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Publication
Description
From the Publisher: Pop culture-and the advertising that surrounds it-teaches young girls and boys five myths about sex and sexuality: Girls don't choose boys, boys choose girls-but only sexy girls, There's only one kind of sexy-slender, curvy, white beauty, Girls should work to be that type of sexy, The younger a girl is, the sexier she is, Sexual violence can be hot. Together, these five myths make up the Lolita Effect, the mass media trends that work to undermine girls' self-confidence, that condone female objectification, and that tacitly foster sex crimes. But identifying these myths and breaking them down can help girls learn to recognize progressive and healthy sexuality and protect themselves from degrading media ideas and sexual vulnerability. In The Lolita Effect, Dr. M. Gigi Durham offers breakthrough strategies for empowering girls to make healthy decisions about their own sexuality.… (more)
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User reviews
Though most of what Durham discusses focuses on young women, I appreciated that she mentions several times that it is just as important to talk about these things with young men and boys as well. Great book for parents, educators and anyone who works with young people.
Also useful (especially to me, since I teach similar content in my Popular Culture Studies class) are the pages of resources and notes Durham includes. It is a goldmine of information.
I checked this out from the library, but I will be buying a copy of my own to mark up, develop lesson plans from, and lend out to interested readers. I haven't been this affected by a book about the pressures girls face since I read Reviving Ophelia nearly 20 years ago.