate, Sex Sells – but at what cost to our kids?, occurred at a significant time in the public discussion about the sexualisation of girls in popular culture, when the debate was "simmering and gathering heat" (Albury and Lumby, 2010a, p. 56), and captures a moment when experts and the public were finding their voices in the sexualisation debate, providing insight into the underlying discourses that frame the current debate.
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International Women's Conference: Connecting for Action in the Asia-Pacific Region
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5
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Cairns, QLD
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Cairns Institute
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