I know this articles long as I am famous for (DR. TIM!!!) but please take the time to read it before answering.
Corporate drive for profits is damaging girls, women and eroding healthy relationships
FinalCall.com) - College-age women often come to Professor Gail Dines in tears after she lectures about how popular culture has become poisoned with a hyper ********* that demands women offer themselves to any man who asks.
-------------------------------------------------------------...
‘Years ago there used to be separate worlds for ********. Now they are exposed to the same things ****** experience. Today we have very young parents and we aren’t protecting our ********. Popular psychology said that this was OK.’
—Dr. Tarshia Stanley,
a Spelman College English professor
-------------------------------------------------------------...
The young women feel isolated and alone because they refuse to degrade themselves in exchange for male companionship, said the professor of sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College in Boston and founder of the Stop **** Culture movement. It’s time to *** a corporate-driven effort to promote “**** culture” in the United States, Professor Dines said.
The oppression and misuse of women is not new to America, or American culture, but many see a crisis of misogynistic and racist elements that are damaging the soul of the nation and hurting ********, women and men in the process.
Black women, in particular, have historically been portrayed as ****** objects to justify slavery, ****, ****** abuse and denial of respect and opportunity, advocates and scholars say. Negative messages solely concerned with “hotness” and *** appeal are also being pushed on adolescents and younger girls in a dangerous way, advocates warn.
Adolescence is the time when girls form an identity based on messages from society, said Professor Dines. If the messages focus on physical attributes and access to men, the young girls are not growing in a healthy way, she said. Professor Dines will be featured at “The ************* of *********” symposium, June 13-14, at Point Park University in Pittsburgh.
The American Psychological ***********, in a study released last year, reported that girls and young women suffered intellectual, psychological and physical problems as a result of messages that push *************, which is defined as a “person’s value coming only from his or her ****** appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness (narrowly defined) with being ****; a person is ******** objectified—that is, made into a thing for others’ ****** use, rather than seen as a person with the capacity for independent action and decision making, and/or; ********* is inappropriately imposed upon a person.”
Researchers looked at a wide form of media—television, music videos, music lyrics, magazines, movies, video games and the internet as well as advertising campaigns and found messages in advertising, merchandising and products aimed at girls.
According to the research, the ************* of girls and young women:
undermined feelings of confidence and comfort with their own bodies, leading to emotional and self-image problems, such as shame and anxiety;
was linked with three of the most common mental health problems diagnosed in girls and women—eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression or depressed mood;
had negative consequences on girls’ ability to develop a healthy ****** self-image.
Marketing *** to ********
“A lot of very ****** products are being marketed to very young kids,” said University of Iowa journalism professor Gigi Durham. “I’m criticizing the unhealthy and damaging representations of girls’ *********, and how the media present girls’ ********* in a way that’s tied to their profit motives.”
“The body ideals presented in the media are virtually impossible to attain, but girls don’t always realize that, and they’ll buy an awful lot of products to try to achieve those bodies. There’s ******* consumerism built around that,” she said.
When a teen TV sensation was pictured nearly **** in a Vanity Fair magazine controversy erupted. “Although Disney’s ‘Hannah Montana’ franchise was reportedly one of the most prolific in the industry, following Miley Cyrus’ recent photo shoot with Annie Leibovitz in which she is pictured with her bare back, covered only by a piece of fabric, looking sensually at the camera, audiences for the latest episode of the show dropped 14% from the previous fresh episode, which aired just under two months earlier, New York Daily News reported,” according to writer Chris Georg of eFluxMedia.com. The piece was headlined “Miley Covers Up As ‘Hannah Montana’ Ratings Drop.”
“Compared to the first original show of the year, which aired in January, viewership for Sunday’s show was down 26%. An estimated 3.1 million viewers tuned in for ‘Hannah’s’ 7 p.m. Sunday edition, which aired out of the network’s usual pattern for fresh episodes,” wrote Mr. Georg.
Others appear less worried about public opinion and more obsessed with profits from pushing *****-style products on ********. According to Ms. Durham, Abercrombie & Fitch sold little girls thong underwear tagged with the phrases “eye candy” and “wink wink.” Young readers of the magazine Seventeen were offered “405 ways to look hot” like Paris Hilton.
The ************* of ‘tween girls, girls between the ages of 8 and 12, is a growing problem fueled by marketers’ efforts to create cradle-to-grave consumers, Ms. Durham explained.
“The consequences of the ************* of girls in media today are very real and are likely to be a negative influence on girls’ healthy development,” said Eileen L. Zurbriggen, PhD, chair of the American Psychological *********** Task Force and ********* professor of psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“Years ago there used to be separate worlds for ********. Now they are exposed to the same things ****** experience. Today we have very young parents and we aren’t protecting our ********. Popular psychology said that this was OK,” explained Dr. Tarshia Stanley, a Spelman College English professor.
“As a result, we have really high rates of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world, twice that of the U.K. and eight times that of Japan,” added Ms. Durham.
The increased ************* of young girls coincides with the increase over time in teen pregnancy, ******** transmitted diseases and single parent households. According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, Black women have the highest teen pregnancy rate (134 per 1,000 women aged 15-19), followed by Hispanics (131 per 1,000) and non-Hispanic whites (48 per 1,000). Although the pregnancy rate among Black teens has decreased 40 percent between 1990 and 2000, more than the overall U.S. teen pregnancy rate declined during the same period, it still remains the highest in the country.
A March report by the Centers for Disease Control found Black teenage girls had the highest prevalence of ******** transmitted disease at 48 percent compared to 20 percent among both Whites and Mexican Americans. “Moreover, one in four girls in this country have had a ******** transmitted disease. We are not doing it right; we are not giving these girls what they need,” said Dr. Stanley.
Oppression, racism and Black females
La Vida Davis, of the Chicago-based Asha Group, sees the use of ****** and harmful images as part of the historical degradation of Black women and oppression. Her group co-sponsored a Mother’s Day campaign in Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles that gave radio stations an approved playlist of alternative