My Childhood in the 60′s and 70′s
I was born in 55, that means I was 13 in 68, the year Led Zeppelin released Whole Lotta Love…. Of course I knew it was about sex. We all knew it was about sex, that he was mimicking the sounds of...
View ArticleLady With an Ermine
My major complaint with the modern sexualisation debate is that it lacks historical and cultural depth. I am reminded of this constantly. As I was researching the story of young adolescent groupies I...
View ArticleThe History of Nude Swimming in Schools
I came across this fascinating documentary about nude swimming in schools. I have been arguing that our modern aversion to images of the naked child is very recent. This documentary reveals that in...
View ArticleFive Myths of the Sexualization Debate
1. Sexualized images of children encourage men to see children as sexually available. …This is the big fear. The first issue here is the definition of a sexualized image. As I have argued, this is...
View ArticleAddendum to the 5 Myths
One of my objections to the current moral panic over the sexualization of children is that it lacks historical perspective. It is in the nature of moral panic to exaggerate the extent and urgency of...
View ArticleGifted Kids: Brooke Raboutou
This one is a coincidence. In the last few days I’ve been fleshing out a character for my SciFi novel. Her first scene sees her doing a tough cross-country trial that includes rock climbing. She is a...
View ArticleMexx Children’s Clothing Ad – Equal to the Boys.
I want you to look at this image carefully. What do you see? What do you think? It’s an ad for Mexx children’s clothing, the jeans in particular, taken by photographer Beatrice Heydiri…. Personally I...
View ArticleGifted Kids: Alyssa Lock
… I’m beginning to suspect that the more young girls succeed, the more conservatives complain about the sexualisation of girls. And here we have another young girl busting the barriers. Alyssa Lock is...
View ArticleMoral Panic and the Vilification of Graham Ovenden
I hadn’t planned to write about the recent court case involving Graham Ovenden but as more and more was revealed I realised that it was essential to much that I have written on this blog. First let me...
View ArticleGraham Ovenden (2): Persecuting the Models
Persecute: harass, hound, pursue, pester, badger, distress, victimize, bully.… It’s an odd thing how those who claim to be acting in the best interests of child models end up being the very people who...
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