This article is part of the TNGG Sex Week series on Gen Y and sex. Read more from the series here.
In 1997, Britney Spears’s pleated miniskirt and overuse of the word “baby” sparked a pop culture phenomenon that spanned the boundary between beanie babies and booty shorts. An effusive force of provocation and growing up too fast, gone were the days of My Little Pony and Lisa Frank.
Today, for those who grew up with Britney and Christina – myself included – understanding of personal sexuality and gender identity is still shaped by the cookie cutter pop idols that dominated the charts at the turn of the millennium. What does the future hold for the Genie in a Bottle generation?
Dr. Patrice Oppliger, a professor of mass communication theory and research at Boston University and author of Girls Gone Skank, has extensively researched this millennial movement. In her book, Oppliger looks at how media and retailers have helped to catalyze the social sexualization of girls at an increasingly younger age. I sat down with Dr. Oppliger to talk about her research and the future in store for the skank generation.
What was the inspiration for your research on Millenial girls’ sexuality and your book Girls Gone Skank?
It was cumulative but it was when I saw a nine year old girl with “Juicy” written across the rear end of her pants. This was before I knew what Juicy Couture was, so I was just shocked that her parents would let their nine-year-old daughter wear that. The printing of things on the butt just disturbs me. Do you really need to put that there? I can see college women doing that, but it’s just like… really?! Wow! I just don’t get it – especially for a little girl. It’s just like saying, “Hey pedophile!” And then the next day I saw “Kids Eat Free” at Hooters. Really?! Do we really need to sexualize our kids this young?
So it’s sort of a bizarre insurgence of the normalization of premature sexualization?
There’s the constant pushing of the envelope. When I was in high school, to be daring, we would roll up our skirts a little shorter at the waist – we thought that was so cool. We were sort of exploring our sexuality, but now the manufacturers sell skirts that are about three inches wide. They’re selling sex to the kids, rather than allowing the exploration. The fashion industry is telling kids, “Here, this is what you wear. This is how you get attention.”
For millennials, from what I’ve read, there is this idea of immediate gratification. Parents don’t want their kids to cry or get hurt – they want to give their kids everything they didn’t have. Kids get used to that and want attention all the time, and what’s the easiest way to get that for girls? Be sexy. It’s not to be smart, it’s not to get good grades, it’s not to develop your personality.
Now too, there are things like Jersey Shore, which is hilarious, but it’s reinforcing this idea of how to get on television, how to get attention. Be just like… what’s her name? Mooki, Snooki?
Dr. Oppliger is right, the reinforcement of girls behaving and dressing sexier than their years didn’t end with the original skank era of the late 1990s and 2000s – reality shows like Jersey Shore make provocative behavior and dress not only appear acceptable, but also as the easiest, fastest, and more preferable way to get seemingly positive attention.
While I’m not one to dress like J. Woww or do back flips in a tiny dress like Snooky, it’s really not my place to criticize their behavior. It is quite frightening, however, that girls of all ages have access to this kind of programming thanks to the wonders of cable television and Internet access. What is in store for the future of generations of girls that consume skank media?
Since publishing your book, have you seen any significant changes in girls and the way they’re influenced by sexual content in media and society?
Not really, it seems to have kind of plateaued – we’re just sort of waiting for the next big thing. For a while it was the low cut jeans and the back tattoos, and then it was girls making out with other girls.
The whole Katy Perry influence…
Exactly. So now the question is, what is the next thing that’s coming? I think it’s just brewing – it’s very cyclical. There was this whole wave of Britney Spears, Christina, Aguilera, Paris Hilton. Now that they’ve gown up, we’re just waiting for what’s next.
Because the media does cover these supposed role models and pop-culture icons so frequently, do you think that it has perhaps changed or influenced the Millenials are viewed? Has the media, which gives so much attention to girls dressing and acting provocatively, guided older generations to think that as a whole, we are a more skanky generation?
From what I’ve heard from business people, it’s one thing to behave and dress that way when you’re in clubs and going to the beach, but millennials aren’t getting that you can’t dress that way in work or in class. There’s a big difference between being feminine and being sexual, and millennials aren’t drawing that line. When Millennials see these celebrities on television, they’re not being shown the difference between what’s real and what’s not.
Media has lead all of us to believe that with the outfit comes the action, especially in the case of provocation. Do you think older generations are drawing the line between how millenials may dress and how they behave, or does the idea of provocative character come as a package deal?
I think [perceptions are] changing. There is an idea that older generations are trying to learn about [younger] generations. Instead of trying to change and make them adapt to older generations. There’s been more influence on ideas like, “if this is they way millennials generations are, how can we incorporate their culture into how they learn?” There is sort of a push to change. There are a lot of positives that millennials have – their technical savvy, especially – is something employers and professors look for. It doesn’t replace the views that come with way millennials are dressing, but it creates a mixed perception.
How do you think the idea of skank will affect Millenials as they begin to enter the workforce?
I think different generations view appearance differently. For millenials it’s, “I’m just going to be me. And if they don’t like me…” And that’s fine, but realize that half the people out there aren’t going to hire you if you have a big tattoo sleeve or six nose rings. It is hard, you do have to play the game, but employers need to know if you’re going to be a team player.
Older generations want to see that millennials are willing to adapt – at least a little – to our culture as a whole, not just to their generation.
Author: Alison Morris – I spend every waking second exploring communication, commerce, creativity, and culture on a hunt for the substance of connecting. I’m a senior at Boston University studying public relations and learning what it means to be an innovator, a free thinker, a catalyst. I am a wordsmith, lucid thinker, observer, media addict, aesthetics aficionado, critical devils advocate, and eternal adventurer.
