Adolescent Sexualization

Children and adolescents spend most of their time with entertainment media than any other activity apart from school and sleep. Research has linked sexualization in the media to the three most common mental health problems in girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression.

Overall, research in this field tends to point to sexualizing material increasing intensity and in volume over time. Children and adolescents spend most of their time with entertainment media than any other activity apart from school and sleep. Research has linked sexualization in the media to the three most common mental health problems in girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression. During Adolescence, many heterosexual youth

It’s where girls learn about clothing and are taught to attach their status to their physical appearance. Even clothing lines marketed to children are sexualized, showing young girls in provocative clothing doing provocative poses. There this ideal woman portrayed in fashion marketing that does not physically exist. Magazines do not help make this better, magazines sell sex to adults and teens; they are dominated by sexualized information for men and women alike. Men 's magazines are filled with articles and provocative images of women while focusing on sports. Then there is Hollywood which sexualizing not only women but also men. Women are seen for their bodies and used as sexual creatures while men are seen as powerful and in control. All of these mainstream media outlets affect each genders perception of themselves. They start to see not only the opposite sex as sexual objects but themselves. Research has linked sexualization in the media to the three most common mental health problems in girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem, and depression. During Adolescence, many heterosexual youth transition from same-sex peer groups to developing friendships, romanticties and sexual relationships with the other sex. Guiding these initial efforts are sexual scripts acquired from socialization agents such as parents or peers. Youth in the industrialized world also have access to mainstream media that feature abundant examples. Analyses indicate that references to the heterosexual script appear 15.5 times per hour in primetime American television programing. References framing men are sex driven and women are passive, sexual objects. Regular exposure to sexualizing media may trigger a ‘centerfold syndrome’ among men. This syndrome encompasses a set of stereotypical beliefs about men’s and woman’s sexual roles that assert that gazing at attractive women is natural for men and expected by women.