Evolution
This is a really fascinating video of a young woman being made up for a fashion shoot. It shows very nicely how much is involved in making a pretty normal person look like a model – digital enhancements and all.
This morning’s question from a Washington Post blog On Parenting by Stacy Garfinkle was: “How do you keep a 12- and 13-year-old girl away from junk food, cosmetics, alcohol, drugs and sex while under the influence of school, peers and TV?” There are a couple of talking points here. First, these are important topics to …
Continuing the discussion on the sexualization of girls (and their mothers)…
Yesterday Judith Warner wrote an op-ed piece in the New York Times about the APA report on the sexualization of girls (unfortunately, you have to be a paid subscriber to read it, but if you are, you can read it here). Among other things, she has this to say: We all tend to talk a …
How about the sexualization of boys?
Much popular attention is given to the impact that our culture has on girls. But I wonder about the impact it has on boys? Boys certainly don’t escape cultural definition of what or how they should be. There is a pervasive cultural assumption that all adolescent boys want to have sex all the time – …
How to combat the sexualization of girls
The American Psychological Association (APA) Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls recently released a report presenting all of the research on the topic. In addition to discussing the influences of sexualization (the media, our culture, girls and boys – all of which really can be traced back to the culture) and the repercussions of …
Have you had The Talk?
NPR had a piece on Morning Edition this morning which was produced through Youth Radio. Johanna Greenberg from Portland, Maine, presents her and her friends’ experiences (or lack thereof) talking about sex with their parents. One point I might disagree with her on: The car might be the right place for some parents to bring …
How much has sex changed, really? It depends on how you ask the question.
It seems that each generation of teenagers re-invents sex for themselves. They feel that way, of course, but there may also be some truth to it. Teenagers today are different from the ones ten, fifteen, twenty years ago in many ways. By and large, research indicates that they’re making far better choices than their previous …
Politics of the HPV Vaccine (Gardasil)
This is such a big deal, and so controversial right now in Austin, Texas, I feel I have to weigh in on it. Here is what I’ve been able to glean from all of the propaganda that everyone on all sides of the issue has been throwing around: 1. The HPV vaccine protects against 3 …
What is sex, really?
I’ve talked with parents who have told me, “Oh, my teenager isn’t having sex, I know because I ask them.” One of the problems with parents asking this question and taking the answer at face value is that not everyone defines the word “sex” equally. Many teenagers understand sex the same way Bill Clinton did. …