Most girls as young as 6 are already beginning to think of themselves as sex objects, according to a new study of elementary school-age kids in the Midwest.
Researchers have shown in the past that women and teens think of
themselves in sexually objectified terms, but the new study is the first
to identify self-sexualization in young girls.
The study, published online July 6 in the journal Sex Roles, also
identified factors that protect girls from objectifying themselves.
"Mothers feel so overwhelmed by the sexualizing messages their daughters
are receiving from the media that they feel they can do nothing to
help," she said. "Our study's findings indicate otherwise — we found
that in actuality, mothers are key players in whether or not their
daughters sexualize themselves. Moms can help their daughters navigate a
sexualizing world by instructing their daughters about their values and
by not demonstrating objectified and sexualized behaviors themselves."
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