Fantasy Culture: Sexualization of Children, Public Schools, and the Social Construction of Reality
As a sociology professor, I enjoy viewing societal issues, past and present, from a sociological perspective. I also like to look back at historical events and individuals and make comparisons to our present day society and circumstances. The above quote from General Douglas MacArthur is somewhat ominous given the cultural climate we (America) find ourselves in today. Furthermore, it should come as no surprise that there are some in this country, who feel as though America is in the midst of a moral decline. By pointing this out, my aim is not to be a judgmental, virtue signaling pompous, but to give a picture of what many people at this moment in time already think. More importantly, we must ask ourselves what does “moral decline” look like when we actually start to comb over our cultural values and (new) societal expectations about behaviors/attitudes?
The (Too) Young and Sexy?
It can be argued that parents have been largely displaced by a popular culture, including schools, stressing casual, early, varied sex, without the risk of consequences (Reisman, McAlister, 2017). In fact, many parents either ignore or actively encourage the sexualization of their children. These parents see nothing wrong with allowing their kids to sign up to social media sites underage by lying about their age, and/or wearing provocative clothing (Bailey, 2011).
This is unfortunate, because nearly all facets of children’s lives are in some form or fashion influenced by sex. Many young people are being conditioned on a daily basis by Hollywood, social media, television, and the public school system (Schleifer, 2007). ). There is an obsession within American culture regarding sex that has gripped an entire generation of young people. Sexualizing children is systematically destroying the innocence of childhood. Children as young as five have been taught to view themselves as “sexual beings”. What’s more, they want to be sexy as those they look up to on television and in movies (Schleifer, 2007).
In 2010 there was a huge controversy concerning young girls who were competing at the World of Dance, billed as the largest United States urban dance competition. The girls were between the ages of 8 and 9, decked out in red midriff-baring tops and hot pants. They were performing to Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies” track and were heaped with praise and applause by the crowd.
Not surprising, the parents defended their daughters’ performance:
“This is taken completely out of context,” Cory Miller, father of one of the girls, told “Good Morning America” today. “The girls weren’t meant to be viewed by millions of people.”
Miller said they have tried to slow the spread of the video, but viewers need to understand that the girls’ performance was “completely normal for dancing.”
“On behalf of the parents, our best interest is for the kids,” he said. “Just know that the kids are doing something that they completely love to do. They compete in dance competitions … in front of family and friends.”
To be clear, from my perspective, parents have a right to raise their kids in a way they see fit. As long as the children are not being abused in any type of way, who are we to tell someone else how to raise their children? Nevertheless, I think the concern regarding these young girls is their vulnerability. Do they really have to wear clothing so provocative? Do they have to do a dance routine that could be considered raunchy? These are fundamental questions to ask ourselves.
JonBenet Ramsey comes to mind when I think about these young girl dancers. JonBenet was an American child beauty queen who was murdered in her family’s home in Boulder, Colorado in 1996 at the age of 6.
Clearly, who ever murdered JonBenet Ramsey is an evil person and a monster. What’s more troubling is that no one has been officially charged with Jon Benet’s murder. There have been multiple conspiracy theories as to what happen, but no definitive suspect(s). However, the question is, was the perpetrator a sexual deviant who was driven by pedophilia and had seen JonBenet at one of her pageants? This is a fair question to ask. I think with the young girl dancers I mentioned previously and in Jon Benet’s case, we don’t know who has nefarious intentions when they are viewing these young girls. Parents and a society as whole should do everything in their power to protect children from nefarious actors. If this entails not allowing young people to be put in a situation to be sexualized, then so be it.
Hey Kids…Who wants to be a Drag Queen?
Indeed, the proverbial rabbit hole continues to get even deeper regarding the sexualization of children. Many libraries and public schools across the country have started hosting “Drag Queen Story Hours”. “Organizers say that these programs are designed for children ages 3 to 8. A local drag performer arrives in costume, reads from a selection of several books (often with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender themes), leads children in some song and movement activities, and closes with arts and crafts “(Crossland, 2018).
For me personally, it’s hard not to see something like this transpiring in libraries and public schools and not view this as a form of propaganda. I would even go as far as to calling (Drag Queen Story Hour) state sanctioned pedophilia. Let me be clear, it is reasonable to believe that tolerance is a basic tenet of a healthy society. In fact, many would agree that people should not judge others or discriminate against anyone, and rightfully so. However, educators have gone beyond simply teaching tolerance and acceptance of someone with different physical attributes. Tolerance now encompasses acceptance and encouragement of every action (every type of behavior) no matter how extreme or irrational.
