Are We Being Desensitised to Children Being

Features writer Niamh

Robinson addresses the rising exploitation and

sexualisation of children in popular culture.

Speaking at a Women’s March in January last year, Natalie Portman recalled the moment she received her first fan mail aged only thirteen years old. Having made her debut as a child star in the 1994 French thriller Léon: The Professional, Portman remembered her delight at the prospect that her “art would have a human response” . On opening her first letter, the Black Swan actress told the 500,000 strong crowd how this exhilaration turned to complete horror when she encountered nothing other than the warped desires of a man who felt he had a right to her young body.

“I excitedly opened my first fan mail to read a rape fantasy that a man had written me” , Portman revealed to those gathered before her. Drawing upon her own personal traumas to shed light on the sexualisation of children in the media demonstrated immeasurable courage, particularly when calling out an industry who prefer to quell uncomfortable and distasteful conversations.

Portman continued by detailing how the experience had affected her. For fear of attracting further unwanted attention from these ‘adoring fans’, the actress spoke of the close guard she kept on her public persona and the identity she constructed in order to survive in the public eye.

“I built a reputation for basically being prudish, conservative, nerdy, serious, in an attempt to feel that my body was safe, and my voice would be

listened to”.

Since when were children made to feel responsible for the predatory actions of fully-grown men? No minor should feel obliged to suppress their personality on-screen to curtail the sexual appetite of the audiences sitting at home. We have a duty of care to condemn the sexualisation of children in the media.

Horrifyingly, Portman’s story is not an isolated one. Across the film, music, modelling and advertising industries, there are similar accounts of childhood abuse and premature sexualisation.

These issues affect both male and female young rising stars. However, the latter demographic is the primary target of inappropriate media coverage.

Millie Bobby Brown, the star of Netflix series Stranger Things, appeared in a list of names entitled ‘Why TV is sexier than ever’ on a 2017 W Magazine cover aged only thirteen years old. Billie Eilish, the American singer-songwriter who rose to fame in 2016, was the victim of numerous eighteenth birthday countdowns on the internet, euphemistically the age when she was legal for sexual relations. Eilish recently revealed that her signature baggy fashion style is, in fact, more of a protective armour ensuring that “Nobody can have an opinion because they haven’t seen what’s underneath”. Kaia Gerber, daughter of supermodel Cindy Crawford, was featured in Young Versace, aged only ten, gazing

suggestively into the camera lens whilst clad in a leather bomber jacket and short black skirt.

The over-sexualisation of young girls and teenagers precipitates any one industry. In the name of ‘art’, ‘talent’ and ‘beauty’, we have begun to normalise that which is far from normal. This media obsession with youthfulness leaves the older female demographic feeling side-lined and the youngest members in our society vulnerable to exploitation and predation.

With Hollywood sexual abuse scandals hitting the headlines in 2017, most notably the accusations

made by countless women against industry mogul Harvey Weinstein, the struggles of women in the artistic world have received more attention than ever before. The trail-blazing ‘#MeToo’ movement gave many victims of sexual violence within the industry an opportunity to speak out, stand up and demand change.

Authority (ASA) for depicting harmful gender stereotypes; notably, it conveyed two fathers who were so preoccupied with their lunch that they placed their babies on a conveyor belt. The advert received 128 complaints for portraying men as incapable caregivers and was, subsequently, removed from air.

This response only proves the power of the people. If this same approach was applied to childhood sexualisation, if a similarly outraged response was incited every time a minor was made to play an age inappropriate role or dressed in a manner too mature for them, the industry would have to take heed and listen.

It is when these same stories are echoed by children growing up in the public eye that we are forced to acknowledge that the battle is far from won.

We, the public, may curse our inability to effect change in this elite, clandestine world which we have no influence over. We are aware of the need for reform but have little idea of how to engender it. We view sexualisation of children in the media as an endogenous issue, a result of failings by powerful individuals in far off boardrooms to safeguard child stars who are thrust into the limelight. However, this underestimates our power as consumers.

In an age where profit outweighs principle, the leading arts industries will provide what they know will sell, whatever that may be. Whilst this is a bleak reality, it also means there is more power in the hands of the consumer than ever before. Just as the industry responds to our interests and demands, it also reacts to our outcries and objections. Last year, a Philadelphia cream cheese advert was banned by the Advertising Standards Next time we’re flicking through a magazine or reading tweets online, we must remember that many of the stars of today are still, in fact, children. We must not allow ourselves to normalise the portrayal of young girls in an overtly sexual manner. Objectification is not an arbitrary price tag attached to fame. Children in the public eye need protection from sexual abuse as much as children in the playground.

We have a voice which can be used to decide what content reaches our television screens and news feeds. It’s time to use it. Famous children are still children. Let’s step up to our duty of care so they start receiving fan letters that they will want to read.

Niamh Robinson Graphic & Design by Natasha Phang-Lee

Attending university as a mature student can be a daunting experience. Gareth Holmes discusses the peaks and troughs of gaining a degree a little later in life. What connects Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Dexy’s Midnight Runners at number one in the charts, and the launch of Channel 4? The answer is they all happened 37 years ago in the year of my birth, 1982. Before you ask, yes, we did have running water and no, we didn’t ride dinosaurs to work. Sadly. As one of the last members of Generation X, I have yet to start a decent punk band or make a mountain of money and then lose it all in the ‘.com’ craze of the early nineties after someone invented a thing called ‘The Internet’. What I was doing, however, was questioning what I had done and where I was going. So, at age 35 I took some advice from a very wise friend and decided to do something I was expected to do at 18. I started a Punk band…. I mean I worked my way into University. Within a year I was a mature student, (no one else accused me of being mature by the way) and I felt something that I don’t remember feeling before. I felt old. Talkin’ about Okay, maybe I felt left behind more than ‘aged fossil made of dust’. As, in terms of years spent breathing, I am still doing well. However, seeing so many young people full of potential made me wonder if I had waited too long, wasted my years or maybe even made the wrong decision. I would imagine several of my fears were no different to those who were attending university for the first time, no matter what age they may have been. Will I fit in? What if I don’t make friends? Am I going to be good enough? It was a real boost to my confidence to know that I was not the only one asking these questions and to realise how kind the other students on my course were. I imagine a number of much older students do worry how the younger generation views them; however, I honestly found it has nothing to do with age and, instead, it matters simply who you are. SEEING SO MANY YOUNG PEOPLE FULL OF POTENTIAL MADE ME WONDER IF I HAD WAITED TOO LONG, WASTED MY YEARS OR MAYBE EVEN MADE THE WRONG DECISION I IMAGINE A NUMBER OF MUCH OLDER STUDENTS DO WORRY HOW THE YOUNGER GENERATION VIEWS THEM; HOWEVER, I HONESTLY FOUND IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH AGE AND, INSTEAD, IT MATTERS SIMPLY WHO YOU ARE “

The university has a huge amount of support for mature students, offering further help with childcare, time management and travel whilst not making you feel like you are a bother. There is a great mature students’ network that offers socials and meet ups whilst considering the different schedules that many mature students have. Whilst I have not had much interaction with the network, I have never felt excluded when I have been there. Talking to others of my age whilst sharing stories and coping plans has been wonderful. There are still days where I wonder if I do not come across as a ‘crusty old weirdo’ asking kids what’s cool these days and if they remember the Thundercats, but these days are few and far between. I am simply a student who can offer some extra life advice, as long as I remember I still have much to learn.

Gareth Holmes Page Design by Beth Dunnett 20 IMPACT