Summary
Contents
This book has already proved itself as a course adoption leader in Childhood Studies. All of the strengths of the First Edition have been retained. The book is comprehensive and judged with the needs of students in mind. It is a model of clarity and precision and has been acknowledged as such in reviews and course feedback. The new edition thoroughly revises old entries and adds new ones. The book is the most accessible, relevant student introduction to this expanding, interdisciplinary field. It is an indispensable teaching text and an ideal prompt for researchers.
Sexualisation
Sexualisation
The material cultural practices of treating young girls as if they were adult women.
The sexualisation of children is a misnomer since, on the whole, this process refers much more to girls than to boys. It is a concern that has arisen out of the growing recognition of children as consumers and marketeers’ targeting of scaled-down versions of adult clothing, such as push-up bras and thongs, at pre-teen girl children. Concern also focuses on the ways in which young girls and teenagers are being drawn into the ‘beauty industry’ by the marketing of a range of beauty products directly to them. Such practices, it is argued, focus undue attention on the body and its potential for sex appeal at an inappropriate age. These anxieties about ...