Take for instance what transpired in California at Rocklin Academy within a kindergarten class. Unbeknownst to the parents, a teacher read two books meant to explain transgenderism to children between ages four and eight. During class, a boy student went to the restroom and came out dressed as a girl revealing (her) “true” gender. In the aftermath, one girl went home crying terrified she was going to change into a boy (Kekatos, 2017). Ultimately, the school district defended the teacher’s position that the books were appropriate. The school board said, “the books were age-appropriate and fell within their literature selection policy. Unlike sex education, the topics of gender identity don’t require prior parental notice.” (CBS News, 2017).
What is this current fixation within society to expose our most vulnerable and impressionable people, children, to adult themes and lifestyles? Not only that, but how is it possible for adults to sexually propagandize children in the open with such enthusiasm and the push back is minimal for the sake of tolerance?
Symbolic Interactionism and the definition of a situation
The Thomas theorem is a sociological theory which was devised by William Isaac Thomas and Dorothy Swaine Thomas in 1928: “if men define their situation as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas, 1928). More specifically, the interpretation of a situation causes the action. This interpretation is not objective. Actions are affected by subjective perceptions of situations. Whether there even is an objectively correct interpretation is not important for the purposes of helping guide individuals’ behavior. Furthermore, in 1923, W. I. Thomas stated the following:
“…any definition of a situation would influence the present. In addition, after a series of definitions in which an individual is involved, such a definition would also “gradually influence a whole life-policy and the personality of the individual himself” Consequently, societal problems such as intimacy, family, or education as fundamental to the role of the situation when detecting a social world “in which subjective impressions can be projected on to life and thereby become real to projectors” (Thomas, 1967; Volkart, 1951).
So in other words, people can make up their own realities and try and pass it off as “truth”. Moreover, reality construction involves a proposal upon the characteristics of a social situation (i.e. norms, values, authority, participants’ roles), and seeks agreement from others within society in a way that can facilitate social cohesion and social action. Understandably, conflicts often involve disagreement over definitions of the situation in question.
So if one group views allowing kindergartners to “choose their gender” as being tolerant and accepting diversity, another group in society may view this as irrational and inappropriate. Both groups have their own set reality construction and definition of a situation, therefore, leading to conflict and push back. However, the question is, what happens when the “irrational” socially constructed reality trumps the more “rational” and “logical” constructed reality? The answer: you will have a society, by proxy through the (state) that sexualizes children and claims diversity, tolerance, and education.
Hope Deferred
The quote from the late Nelson Mandela and the song lyrics from the late Whitney Houston point to a universal idea that children are important to the future of a society’s sustainability. Although the current societal zeitgeist is burning with an insatiable hunger to sexualize children in any way possible, it doesn’t mean that hope is lost. In fact, my personal hope is that by writing stories such as this, I will sound the alarm so that the flames of sexual desire for our children will be quenched.
References
Bailey, R. (2011). Letting Children be Children Report of an Independent Review of the Commercialisation and Sexualisation of Childhood. Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Education by Command of Her Majesty. United Kingdom.
Crossland, K. (2018, June, 26). “Drag Queen Story Hours” to “teach” kids. Retrieved from http://www.bpnews.net/51165/drag-queen-story-hours-to-teach-kids
Kekatos, M. (2017, August, 22). ‘My daughter came home crying afraid she’d turn into a boy’: Parents’ anger after kindergarten lesson has student’s transgender reveal occur mid-class. Retrieved from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4813520/Parents-angry-transgender-talk-kindergarten.html
Reisman, J.A. and McAlister, M.E. (n.d.) Cosmo “Grooms” Girls for Disease, Depression, & Even Death. Retrieved from http://www.drjudithreisman.com/archives/Cosmo_diseases.pdf
Schleifer, B. (n.d.). Innocence Lost. The Sexualization of Youth. Retrieved from https://rcg.org/realtruth/articles/071129-003-iltsoy.html
Smietana, B. (2017, May, 9). Americans Worry About Moral Decline, Can’t Agree on Right and Wrong. Retrieved from https://lifewayresearch.com/2017/05/09/americans-worry-about-moral-decline-cant-agree-on-right-and-wrong/
Thomas, W.I. and Thomas, D.S. (1928). The child in America: Behavior problems and programs. New York: Knopf, pgs. 571–572.
Transgender reveal in kindergarten class leaves parents feeling “betrayed”. (2017, August, 22). CBS News. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transgender-reveal-kindergarten-class-rocklin-academy-parents-upset/
Universal class. Understanding the Sociological Perspective. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.universalclass.com/articles/psychology/understanding-the-sociological-perspective.htm
Volkart, E.H. (1951). Social Behavior and Personality. Contribution of Thomas to Theory and Social Research. New York: Social Research lYou can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
