Search is Powered by Google
Follow us on:
Follow our health news on Twitter
Follow Our News on Facebook
Personalization
login | register
Sexual Health / STDs News

Protecting Girls From Sexualisation In The Media, Australia

Main Category: Sexual Health / STDs
Also Included In: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 03 Oct 2007 - 12:00 PDT

email icon email to a friend   printer icon printer friendly   write icon view / write opinions   rate icon rate article
Current Article Ratings:

Patient / Public:3 and a half stars

3.5 (2 votes)

Health Professional:not yet rated

Article Opinions: 0 posts

The Australian Psychological Society has released a tip sheet designed to help parents deal with the increasing sexualisation of girls in the media.

The tip sheet, 'Helping girls develop a positive self image,' contains advice for parents on ways to encourage self-esteem, discuss sexuality and identify healthy role models.

Australian Psychological Society president, Amanda Gordon, said, "The increasing prevalence of sexualised images of children and adolescents in all forms of media has caused widespread concern in the Australian public."

"Girls get many messages about how they should look and behave. Many of these messages are telling them that what matters is how 'hot' or 'sexy' they look or dress, and these are very powerful messages.

"The good news is that parents are powerful too. Parents can teach girls to value themselves for who they are rather than how they look, provide healthy role models for their daughters and advocate for change with manufacturers and media producers," Ms Gordon said.

Ms Gordon said recent research shows an association between sexualisation in the media and increases in depression, eating disorders and low self-esteem in girls and adolescents.

"We urgently need to develop strategies to prevent or reduce the amount of sexualisation that occurs, in order to reduce its effects," Ms Gordon said.

The Australian Psychological Society's tips for parents include:

- Tune in to what your daughter watches and listens to, and ask questions about why girls are portrayed the way they are.

- Encourage girls to participate in activities like sport that emphasise skills and abilities over physical appearance.

- Help your daughter find people to admire who have become heroes not because they are rich or thin, but because they have demonstrated more positive values.

- Talk with girls about why they wish to look a certain way.

- Show her that you like her for who she is and how she thinks, rather than what she looks like.

To download the new tip sheet, please visit here.

The APS is the largest professional association for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 15,700 members. The APS is committed to advancing psychology as a discipline and profession. It spreads the message that psychologists make a difference to peoples' lives, through improving psychological knowledge and community wellbeing.

Australian Psychological Society




Personalized Homepage Weekly Newsletters Daily News Alerts
Hemophilia Opioid Induced Constipation Pneumococcal Disease ADHD Anxiety Asthma Atrial Fibrillation Autism Cancer Diabetes Lung Cancer Lupus Medicare / Medicaid Obesity and BMI Pancreatic Cancer Stem Cells All 'What Is...' Articles

Ophthalmology Urology
About Us News Licensing Free Website Feeds Free Tools & Content Tell a Friend Accessibility Help / FAQ Article Submission Links Contact Us

add medical news today to your facebook
medical news gadget

Please fill in our survey

Swine Flu Image

Swine Flu Updates

- Latest Swine Flu News
- What is Swine Flu?
- Map Of H1N1 Outbreaks
- Swine Flu - Top 20 FAQ
- Daily Email News Alerts
Stick with Medical News Today for the latest news updates on swine flu.


These are the most read articles from this news category for the last 6 months:
Top Article Star
Same-Sex Behavior Seen In Nearly All Animals, Review Finds
20 Jun 2009
Same-sex behavior is a nearly universal phenomenon in the animal kingdom, common across species, from worms to frogs to birds, concludes a new review of existing research. "It's clear that same-sex sexual behavior extends...


Talking with Your Doctor image Talking with Your Doctor

Talking with your doctor can sometimes be difficult. Good health care, however, depends on an open dialogue between patients and doctors...

Talking with Your Doctor image Talking with Your Doctor

Talking with your doctor can sometimes be difficult. Good health care, however, depends on an open dialogue between patients and doctors...

View more videos...