Sexualization of girls: Fighting back

I was excited to see that people are starting to fight back against the psychologically crippling sexualization of girls being promoted by toy and clothing manufacturers and the media:
* The American Psychological Association recently published a report explaining the harmfulness of the sexualization of girls—check it out at www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html.
* Last year a letter-writing campaign organized by Dads and Daughters (http://www.dadsanddaughters.org/) and the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (http://www.commercialexploitation.org/) led to the cancellation of a line of dolls based on the Pussycat Dolls, a musical group known for their sexualized clothing and lyrics.
(check out their new campaigns!)
In a commentary published Feb. 26 in the SF Chronicle, Eileen Zurbriggen, associate professor of psychology at the University of California at Santa Cruz, who chaired the American Psychological Association's Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls, pointed to the beauty pageant in Little Miss Sunshine as an example of this trend, but added that there are many:
“Signs of it are everywhere,” she wrote. “On a t-shirt for a 6-year-old girl that proclaims her a "Little Hottie;" on dolls that sport fishnet stockings, bare midriffs and platform shoes; and in a music video that shows busty women performing sexy dances while dressed in Brownie uniforms. . . .
“The problem isn't one particular doll, or song or hypersexualized young heiress. The problem is that girls today are swimming in a veritable sea of toxic messages about what it means to be female.”
After a generation of feminism, the strength and health we so want girls to develop is being threatened by pressure to look at themselves as sex objects—or face the penalties of not being considered cool and attractive--remember how hard that is, as a kid?
Zurbriggen and the APA are calling on people to resist this assault on girls:
“We must continue to urge manufacturers and media producers to replace sexualized images of girls with images that present girls and young women as active, competent individuals who have their own goals, desires and dreams.
“Schools can help, too. Media literacy training programs help children to become active and critical interpreters of media messages, rather than passive consumers. These programs should be available to all middle-school students.
“Finally, parents can talk with their daughters and let them know they are loved and valued for who they are, rather than for how they look.”