‘Bieber Fever’: Girls, Desire and the Negotiation of Girlhood Sexualities

Abstract

Girls’ sexuality is often the focus of intense public debate and concern. Anxieties over ‘raunch culture’ (Levy, 2005) and premature ‘sexualization’ of girls are currently at a premium in the media and popular literature. This public interest has been accompanied by an array of international and governmental reports documenting the ‘sexualization’ of culture as an area of major social concern (Rush & LaNauze, 2006; American Psychological Association, 2007; Papadopoulos, 2010; Bailey, 2011). These reviews describe the negative effects contemporary sexualized culture is believed to have upon (particularly) girls, such as ‘body dissatisfaction’, ‘poor self-esteem’, ‘depression’ and ‘promiscuous behaviour’. While finding many sympathetic ears, these documents have met with critical debate within academia (Lerum & Dworkin, 2009; Smith, 2010; Atwood & Smith, 2011; Barker & Duschinsky, 2012). Critics have highlighted concerns over the corporate sexualization of young people, while others draw attention to the under-theorized and often overly simplistic and generalized nature of aspects of some reports. Use of the term ‘sexualization’ as ‘a non sequitur causing everything from girls flirting with older men, to child sex trafficking’ has been a point of exegesis (Egan & Hawkes, 2008: 297).