A new documentary titled Sexy Baby, which opens today in theaters in New York and L.A., has left me utterly disturbed. The film delves into how the digital age is influencing the way girls see themselves. It explores how sexy is the new pretty and how girls are getting cues about what they should look like from porn stars and social media.
While I haven't watched the documentary, the interviews the filmmakers have done paint a grim picture for parents who are raising girls like I am.
Sexy Baby follows the story of three very different women–between the ages of 12 and 34–as they express what sexy looks like to each one of them. Although I'm not naive enough to think that girls play with dolls until they're in their teen years, I cannot understand what a 12-year-old, like the one in the film, could possibly know about what it means to be sexy or why she'd even want to.
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Without a doubt, the Internet is partly to blame since everyone seems to have access to it and all the crap that can be found there, including not only pornography, but all the over sharing that takes place through social media. I'm talking about the crazy idea that many young girls have that it's okay to post a sexy picture of themselves in their undies, for example. As a blogger and an online writer, I understand the power behind social media well. I know it's become a part of our daily lives and that for the next generation it is simply a part of their everyday life.
And yet, I have a very difficult time understanding how it is that a 12-year-old girl is even allowed to post anything that can be construed as sexual on her Facebook page. I mean, where are her parents?
At the same time, it saddens me to no end to think about where we are going as a society if girls, like the 22-year-old in the film, think it's necessary to get an operation to make their labia smaller, just like the porn stars have it, so they can be more attractive to men! Can this actually be true? A thought like this would've never EVER crossed my mind at that age (or at any age), so why is this kindergarten teacher thinking this way?
As the mother of a 6-year-old girl, what worries me the most, though, is finding a way to ensure that being sexy is not something my daughter cares about until she becomes an adult. Am I being delusional?
Embedded content: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykkmRs3T8HY&feature=player_embedded
Image via YouTube
