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| The Lolita Effect: The Media Sexualization of Young Girls and What We Can Do About It | 
 enlarge | Author: M. Gigi Durham
Publisher: Overlook Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $13.82
You Save: $11.13 (45%)
New (30) Used (9) from $10.47
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 147676
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 1590200632
Dewey Decimal Number: 305.230820973
EAN: 9781590200636
ASIN: 1590200632
Publication Date: May 1, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Brand new, never used. No remainder mark. We ship in bubble mailer with free delivery confirmation within 1 business day of order. AZ-8-A
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Product Description
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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Thought-provoking but occasionally uneven May 1, 2008
15 out of 18 found this review helpful
I actually got my hands on a copy of The Lolita Effect about half a month ago in a bin of free books outside of a coffeehouse in Philadelphia. The copy I have is one of the unproofed galleys, so I will preface this review with the statement that some of my concerns may have already been addressed.
Overall, Durham provides some thought-provoking examples of how female sexuality is subverted by mass media and by culture. I learned of a few products I'd never heard of before (there's actually a pole dancing kit sold as a kids toy?) and was made more self-aware of existing products (I honestly hadn't given a second thought about what young girls wear these days, and was somewhat shocked to realize how sexually charged some of the sold clothing really is). She makes a good case for most of this trend being a matter of marketing rather than actually culturally ingrained. Even more useful, she includes sections at the end of each chapter on discussion topics, things which parents should talk to their children about. I've already passed my copy of the book on to a mother at my workplace who'd been complaining about how short girls' shorts had been getting. Overall, it was a good read, both engaging and informative.
The biggest problem I had with the book was one which Durham pointed out in the prologue of the book. Sex, especially when it comes to younger people, is a very polarized topic. It's hard to talk about it without being perceived as either saying "Sex is bad and you should avoid it" or "Sex is good and you should engage in it as often as possible." And, in the end, she largely avoids falling into either pole by avoiding the topic. She expresses her beliefs that sex is a positive thing, but that it should avoided until one is mature enough. When one is mature enough is, of course, never discussed and with the way she talks about rampant promiscuity, you're left with the impression that it doesn't matter how carefully you talk to your son or daughter; they're going to be engaging in sexual activities, and probably when they're too young to avoid getting damaged by it.
Ultimately, once one gets outside of the main topic of the "Lolita Effect", parts of the book get a bit uneven. As aforementioned, there's waffling on how to deal with the fact that children are engaging in sexual activity at a young age. Durham flops back and forth between the necessity of teaching children about sex at an early age and a fear of instilling in them a healthy fear for what can happen if they do engage in it. Lastly, there's a slightly annoying bit in the book where she denounces the American culture for how it's twisted sex as compared to European countries... which works until you notice that many of her statistics on increased sexual activity among children are regarding these European countries.
As I said before, these may have been fixed since the early copy I got my hands on. And, overall, it is a good read as long as you ignore the minor inconsistencies.
 Every mother must read this! May 20, 2008
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I recently came across this book and couldn't help but pick it up, being a mother of two teenage girls. Durham really approaches this topic with a fresh set of eyes, and discusses examples that we come across every day. This is a refreshingly smart look at what has (for me at least) been a really troubling issue. She talks about cultural trends without getting too academic and keeps it at a really relevant level. After reading this I feel much more comfortable discussing these things with my daughters. This is a must for anyone with young girls.
Important reading for all parents May 20, 2008
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
I just finished this book, and have since recommended it to everyone I know with daughters. The author not only compellingly illuminates this "lolita" phenomenon, but takes it a step further by giving parents tips on handling this media barrage, and starting a dialogue with their children. There's not much we can do about what the media portrays as "sexy," but we can educate our kids and ourselves about it. I enjoyed the author's level-headed, intelligent, and proactive approach.
 Scary logic August 16, 2008
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Is this book a bad joke? Is Durham really blaming Victoria's Secret, Barbie dolls, Peek-a-Boo Pole Dancing Kits, and media images supposedly inciting girls to act out "Lolita" fantasies for global teenage pregnancy, sexually transmitted disease, HIV, child prostitution, sex tourism, sex slavery, deaths from pregnancy and childbirth, intertribal rape in Africa, and Islamic honor killings? Can she be serious?
Durham's illogic is scary. And so is her gross misinformation. First, contrary to Durham's claim that media images are causing increased "teenage pregnancy," teen pregnancy rates actually are plummeting worldwide, especially for the youngest ages. In the U.S., the most recent National Center for Health Statistics reports show pregnancy rates for girls under age 15 have fallen to their lowest level ever recorded, as are birth rates among all teenagers. There was a slight increase in births among older teens in 2006 after 15 straight years of decline, hardly evidencing a "Lolita effect" and still leaving the teen birth rate near the lowest levels measured in 80 years of records. United Nations tabulations show similarly falling teen birth trends in most other countries.
Second, FBI and National Crime Victimization reports likewise show rape, sexual violence, and violent crime against both younger and older teenage girls are at their lowest levels since tabulations began 35 years ago. The best information indicates girls today are safer and less likely to get pregnant than any past generation we can reliably assess. I realize the news media and interest groups constantly try to profit by scaring us into thinking sex and violence are rising, but we should expect PhDs like Durham to do original research and provide accurate information.
Third, Durham wildly exaggerates surveys of teenage sexual activity, comparisons with the original reports she cites show. A lot of the scary numbers and trends in "The Lolita Effect" seem to be copied secondhand from unreliable sources or simply made up by someone.
I understand that Durham and others are deeply offended, often rightly, at many aspects of popular culture. But that doesn't justify her wholesale butchery of facts to manufacture the misimpression that girls today are more dangerous and endangered and to downplay serious threats that do exist.
The most offensive aspect of this book is Durham's suggestion that sexual violence, rape in African tribal wars, murders of girls by Islamic fundamentalists, maternal and infant mortality, and impoverished and abandoned children forced into prostitution are rooted in young girls acting out Lolita fantasies. Despite feminist pretenses, Durham resurrects primitive 19th century notions that girls are weak, self-destructive ninnies corrupted by the sinful culture they seek and in need of more restriction and supervision. But isn't it really the men who rape and exploit girls who should be held responsible? Why isn't this book titled, "The Humbert Effect"?
The reader has to wade 200 pages into this book before Durham mentions (briefly) some real causes of girls' victimization: domestic violence, epidemic poverty, repressive anti-female customs, brutal tribalism, and war. Durham also admits (briefly) that sexual exploitation and violence against girls was worse in the past, long before MTV, MySpace, and pushup bras. But "The Lolita Effect" is a conventional, puritan book that spends pages berating the sins of fictional media without bothering to show they have anything to do with real-life dangers. Durham rhetorically affirms girls' right to sexuality but then righteously disapproves of even their mildest sexual expressions.
I worked in child abuse prevention and youth programs for years and now analyze the rampant misinformation on young people. Books like this one manufacturing silly, sensational pop-culture panics obscure real, hard-to-confront dangers to girls like poverty and family violence. They also create unwarranted fears of and for girls, who in reality and are handling pop culture and modern life remarkably well and are not as stupid and corrupted as Durham thinks.
http://www.YouthFacts.org
 A book cover Humbert Humbert could enjoy alone in a closet... May 20, 2008
5 out of 59 found this review helpful
The cover of this book engages in precisely what the book's title suggests it critiques.
Even though this is a topic I strongly feel needs urgent redress (that is how I found the book listing), I will not buy the book due to its exploitative and hypocritical cover.
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