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Sexualization Of Children Essay

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To continue, the importance to view the sexualisation of children as a societal problem and moral panic because it corrupts and eradicates the innocence of children, has been discussed in a number of articles (Cameron 2010; Critchley 2009; Doherty 2011; Snow 2013; Tuohy 2012). To constitute the sexualisation of children as a moral panic, Snow (2013) argues:
“Children are being increasingly exposed to sexual messages…by stealing the innocence of children… Many health professionals argue that a sex-soaked culture is taking an insidious toll on the emotional, psychological and physical wellbeing of children and young adolescents…The effect of the combined onslaught of round-the-clock social media, obsession with body image and constant bombardment …show more content…
Essentially, the notion of childhood innocence facilitates the moral panic surrounding the exposure of sexuality and sexualised content to children. As Faulkner (2010:106) advocates,
“a great deal of cultural energy has been invested in the ideal of childhood innocence, to the extent that innocence is frequently cited as our society's most valuable asset. More recently, however, the dominant sentiment, frequently represented in news and current affairs media, has been that childhood innocence is imperilled.”
From this, mass media as well as prescribed social constructions are recognised as key to the facilitation of the sexualisation of children as a moral panic. Thus, childhood innocence becomes revealed as one of the essential arguments shaped to constitute the sexualisation of children as a moral panic. Giroux (1998:31) suggests, “innocence provides the moral ethos that distinguishes children from adults.” Effectively, these discussions around sexualising children in the media is what Affrica (2010:48) considers “a function of performative adult projections” as they become socially

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