Little girls in a grown up world: Exposure to sexualized media, internalization of sexualization messages, and body image in 6–9 year-old girls

Slater, Amy; Tiggemann, Marika

Abstract

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd Despite widespread public concern about the early sexualization of young girls, as yet there has been little empirical examination of potential negative effects. In the present study a sample of 300 6–9 year-old girls completed individual interviews assessing exposure to sexualized media, internalization of sexualized messages (measured via preference for sexualized clothing), and body image attitudes (body esteem, body dissatisfaction). Exposure to sexualized media was found to be correlated with internalization of sexualization messages, itself correlated with negative body image. The findings provide preliminary evidence that sexualized messages appear to be internalized by very young girls which, in turn, has negative implications for how they feel about their bodies.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 19, 2016
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 26, 2017
• Journal: Body Image
• Print ISSN: 1740-1445
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 18
• Pages: 19-22
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.004
• Keywords: children, body image, sexualized media
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/923437
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2016.04.004
• Contract Date: Apr 21, 2016