Bishop: Dolls, magazines turn girls into sex objects

With popular children’s doll lines featuring sexy clothing and gossip magazines aimed at preteens, society is turning girls into sexual objects earlier and earlier. This was the lament of a senior Catholic bishop, who said such premature sexualizing of girls at a tender age should be one of the most serious issues confronting Philippine society. “The messages they receive through popular culture is that to be attractive, to be accepted by society, you have to dress and behave in a sexual manner. There are now lingerie clothing lines for preteen girls, and bras for girls under 10, T-shirts with sexual slogans, and even a pole dancing kit complete with a DVD that features ‘sexy dance tracks’ for 6-year-olds," Tagbilaran, Bohol archbishop Leonardo Medroso said in his web log medroso.blogspot.com . Medroso noted that some popular lines of dolls for girls feature sexy clothing, while gossip magazines aimed at preteens encourage girls to behave in a “sexual manner." Some of these magazines even feature sections devoted to “grooming and relationships even with older men," he said. In many cases, he added, some mothers even dress up and apply makeup on their six-year-old daughters to make them look like “sexy and beautiful" young women just so they can win school beauty contests. On the other hand, some advertising catalogues featured children “dressed up, made-up and posed in the same way that adults are," suggesting the children are “interested in, and perhaps open to, approaches for sex." With such premature sexualizing, Medroso warned, “girls are being turned into sexual objects earlier and earlier." “Yes, the attack against the dignity of women is persistent and relentless," he said. Medroso said pornography remains one of the most devilish attacks on the dignity of women, a “pathetic result of man’s effort of splitting sexuality and love, which he has wittingly or unwittingly acquired along with his contraceptive mentality." Worse, he said pornography is becoming more and more socially acceptable. “What was considered pornographic years ago is now shown on billboards, rental movie cases, internets, etc. This trend has made it virtually impossible to avoid at least some exposure to some pornography," he said. “Yes, the dignity of the woman has to be upheld. Its protection is the protection of the human race," he added. - GMANews.TV