So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood, And What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Kids (2008) - Plot & Excerpts
I pretty much hated nearly everything about this book. I've been dreading writing this review because I hardly know where to start in my list of grievances. I do agree that there is a problem with our children's childhoods being sexualized, but I could have topped the examples that the authors used to suggest how bad it has gotten. Grand Theft Auto, for example is a lot worse now than it was 6 years ago.This book seemed old and outdated--more than it's 6 years of age. The examples were dated and not as relevant as they should have been--Why bring up the Reagan era in a digital age? I'm also not the kind of person to think to blame corporate culture for so many negative things that happen to our kids, nor do I seek to change the world through political activation against corporations. I will blame the media somewhat, but I'm more likely to blame feminism for the sexualized childhood our kids experience. Why? When the feminist movement encouraged women not be bound by traditional sexual roles, including chastity before marriage or fideltiy in marriage they created a lack of dividing line for younger women to demarcate when they should seek that kind of sexual experience. I do agree with the book that there is a problem with the age compression--the 17 year olds are reading Cosmopolitan, the 13 year olds are reading Seventeen, and the 8 year olds read Teen Beat.And each group yearns to have the sexual maturity and experience of the age group just ahead of them. As a result, young women are having sex at earlier and earlier ages, and engaging in riskier sexual behavior (such as having casual sexual partners and more sexual partners in total). In this environment, is it the media who are to blame? Or are they simply giving girls what they want? There was a lot of lambasting of Bratz dolls, Barbies, and Disney. I'm not about to blame Disney for giving girls princesses and princes and happy endings. There are bigger villians than these 3 aforementioned. Girls want the handsome prince, the romance, and the happily ever after. Why?The evolutionary model of human sexuality proposes that the drive for women to seek power and influence through sexual signals is something women are born to. Our biology says that women -- for whom the personal cost of sexual activity is higher than for males -- will try to win the highest status males because those males will be able to provide for the offspring and for them during the vulnerable years of pregnancy and childbearing. If evolution has placed these urges in girls to coincide with their fertile years, and younger girls are learning how to be women from older girls, even girls who are not hormonally driven to seek sexual attention will imitate the women they idolize -- personally or in the media. Are the media creating the sexualization of our young girls or are they merely taking advantage of it and trying to make money from it -- particularly because they have been conveniently excused from upholding traditional moral values since those values are seen as old fashioned or oppressive?We can protect our children without forbidding Disney movies. I think the finger pointing was in the wrong direction.Can't recommend this book. This is the first book I read about raising a child in today's world, and I found the beginning very informative, but full of repetitions. The authors should understand that if someone is reading this book, they are already alarmed and worried about the issues. Parents of children we probably don't like our kids to hang out with, most likely would never read this book.I believe a brief introduction would suffice so the reader can focus on the latter section about how to deal with the issue. I think their recommendations are common sense, but I never would have come up with such a comprehensive list on my own. Overall I don't know the other literature that is out there, but I found this to be a helpful start.
What do You think about So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood, And What Parents Can Do To Protect Their Kids (2008)?
facts seem a bit redundant, few tips and guidelines but lacked a creative storyline.
—hailedurden
A must read if you have little girls and want to keep their innocence.
—Kalin
Informative but didn't know how to provide answers
—Nicolad
Very good read for moms of boys and girls.
—MikeyVike
