ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Thursday, May. 10, 2007

Resisting the cultural forces that objectify young girls
By Colleen Carroll Campbell

When Paris Hilton was sentenced to jail last week for violating her probation,
the hard-partying heiress won yet another 15 minutes of fame guaranteed to
captivate her young admirers. Like her party pals Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan
and Nicole Richie, Paris has parlayed poor judgment and vulgar exhibitionism
into idol status among America's teen and pre-teen set.

Girls as young as 5 moan Britney's racy lyrics, while their sisters in
elementary and middle school copy Nicole's compulsive dieting, Lindsay's brazen
flashing and Paris' sultry stare. Young women now are groomed from girlhood to
arouse sexual attention by posting suggestive messages on their personal
webpages and wearing the same risqué fashions as their Bratz dolls. Newsweek
recently chronicled the rise of these "prosti-tots": girls as young as seven
"who dress like tarts" and dream of breast implants as a high school graduation
gift.

Aspiring young exhibitionists can find role models everywhere these days, from
the coeds who disrobe for "Girls Gone Wild" camera crews and publish
pornographic pictures of themselves in student-run magazines, to mothers who
take pole-dancing classes and wear the same see-through blouses and skin-tight
jeans as their teenage daughters.

Today's pop culture tells women that sexual power is the kind that counts most
and that they can achieve it by showing skin. That message has trickled down to
girls, forcing them to trade carefree childhood pleasures for sexual
competition.

You can see them in the mall, tugging nervously at their skimpy shorts and
halter tops, straining to see how men react to their little bellies flouncing
out of low-slung jeans. They look more exploited than empowered as they fuss
and cringe, adjust and squirm. How odd that in an age when girls have more
athletic and academic opportunities than ever, girlhood has become a
high-pressure dress-rehearsal for adult mating games.

The American Psychological Association recently issued an alarming report on
this trend, concluding that girls who view themselves as sex objects are more
prone to academic failure, depression, eating disorders, low self-esteem and
poor self-image. They also may be more likely to engage in sexual activity, as
girls who look older tend to attract more sexual attention. That sexual
activity carries risks beyond the physical for girls.

A 2005 study published in the "American Journal of Preventive Medicine" showed
a strong correlation between sexual activity and depression in teenage girls —
a correlation far stronger than the one seen in boys, with girls' depression
rates rising as the number of sexual partners rose. The study suggests that
sexual experimentation is not a symptom but a cause of depression in teenage
girls.

Many parents feel powerless to resist the objectification of their daughters,
but others are fighting back. A new modesty movement is sprouting in cities
from Denver to Atlanta, with Pure Fashion shows drawing crowds of
modesty-conscious mothers and daughters, new retailers such as Shade Clothing
reporting multi-million dollar sales for clothes that keep private parts
private, and feisty online communities such as ModestyZone.net encouraging
rebels against raunch culture.

The girls and women behind the movement say they are not looking to revive
gunny-sack dresses or relive the 1950s. They simply want to be seen as more
than the sum of their body parts.

Their modesty message is controversial in the era of Paris and Britney. Yet it
also is common sense, as even Paris seems to know. How else to explain her
unprecedented choice of a collar and covered neckline for her recent court
appearance? It seems that even America's quintessential girl gone wild realizes
that when she wants to be taken seriously, she must stop the striptease and
show some self-respect.

Colleen Carroll Campbell is an author, television host and St. Louis-based
fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Her website is
www.colleen-campbell.com.