Yesterday was an exciting day as Erin danced in a beautiful ballet. It was also a day that was extremely disturbing. Our family does live a fairly sheltered life in some ways and so when we were exposed to what we saw at the eisteddfod yesterday we were really shocked. The combination of immodest costuming, sexually orientated music, suggestive and sexy movements gave me feelings of sadness for the girls, anger at those parents and teachers who permit and encourage this and embarrassment. One dance school's costumes were so low that one girl's top came down and her ample breasts were entirely exposed as she did not wear a bodystocking or bra. When she finally pulled her costume back up over her breasts she did not seem at all embarrassed. When this same group of girls,who looked as though they were aged between 14 to 18, came offstage they proceeded to change in the hall in front of everyone. This was the worst group but there were others who were also obviously used to moving and displaying their bodies in this way. What are these parents preparing their girls for and what damage is it doing to their ideas of body image, self esteem and how will it flow over into their relationships particularly with the opposite sex and marriage? Fortunately my youngest girl was outside and not present when these dancers were on and Geoff and Jefferson did not go.
The American Psychological Association (APA) (2007) concluded that the sexualization of girls is a broad and increasing problem and is harmful to girls' self-image and healthy development.
The APA Task Force Report states that sexualization has negative effects in a variety of domains:
Cognitive and emotional health: Sexualization and objectification undermine a person's confidence in and comfort with her own body, leading to emotional and self-image problems, such as shame and anxiety.
Mental and physical health: Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women—eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood.
Sexual development: Research suggests that the sexualization of girls has negative consequences on girls' ability to develop a healthy sexual self-image.
Olivia and I discussed what we had seen and compared this to the beautiful, dignified, female characters we have read about and observed. I think this quote from Little Women is wonderful when Marmee says "I'd rather see you poor men's wives, if you were happy, beloved, contented, than queens on thrones, without self-respect and peace." Although she is talking about money it can also be appropriate in other contexts.
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2 comments:
Chris...the 'world' that our girls are growing up in is forever a worry for me and saddens me so much.
Stephanie and I are always talking about choices and especially making the 'right' choices and going back to how important it is to know who she is and not let others label or force her into being something that she is not and although we've always discussed 'in theory'...there have been testing times in reality as she implements who she is among many a peer, many surprisingly Christian, who have such different standards.
She's had big tests over the last year, many a scary moment for us as parents but my husband and I have stood on God's Word about raising them in God's way and that they will NEVER depart!
We so need to intercede for all youth...the doorways open to them are not all necessarily the ones they may even have the ability to judge should be the ones that should be open in the first place! There's a lot of decisions being made for them by popular culture that they are not even aware of!
Amen sister
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