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So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood

November 20, 2008

Jean Kilbourne and Diane Levin discuss their new book, So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids.

Thong panties, padded bras, and risque Halloween costumes for young girls. T-shirts that boast 'Chick Magnet' for toddler boys. Sexy content on almost every television channel, as well as in books, movies, video games, and even cartoons. Hot young female pop stars wearing provocative clothing and dancing suggestively while singing songs with sexual and sometimes violent lyrics. These products are marketed aggressively to our children; these stars are held up for our young daughters to emulate-and for our sons to see as objects of desire.

Popular culture and technology inundate our children with an onslaught of mixed messages at earlier ages than ever before. Corporations capitalize on this disturbing trend, and without the emotional sophistication to understand what they are doing and seeing, kids are getting into increasing trouble emotionally and socially; some may even engage in precocious sexual behavior. Parents are left shaking their heads, wondering: How did this happen? What can we do?

So Sexy So Soon is an invaluable and practical guide for parents who are fed up, confused, and even scared by what their kids or their kids' friends do and say. Understanding that saying no to commercial culture isn't a realistic or viable option for most families, So Sexy So Soon is filled with savvy suggestions, helpful sample dialogues, and poignant true stories from families dealing with these issues. So Sexy So Soon provides parents with the information, skills, and confidence they need to discuss sensitive topics openly and effectively so their kids can just be kids.

WGBH
Center for New Words
Image of So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids
Author: Jean Kilbourne, Diane E. Levin
Publisher: Ballantine Books (2008)
Binding: Hardcover, 240 pages
Image of Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think and Feel
Author: Jean Kilbourne
Publisher: Free Press (2000)
Binding: Paperback, 368 pages
Image of DEADLY PERSUASION: Why Women And Girls Must Fight The Addictive Power Of Advertising
Author: Jean Kilbourne
Publisher: Free Press (1999)
Binding: Hardcover, 368 pages
Image of The War Play Dilemma: What Every Parent And Teacher Needs to Know (Early Childhood Education Series (Teachers College Pr)) (Early Childhood Education (Teacher's College Pr))
Author: Nancy Carlsson-Paige, Diane E. Levin
Publisher: Teachers College Press (2005)
Binding: Paperback, 124 pages
Image of Teaching Young Children in Violent Times: Building a Peaceable Classroom
Author: Diane E. Levin
Publisher: Educators for Social (2003)
Binding: Paperback, 192 pages

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