Course:WMST307: Student Pages: Helena Bezerra

The Oxford dictionary defines pornification as: ” the increasing occurrence and acceptance of sexual themes and explicit imagery in popular or mainstream culture”

Pornification is particularly of concern when it comes to what mainstream culture identifies as the increasing sexualisation and pornification of childhood, and with it, an increasing loss of innocence among children. In Western culture, the notion of a sexually innocent child is key to “beliefs about appropriate childhood experiences” (2008, p.11) as noted by Montgomery. Therefore, certain acts, looks and clothing are reserved for adults and associated with sexuality and are deemed inappropriate for children. What we deem as appropriate comes from adult-centric beliefs that are centered around a negative interpretation of sexual behaviours as being detrimental to childhood. Pornification is almost always seen in a negative light and is often seen as taking place in young girls wish to emulate their adult role models and exhibit a desire to fit into modern society and fit in, which adults otherwise interpret from their own understanding as sexually explicit. According to Thompson, it is rare amongst Western society for behaviours of a sexual nature among girls to be understood as the merely innocent imitation of adult behaviours, void of the contexts typically associated with adults. Thompson uses the term pornification in her discussion of media within popular culture and the increasingly sexualised nature of childhood to identify how children in modern society are changing in sexual nature and are exhibiting a presumably more uninhibited attitude towards sexuality. Kirrily uses it to explain how children exuding hyper-sexualized behaviours are being introduced to these attitudes, explaining that media are the mediums through which children are becoming target audiences in popular culture and its construction of acceptable sexual behaviours.

Sources:

Thompson, Kirrilly. "Because looks can be deceiving: media alarm and the sexualisation of childhood–do we know what we mean?." Journal of Gender Studies 19.4 (2010): 395-400.

Montgomery, H. 2008. An introduction to childhood: anthropological perspectives on children's lives, Singapore: Wiley-Blackwell.