By Carol Church, Writer, Family Album

Reviewed by Kate Fogarty, PhD, Department of Family, Youth, and Community Sciences, University of Florida

My daughter will start middle school next year, and she’s getting to the age where she cares more about things like her hair, her clothes, and so on. While this is certainly normal, I also worry about the messages she’s getting from our highly sexualized culture. As girls move into the teen years, they often feel a lot of pressure to look pretty or “sexy.” Some tie their self-esteem to their looks, or prioritize appearance over other things in their lives (for instance, sports or academics).

In fact, sometimes girls and women believe that how they look is one of the most important things about them. This way of thinking can start surprisingly young. In two recent small studies, researchers looked at how the strength of this belief (which they call “internalized sexualization”) might affect girls and teens between the ages of 10 and 15.

Girls Who Valued Looks Most Had Lower Grades and Scores

In the first experiment, 91 girls ages 10-14 (mostly Latina) completed a survey that measured how important being attractive was to their identity. These responses were then compared to the girls’ grades in school and standardized test scores. Although overall internalized sexualization was low among the girls, those who reported being more invested in how they looked had lower grades and test scores.

In the second study, 95 girls between the ages of 11 and 15 completed the same survey, then were asked to deliver a videotaped “newscast,” supposedly to see what their aptitude was for TV journalism. Before being taped, they were given a few minutes in a dressing room to “prepare for their taping.” They had access to the cards they would read on-air, which they could study, as well as to various makeup supplies.

Less Time Studying?

In this second study, girls who scored higher on internalized sexualization tended to spend their time putting on makeup, while girls with lower scores were more likely to review the note cards. Although there was no noticeable difference in the two groups’ performances when reading the cards, most likely because the reading material was not challenging for 11- to 15 year-olds, it’s certainly of note that girls who were more invested in how they looked were less likely to choose to prepare for the content of their task.

The authors of this study are careful to point out that it’s hard to know what causes what here. Some of these girls might have become invested in being “pretty” because they felt unable to succeed in other areas, such as academics. And some girls who highly value their sexual attractiveness, in spite of potential competence, may put more energy into their physical appearance than into schoolwork.

How to Talk about Sexualization

What can parents who feel concerned about the sexualization of young girls and teens do? Experts suggest talking frankly with your daughter about media messages they may be getting and why you find them to be a problem. Sit down and watch TV and movies with them, discuss lyrics to a popular song or music video, and observe the video games they play. Ask them questions about what they think of the content. Model positivity about your own body and physical appearance, and encourage girls to continue to explore and participate in many other activities, whether that’s sports, art, Scouts, or anything in between. For more, see the resources in Further Reading.

(Photo credit: Double Vision by Katie Tegtmeyer. CC BY 2.0. Cropped.)

Further Reading:

Sexualization of Girls: What Parents Can Do–From the American Psychological Association

New Moon—Ad-free, noncommercialized magazine for teen and tween girls

Girls Inc. –Focused on inspiring all girls to be “strong, smart, and bold”

About-Face—Helping teens resist negative media messages (content is more appropriate for older teens)

4EveryGirl–Campaigning to reduce sexualized images of girls in the media

References:

McKenney, S.J., & Bigler, R. S. (2014). High heels, low grades: Internalized sexualization and academic orientation among adolescent girls. Journal of Research on Adolescence. Advance online access. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jora.12179

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