Last night I tuned into watch this documentary on ITV, 'Teen Body Obsession, Too Much Too Young', 10,30pm, about young girls obsessed with their looks, and unsurprisingly it turned out to be quite upsetting viewing. I am not sure what is going on so much with the 'tween' generation, and from watching this documentary it would be easy to say that young girls ( just like my supposed generation before ) are losing out on their 'childhood' through the media industry and poor parenting. In my time Barbie, Madonna, Dynasty were meant to be accelerating me out of my girlhood in the 80's. I remember dressing as Kylie with friends, painting nails and caring what I looked like from about 12, it was part of exploring being a girl, but not the be all of my existence. I don't remember any of my friends from the age of 10 frantically exercising, getting plastic surgery and dressing like a mini-Girls-Aloud dolls in public. I know there is always an extreme section of society, but this documentary seem to saying, that girls more than ever, are resting their entire being on their looks. The show reminded me of the chilling story of JoBenet Ramsey, and the film 'Little Miss Sunshine'. When does girlhood end and womanhood begin and are children becoming victims of the beauty and media industry ?
I believe that young girls more than ever are being saturated with strong sexual female images and ideas of beauty, and it can be all a bit confusing to digest whether the female on display is being empowered or exploited. With Rhianna/Shakira/Beyonce writhing around in their videos, tween heroes such as the (eerily old looking 14 year old) Hannah Montana, then former child-stars Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff stripping off into their bikini's for photo-shoots, I can't blame young girls for thinking female desirability means being a mini-stripper, beauty queen, pop-star/ famous whatever.
It is about the image all the time, and this documentary made a good argument how the TV shows, magazines, et al... really do affect the self-esteem and self-image of girls. With a Pussycat doll telling you she is a doll, and sexy, and self-empowered, the messages can all get a mixed, and I know its meant to be fun, but I wonder how young girls interpret and act out on these messages. Ariel Levy in 'Female Chauvinist Pigs Women and the rise of Raunch Culture' really articulates much better than I could these confusing times for women, let alone girls,
I know it is a lot to do with parenting as well, and this documentary confirmed another cliche, that behind every over-dressed tween and child-doll, was a frustrated mother. So last night this documentary opened up the tween world, revealing the extravagant beauty regimes some girls were putting themselves through. Last night Sasha, a ten-year old girl who loves gymnastics and being the centre of attention, said and did some heart-breaking stuff;
'I wanna be like Jordan because she's got lots of fame', admits Sasha, who is one of several youngsters scarily obsessed with body image featured in this jaw-dropping documentary. Sasha burns calories on her exercise bike, worries about her weight, and straightens her hair before going to school. All of which is encouraged by her mother, Jayne, 29. 'If you've got it, flaunt it,' shrugs Jayne. 'She's a 21st century girl. She's a star. People who criticise us are just jealous. They're normally big fat ugly people, or have ugly children.' Jayne also refuses to worry about putting Sasha under pressure to look good. 'She knows what's what. I'm not worried about her,' she insists. Sasha has competed in beauty pageants since the age of three, and last year entered the Junior Miss Britain competition - strutting down the catwalk in a padded bra, false nails and three-inch strappy sandals.'It's just for fun - only someone with a perverted mind would view it any other way,' Jayne insists. 'I used to do glamour stuff, and I can see Sasha going the same way. She has attracted interest from modelling agencies.For the moment, Sasha is happy being the belle of the ball. 'It's important to be pretty because otherwise people don't want to be friends with you.'
Obviously she has never heard that beauty is only skin deep, and I wish she could learn that inner beauty matters as much. There were also other stories of a sun-bed obsessed 15 year old, and a 16 year old with boob job, and a 13 year old on a starvation diet. Of course these girls are just doing what they think will make them happy, but I just want to grab them and take them out their obsessions and teach them there is more to life than being 'Jordan' ( who is a self-confessed human Barbie ). I can't believe their Mums, whom each seemed to be a self-obsessed wreck projecting all their ideas of beauty onto their child. It was truly a very sad but fascinating documentary.
