Skip to main content

Conclusions

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Book cover Children and the Politics of Sexuality
  • 418 Accesses

Abstract

This book has been intended as a revisiting of the debate on children’s sexualization. Throughout, I have argued how I see sexualization enveloping an intricate array of issues that bring together popular culture, consumption, sexuality, selfhood and childhood. In this endeavour, I want to push beyond the dominant—and fashionable—preconceptions about ‘the risks of childhood’, which trickle down and feed the public debate about sexualization. Utilizing a Foucauldian understanding of the debate, I have tried to uncover the variety of factors and conditions that allowed the sexualization discourse to emerge and become so powerful today. In this way, I have tried to make sense of how current moralizing ‘truths’ have come to be and are maintained, and what power relations are carried by them.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Albury, K. 2013. Young People, Media and Sexual Learning: Rethinking Representation. Sex Education 13(S1): S32–S44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albury, K. 2014. Porn and Sex Education, Porn as Sex Education. Porn Studies 1(1–2): 172–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, F. 2006. Sexed Up: Theorizing the Sexualization of Culture. Sexualities 9(1): 77–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Attwood, F. 2011. The Paradigm Shift: Pornography Research, Sexualization and Extreme Images. Sociology Compass 5(1): 13–22.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, R. 2011. Racial Innocence Performing American Childhood from Slavery to Civil Rights. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bragg, S., D. Buckingham, R. Russell, and R. Willett. 2011. Too Much, Too Soon? Children, ‘Sexualization’ and Consumer Culture. Sex Education 11(3): 279–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buckingham, D. 2003. Media Education: Literacy, Learning, and Contemporary Culture. Malden, MA: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buckingham, D. 2005. The Media Literacy of Children and Young People: A Review of the Research Literature. Centre for the Study of Children Youth and Media, Institute of Education, University of London, on behalf of Ofcom.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collins, R.L., M.N. Elliott, S.H. Berry, D.E. Kanouse, D. Kunkel, S.B. Hunter, and A. Miu. 2004. Watching Sex on Television Predicts Adolescent Initiation of Sexual Behavior. Pediatrics 114(3): e280–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Egan, D.R. 2013. Becoming Sexual: A Critical Appraisal of the Sexualization of Girls. Cambridge: Polity Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eyal, K., and D. Kunkel. 2008. The Effects of Sex in Television Drama Shows on Emerging Adults’ Sexual Attitudes and Moral Judgments. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 52(2): 161–81.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fisher, W.A., and A. Barak. 1989. Sex Education as a Corrective: Immunizing Against Possible Effects of Pornography. In Pornography: Research Advances and Policy Considerations, ed. D. Zillmann and J. Bryant, 289–320. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flood, M. 2009. The Harms of Pornography Exposure Among Children and Young People. Child Abuse Review 18: 384–400.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frau-Meigs, D. 2012. Transliteracy as the New Research Horizon for Media and Information Literacy. Media Studies (Critical Insights in European Media Literacy Research and Policy Special Issue) 3(6).

    Google Scholar 

  • Haste, P. 2013. Sex Education and Masculinity: The “Problem” of Boys. Gender and Education 25(4): 515–27.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, K., and M. Yar. 2006. The ‘Chav’ Phenomenon: Consumption, Media and the Construction of a New Underclass. Crime Media Culture 2(1): 9–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R. 2011. The State of Media Literacy: A Response to Potter. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media 55(3): 419–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hobbs, R., and A. Jensen. 2009. The Past, Present, and Future of Media Literacy Education. Journal of Media Literacy Education 1(1).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hunt, L. 1998. British Low Culture: From Safari Suits to Sexploitation. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isin, E.F. 2008. Theorizing Acts of Citizenship. In Acts of Citizenship, ed. E.F. Isin and G.M. Nielsen. London: Zed Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Isin, E.F. 2009. Citizenship in Flux: The Figure of the Activist Citizen. Subjectivity 29: 367–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • James, A., and A. Prout (eds.). 1997. Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood, 2nd ed. London: Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • James, A., C. Jenks, and A. Prout. 1998. Theorising Childhood. Cambridge: Polity.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kehily, M.J., and H. Montgomery. 2009. Innocence and Experience: A Historical Approach to Childhood Sexuality. In An Introduction to Childhood Studies, 2nd ed, ed. M.J. Kehily, 70–92. Maidenhead: Open University Press–McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S. 2004. Media Literacy and the Challenge of New Information and Communication Technologies. The Communication Review 7(1): 3–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Livingstone, S., and Y. Wang. 2013. Media Literacy and the Communications Act. What Has Been Achieved and What Should Be Done? A 2013 Update (Policy Brief). London School of Economics and Political Science, Department of Media and Communications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lumby, C., and K. Albury. 2010. Too Much? Too Young? The Sexualization of Children Debate in Australia. Media International Australia 135: 141–52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lunt, P.K., and S. Livingstone. 2012. Media Regulation: Governance and the Interest of Citizens and Consumers. Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGee, M. 2005. Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • McKee, A. 2010. Everything is Child Abuse. Media International Australia (Children, Young People, Sexuality and the Media Special Issue) 135: 131–40.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKee, A., S. Bragg, and T. Taormino. 2015. Editorial Introduction: The Entertainment’s Media Evolving Role in Sexual Education. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning 15(5): 451–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McNair, B. 2012. Porno? Chic! How Pornography Changed the World and Made It a Better Place. London: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • McRobbie, A. 1996. More! New Sexualities in Girls’ and Women’s Magazines. In Cultural Studies and Communications, ed. J. Curran, D. Morley, and V. Walkerdine, 172–94. London: Arnold.

    Google Scholar 

  • McRobbie, A. 2009. The Aftermath of Feminism: Gender, Culture and Social Change. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen, S., S. Paasonen, and S. Spisak. 2015. ‘Pervy Role-Play and Such’: Girls’ Experiences of Sexual Messaging Online. Sex Education: Sexuality, Society and Learning 15(5): 472–85.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill, B., and C. Barnes. 2008. Media Literacy and the Public Sphere: A Contextual Study for Public Media Literacy Promotion in Ireland. Dublin: Dublin Institute of Technology, Centre for Social and Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, K. 1995. Telling Sexual Stories: Power, Change and Social Worlds. London: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Plummer, K. 2001. The Square of Intimate Citizenship: Some Preliminary Proposals. Citizenship Studies 5(3): 237–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Potter, W.J. 1998. Media Literacy. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stainton Rogers, W. 2009. Promoting Better Childhoods: Constructions of Child Concern. In An Introduction to Childhood Studies, 2nd ed, ed. M.J. Kehily, 141–60. Maidenhead: Open University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ticknell, E., D. Chambers, J. Van Loon, and N. Hudson. 2003. ‘Begging for It: “New Femininities”, Social Agency, and Moral Discourse in Contemporary Teenage and Men’s Magazines. Feminist Media Studies 3(1): 47–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tornero, J.M.P., and T. Varis. 2010. Media Literacy and New Humanism. Moscow: Unesco Institute for Information Technologies in Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tyler, I. 2008. Chav Mum Chav Scum. Feminist Media Studies 8(1): 17–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vance, C. 1991. Anthropology Rediscovers Sexuality: A Theoretical Comment. Social Science and Medicine 33(8): 875–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Woodhead, M. 1997. Psychology and the Cultural Construction of Children’s Needs. In Constructing and Reconstructing Childhood: Contemporary Issues in the Sociological Study of Childhood, ed. A. James and A. Prout. London: Falmer.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Tsaliki, L. (2016). Conclusions. In: Children and the Politics of Sexuality. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-03341-3_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics