It always seems to arouse the public ire when publicity depicts the sexualization of children, especially in the most flagrant of cases. However, the problem is so deeply rooted, its almost exceptional that the egregious cases are relatively minimalized. Looking for the pure presence as a counterweight to the artificial prostituted beings of man’s search for the sexual goddess of the profane product of epitomizing the power pop culture, the anonymous depersonalized objects, fantasies of the male psyche. The kind of corporate paedophilia is an extension of, and confirmation of, the relationship between capitalism and the art world which provides the source material….
[Kitsch] is perhaps most clearly visible where love poetry changes into pornography … perverting the infinite goal of love … into a series of finite sex acts….. Whoever produces kitsch … is not to be evaluated by esthetic measures but is ethically depraved; he is a criminal who wills radical evil. Hermann Broch, Evil in the Value System of Art, 1933
This is a media culture where images of lovely children circulate widely, part of the sex trade business, sex tourism and puppy farm eroticism to satisfy the West. The occasional witch hunts and sensational reporting are misleading, since they only serve to camouflage the widespread dissemination of these images in respectable mainstream media, which in essence are normalized versions of the really bad examples. But it acts as cultural soundtrack, that sets the tone and temp without drawing too much attention. Its a representation of a hyper-ritualized evolution within the parameters of the uncontroversial, a sort of soft-core that may be more pernicious through the seduction process.
But in terms of origins, the sexualization of children and in general the reinforcing of misogyny in the modern sense springs from the fine art world of Picasso and Matisse. The flattening, compressing and distorting were violent; Matisse’s serpentine sculptures and the rest of fine arts of distinguishing, rupturing, anatomical accuracy from psychological authenticity is a reflection of perversity and cruelty. This self-serving draining of the physical description and emotional energy and dynamism into mere depersonalized toys of the male psyche. This is modern mass media: men using women to express their feelings which implies emotional domination of the subject, the woman, who exists only for their creative purposes. Feeling is abstract. It is the sterile, cold, modernist rationality that dominates commodity culture.
ADDENDUM:
Sexual well-being is an important part of healthy development and overall well-being, yet evidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has negative consequences in terms of girls’ ability to develop healthy sexuality. Self-objectification has been linked directly with diminished sexual health among adolescent girls (e.g., as measured by decreased condom use and diminished sexual assertiveness; Impett, Schooler & Tolman, 2006). Frequent exposure to narrow ideals of attractiveness is associated with unrealistic and/or negative expectations concerning sexuality. Negative effects (e.g., shame) that emerge during adolescence may lead to sexual problems in adulthood (Brotto, Heiman & Tolman, in press)….
…Frequent exposure to media images that sexualize girls and women affects how girls conceptualize femininity and sexuality. Girls and young women who more frequently consume or engage with mainstream media content offer stronger endorsement of sex
stereotypes that depict women as sexual objects (Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999; Zurbriggen & Morgan, 2006). They also place appearance and physical attractiveness at the center of women’s value.Read More:http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report.aspx…
First, perversion is the result of an essential interplay between hostility and sexual desire…. Second, people with perversions feel (are made to feel) an unending sense of being dirty, sinful, secretive, abnormal and a threat to those finer, unperverse citizens who are supposed to make up the majority of society. Third, the word itself reflects the need of individuals in society to keep from recognizing their own perverse tendencies by providing scapegoats who liberate the rest of us in that they serve as the objects of our own unacceptable and projected perverse tendencies.
Robert Stoller, Perversion: The Erotic Form of Hatred, 1975 Read More:http://www.artnet.com/magazine/features/kuspit/kuspit6-10-02.aspa
Read More:http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/eca_ctte/sexualisation_of_children/submissions/sub156.pdf
Read More:http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/05/07/david-jones-drops-corporate-paedophilia-case-against-think-tank/