Parents have been called to action in an eye-opening seminar about the impact of sexual imagery on young people.
Melinda Tankard Reist, an Australian author and women's advocate, warned: "Sexualisation contributes to exploitation and violence. It puts girls in danger."
Yet, "If even one person makes a complaint, it can change a whole company's policy," she added.
Tankard Reist is spokesperson for the independent women's think tank Women's Forum Australia and editor of the forthcoming book Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls, to be released in September 2009.
The seminar, co-sponsored by the Fair Sex Movement, highlighted the findings of recent surveys that suggest one in five teenagers participate in "sexting" - exchanging nude and semi-nude photos of themselves via mobile phones or online.
From "soft porn flicks masquerading as music videos" to Bratz dolls and sexualised clothing in the children's wear sections of department stores, she said girls were being told to value their appearance more highly than anything else, she said.
Even pre-teenagers are targeted by advertising encouraging them to be "frisky, seductive or mysteriously alluring", she said.
"If we do nothing and walk by, then we accept and approve the standard for our children," Tankard Reist told the seminar
"The messages delivered by a culture obsessed with body image and sex limit the freedom of girls to explore other facets of their lives."
"Young women and young men are ripped off by a culture that promotes a hollow understanding of intimacy portraying the sexual element of the human body as the only value of the human person."
The Fair Sex Movement was launched by the Jubilee Centre earlier this year to promote a greater awareness of the personal, social and economic consequences of sexual relationships.
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Further information about the Fair Sex Movement can be found on the Jubilee Centre’s website at www.jubilee-centre.org
