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Glee, GQ and the Sexualization of Young Girls

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    The latest issue of GQ has some highly sexualized photos of select members of the Glee cast.
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    Namely, the white, straight ones.
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    I'd say they've created a new public controversy but really it's the same old argument about
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    whether images of sexualized women is acceptable or not.
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    The reason this photoshoot is different from the thousands of photos of half naked women that
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    grace the pages of men's magazines is that it's crossing the line into simulating pornographic
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    pedophilia. Frankly, I'm really sad that there is even a debate as to whether these images
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    are disturbing or not. The Parent's Television Council released a statement against the
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    photoshoot saying, "It is disturbing that GQ which is explicitly written for adult men, is sexualizing
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    the actresses who play high school-aged characters on 'Glee' in this way. It borders on pedophilia."
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    In response GQ released this statement, "The Parent's Television Council must not be watching
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    much TV these days and should really learn to divide reality from fantasy. As often happens in
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    Hollywood these 'kids' are in their twenties, Cory Montieth's almost 30! I think they are
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    old enough to do what they want."
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    First of all GQ, it doesn't matter what age the actors are they are known for their portrayal
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    of high school students on a very popular television show.
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    This photoshoot is specifically representing fictional TV characters in a high school setting.
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    This photoshoot is no different from the countless pornographic style images that infantalize
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    adult women and fetishize young girls.
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    How many times do we see in the mass media women dressed up as young girls with lollipops
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    and catholic school girl outfits just so straight men can live out some disturbing dominator fantasy
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    about corrupting innocence.
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    GQ isn't kidding anyone, they were absolutely clear on what the spread was and who
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    their audience is and the fact that people are actually defending it just goes to show
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    how desensitized we've become as a society to the widespread, pervasive sexualization
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    of young girls. It's important to remember the GQ is a business
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    whose sole desire is to make a profit in selling magazines and more importantly in
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    selling the ad space inside their magazines.
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    They know that these images will appeal to their male audience, they know that it will cause
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    a controversy, and they don't care nor do they take any responsibility for promoting and
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    encouraging images of sexualized young people, and they don't care about the larger
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    social impact that that has. Secondly, what is this ridiculous nonsense about 'fantasy vs reality'?
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    That is really a stretch GQ, it's a television show about high school students that millions of
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    people watch every week and you've taken those characters and turned it into a male pornographic
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    fantasy. This isn't an issue about if an 8 year old picks up a magazine and sees it, this is a public
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    health issue about the way that women are sexualized constantly in the media.
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    By help of the media young men and boys are being trained to view and expect certain
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    behaviours from women such as the willingness to submit to their sexual desires at anytime or
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    any place and the right to complete access of a woman's body.
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    The pervasiveness of these types of images clearly harms women and women's sense of
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    self respect but it also hurts men and boys because they are being taught to have no sense
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    of sexual integrity or empathy, and that women's bodies are something to be used sexually
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    that they aren't whole and complete human beings.
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    The less schools are teaching sexual education the more the media becomes a critical tool
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    that helps shape gender identities and that can really hurt both genders capacity for love
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    and healthy sexual relationships in the future.
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    It is not enough to talk to women and girls one on one, it has to be addressed as a widespread
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    problem that affects both men and women. A key component of addressing this issue is a
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    separation of Sexualization and Sexuality. Sexualization turns people into objects
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    and teaches women that their only values comes from their sexual appeal.
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    Sexuality is the capacity to have and express sexual desires and emotions and that should be
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    harnessed and encouraged and explored in all sorts of health, positive ways.
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    Often it's the anti-everything religious right that criticizes and dictates the terms of how we
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    talk about what is and isn't acceptable in the media. Progressives and feminists need
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    to actively reframe the message to be about the equity and equality of women as whole fully
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    realized human beings and not about the patriarchal teachings of some old religious book.
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    Many people do not criticize the sexualized images of women in the media being
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    debased and dehumanized because they fear being slapped with the totally useless
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    and ambiguous term anti-sex. It was a term that was created during the feminist
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    pornography debate in the 80's to create a false dichotomy that feminists who were against
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    pornography were actually against sex altogether.
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    I'm not necessarily against erotic or sexual video or images of people engaging in healthy sexual
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    experiences and lives, but I am against the patriarchal objectification and sexualization
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    of women. So next time you see images of half naked women in movies or magazines or
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    advertising, ask yourself what you are really looking at. Is it a healthy full and complete
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    human being being represented? Or a woman who is nothing more then a sexual object?
Title:
Glee, GQ and the Sexualization of Young Girls
Description:

The recently released November issue of GQ has some highly sexualized photos of select members of the Glee cast. I weigh in on the impact that a photo shoot that takes actors who play high school students on a widely popular television show has on the sexual and gender identities of young people and their sexual lives. This is just one example of MANY images that infantalize adult women and fetishize young girls. Instead of sexualizing young people (and the imitation of young girls by adult women) for the (very disturbing) pleasure of adult men, we, as a society should be supporting and cultivating healthy sexual development and exploration in youth.
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Video Language:
English
Team:
Feminist Frequency
Duration:
05:09

English subtitles

Revisions

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