The sexualization of girls is an ongoing issue that has garnered much attention in
recent years, with one contributing factor, media, becoming an ever-increasing part of
children’s lives. This study explored four questions: How do mothers and teachers
perceive the media’s influence on young girls’ identity development? To what extent do
these caregivers engage young girls in analyzing media messages? What observed
behaviors of 4-year old girls indicate media’s influence? and What are caregivers
interpretations and responses to these behaviors? Analyzing the perceptions of mothers
and female teachers of 4-year old girls contributes to a better understanding of how girls
are influenced, both by caregivers’ actions and by media consumed.
Twelve mothers and female early childhood teachers from three South Florida
preschools were interviewed to better understand how girls are influenced by media, and
to gain a more holistic perspective of the potential impact of media on young girls’
behaviors and their emerging understanding of what it means to be a girl today. The findings indicate that mothers and female teachers perceive media to be influential in the
lives of girls, both in terms of general child development and young girls’ gender identity
development. The participants are observing behaviors in their 4-year old girls that
indicate media’s influence; these behaviors include sexualized dancing, attitude and
language changes, and requests for sexualized clothing and beauty products. Although
these mothers and teachers do not yet help girls analyze media messages, they do,
however, engage in significant guidance as they interpret and respond to the observed
behaviors. These findings reflect a need for media literacy education for parents and
teachers, as well as comprehensive sexualization awareness and prevention education for
children, parents, and teachers. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_40828 |
| Contributors | Malhoyt-Lee, Jennifer M. (author), Weber, Roberta K. (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), College of Education, Department of Curriculum, Culture, and Educational Inquiry |
| Publisher | Florida Atlantic University |
| Source Sets | Florida Atlantic University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text |
| Format | 230 p., application/pdf |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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