I started reading it and thought that the APA study sounded interesting. I even thought that the third paragraph was witty. I also think that it's pretty clear that the sexualization of girls is a problem. Of course, saying that a study is useless because it demonstrates the obvious is flawed; we can't know if the obvious is really true until it's been proven. (For example, it was certain that the earth was flat, not too long ago in the history of the world.) But anyway, the basic idea that girls shouldn't be sexualized seems legit enough.
Then I got to the end and was wondering where the link was. I'm pretty sure that it wasn't in the middle of the piece (which you are welcome to go read). I'll quote the first few and the last few paragraphs and let you decide. Then I'll comment a bit.
While I won't argue the value of having a dad around, I find it hard to believe that a dad is the only person who can help a girl with self-confidence. A mother can tell a girl that she looks fine. A mother can tell a girl that she doesn't need to be thinner. Mothers can also tell their daughters that they can't leave the house dressed like a hooker.When it comes to figuring out what's gone wrong with our culture, we can usually rely on the American Psychological Association (APA) to catch on last.
Thus, it came to pass a few days ago that the APA released its findings that American girls are sexualized. And that's bad.
If you missed the headlines, it may be because of stiff competition from the breaking news that Anna Nicole is still dead and Britney is still disturbed.
Irony doesn't get to be ironic when it's that conspicuous.
The APA report found that girls are sexualized in nearly every medium and product -- from ads and video games to clothing, cosmetics and even dolls. Anyone who has walked down an American street the past few years has seen the effects -- little girls dressed as tartlets and teens decked in bling, while mom takes pole-dancing lessons at the gym.
...Fathers, after all, are the ones who tell their little girls that they're perfect just the way they are; that they don't need to be one bit thinner; and that under no circumstances are they going out of the house dressed that way.
It can't be coincidence that girls' self-objectification -- looking for male attention in all the wrong ways -- has risen as father presence has declined. At last tally, 30 percent of fathers weren't sleeping in the same house as their biological children.
The APA is calling for more education, more research, forums, girls groups and Web zines to tackle girl sexualization. But my instinctual guess is that getting fathers back into their daughters' lives and back on the job would do more than all the forums and task forces combined.
Ultimately, it's a daddy thing.
I think that it's ridiculous to assume that the lack of a father is the determining factor. This is like linking ice cream sales to murders, since they correlate in frequency. (Hint: They both have to do with summer and not so much to do with each other.)
3 comments:
Karen,
I agree. what this article is stressing is the importance of the traditional father ROLE in a girls life.
What they are say saying is, akin to "It has traditionally been the father's role to run the bar-b-que." Without fathers in the house, millions of American children never get to experience the joys of eating messy food outdoors. How sad that our liberal secular society condemns them to a life of fussy indoor eating salads and pastas, and using napkins"
I also agree that two parents in the house is easier, more likely to gurantee that the whole job of parenting gets done more consistantly, and helps make the family more stable financially as well as in other ways. But that's only if both parents are actually involved, hard-working and competent, and just being married is no guarantee of that.
Also, I have few doubts of what the author would say about some good friends of ours out in Mass. who were married a few years ago, and adopted a child. That child now has TWO daddies. Would they think that's twice as good? I don't think so. Their premise is flawed, and based on their prejudices, which would be revealed very easily, I think.
Teresa,
I totally agree...although I don't believe that two parents in the home is neccessary, I do see how it would make some family situations easier.
Jamie,
I agree. Two parents is often easier, but not necessarily better. I know plenty of great single parents!
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