Challenging the Sexualization of Girls

For years I have been horrified yet fascinated by the sexualized images promoted by the media in North America. Previous to my work in sexual health, I did a lot of work around media literacy and the unrealistic, unattainable, and digitally constructed images of girls, boys, women and men that dominate our daily lives. Needless to say, the influence of these images on a person’s sexual wellness is huge – they have the potential to influence every aspect of sexuality from self-esteem to the effective use of safer sex methods.

You can imagine my delight to discover that The American Psychological Association has just published an amazing report on the sexualization of girls. Once I finish my thesis, I plan to sit down with it and go through it in more depth, but from what I have read so far, it’s amazing! One of the best things about the report is that it makes recommendations about how to challenge the media in our personal and professional lives and truly make a positive difference! To download a pdf copy of the report, click “here”:http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualizationrep.pdf

Happy Reading.