The BBC has published an article telling us something we already knew–that portraying women as sex objects is harmful to girls. At an early age, girls are socialized to believe that must be physically appealing in order to be a worthwhile human being–as a result, millions of women suffer from eating disorders or self-esteem problems.
The real, deeper issue, however, is how western society views women–whether she is a “virgin”, a “madonna”, or a “whore”, a woman’s purpose–at least according to the traditional view–is always to serve men. The sexism that is rampant in our society destroys girls before they ever have a chance to live.
Sexism is why girls are not valued for their intellects–and why women still earn less money than men for doing the same job. Our society’s double standard is why a woman who is a sloppy housekeeper (despite the fact that she may work 12 hours a day) might be considered a “bad mother” to her children, while a stay an unemployed dad who sits at home watching TV all day with dishes rotting in the sink would never have to worry about being labelled a bad parent. The list goes on and on…if you’ve read this far without writing me off as an anti-Christian, anti-male radical feminist, then you get the idea.
The media needs to start portraying more positive role models for girls–but as long as “sex sells” we won’t see any change. The only way we will change things for the better is if we parents start taking a more active role in the way we socialize our children–both boys and girls–and stop spending money on products that teach our daughters values that are demeaning to them.
