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From The Herald Sun. 23/1/10

Labor MP Amanda Rishworth is urging music videos portraying women as sex objects be censored.

MUSIC videos portraying women as sex objects should be individually rated or banned from children's viewing hours, an MP has urged.

Labor's Amanda Rishworth has warned that without tough intervention the nation could be left with a generation of women with low self-esteem and body-image issues.

The call received support from the professor of Public Ethics at Charles Sturt University, Clive Hamilton, who described the imagery in some music videos as almost pornographic.

 Parent lobby group, Kids Free 2 B Kids, is also urging change.

"Children are constantly being bombarded by sexual imagery. Examples are everywhere, billboards, the internet, music video clips, TV, magazines," founder Julie Gale said.

"It is time for parents...to take the initiative and decide what sorts of images we want our children to see."

 Read more Herald Sun.

Roger David menswear stores are selling t-shirts with images that objectify and sexualise females.

When images like this are mainstreamed and appear in average menswear stores, then we all need to get very vocal.
The men who wear these become walking billboards and everyone else is involuntarily exposed.

Julie Gale Director of Kids Free 2B Kids emailed Roger David last Frid 15 Jan.

So far no response.

Roger David should apologise and withdraw the t-shirts immediately.

To view t-shirts - see Melinda Tankard Reists blog

Here we go again with irresponsible retailers selling inappropriate slogan t-shirts to teens and tweens. We've seen it before and unless retailers start getting the message that adult sexualised themes are not acceptable for kids, it will continue. Supre's Santa's Bitch and North Pole Dancer slogans perpetuate the sexualised messages young girls are bombarded with in their contemporary media environment.

Quoting from the Daily Telegraph 5/1/10

But the tops, on sale at tweenie chain Supre, have earned the ire of (NSW) Premier Kristina Keneally.

"Children should remain children. These T-shirts are overtly sexual and they're inappropriate. We want to live in a society that values young women - and creates positive images for their development," she said.

Kids Free 2B kids welcomes Premier Keneally's comments. She joins a fast increasing groundswell of people in the community who have had enough - including high profile child development professionals.

Kids Free 2B Kids and others contacted Supre management before Christmas and understood that the slogan t-shirts were being withdrawn.

We note with interest that the withdrawal of products by Supre and in the past Cotton On and Target, is more like... "Tell them we'll withdraw it to get them off our backs...but actually let's see how much money we can make by putting it out for sale. "

When retailers who specifically market to teens and children don't care about the impact on their target market - something needs to change!

The lack of corporate social responsibility around the issue of the sexualisaton of kids is astonishing.
Let’s also not forget that after a long Freedom of Information process with the Office of Childrens Guardian in NSW, Kids Free 2B Kids discovered that David Jones and their advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi deliberately sexualised two young girls (10 & 12 yr old) in the Alison Ashley Clothing Advertisement….
“They are 10 and 12, so slightly more adult and sexy”

 When it comes to kids - voluntary codes and self regulation don't work.

Media Release 

Header: Illegal Porn Widely Available in Higgins

Child advocacy group Kids Free 2 B Kids has called for stricter enforcement of pornography laws after discovering that magazines inciting sex with minors can be purchased in many petrol stations, milk bars and convenience stores in Higgins.

The group's founder, Julie Gale, recently acquired magazines in Malvern, Prahran, South Yarra and Windsor with titles such as Barely Legal, Live Young Girls and Just 18 featuring models who are or appear to be under 18.

They are often presented with pig-tails, pink hairclips, toys, braces on their teeth, and in school uniforms, contrary to Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) guidelines specifying that models must not appear to be under 18.

The text accompanying several of the pictures often encourages readers to view the models as children and visible magazine mastheads promote sex with minors.

"This material is frequently displayed at child-accessible heights and next to magazines like Dolly and Women's Weekly", said Ms Gale.

Greens candidate for Higgins Professor Clive Hamilton, who as head of the Australia Institute published a 2006 report on the sexualisation of children, said: "This material is child porn masquerading as adult porn and is illegal. We urgently need much stronger enforcement by the classification board and the police."

"The easy availability of this material is disturbing, promotes the sexualisation of children and is a blot on the Higgins electorate", he said.

Ms Gale said: "Recent auditing by the Classification Board found that most magazines sold in the public arena with a category 1* rating do not comply with the guidelines and are therefore illegal. Many are unclassified or warrant a refused classification."

Ms Gale said: "The classification board and the police are aware that this material is freely available everywhere yet the distributors continue to flout the law with impunity."

*Category 1 - According to Australian censorship laws Category-1 publications cannot depict graphic sexual acts and the titles should not be "offensive to any reasonable adult". The guidelines state that models should not be under 18 or "appear" to be under 18.

Cotton On has declared in a statement that they have not broken their word on the withdrawal and review of its kid's slogans range. They agreed, however, that the three slogans referred to in The Herald Sun article today had not been withdrawn from stores.

I'm a Tit's Man

I'm bringing sexy back

milk today, beer tomorrow

Just a reminder about their statement:

..."Although these products are intentionally edgy and irreverent, and the succession of this range was driven by demand, the recent attention implies that the slogans in question have crossed the line.

"Although Cotton On Kids will continue to service a market that demands confident and edgy clothing that pushes boundaries, it has been recognised that certain references are not appropriate, and will sincerely endeavour to not cross these lines again,'' the statement said.

"The Cotton On Group ... extends an apology to those who have been affected by the slogans.

It promised to withdraw offensive products from sale and stop their production and "review the ongoing slogans range to ensure no reference is made to categories pertaining to sexually explicit behaviour, child abuse, drugs and profanity.''

Read statement in The Australian  14/8/09

Note -"It promised to withdraw offensive products from sale"...

The statement only came after public pressure from around Australia and New Zealand - including comments from child development professionals, calling for the removal of the slogan t-shirts.

(Scroll down ‘Latest News' section for more information)

Note - ..."Although these products are intentionally edgy and irreverent, and the succession of this range was driven by demand..."

"Although Cotton On Kids will continue to service a market that demands confident and edgy clothing that pushes boundaries..."

Where are the parents who are supposedly demanding sexualised, child abuse and drug referenced slogans for baby's wear?

How do they demand? Do they line up at head office making requests?

Do they ring in demanding....do they petition the store and say that the public MUST have ‘edgy slogans' on baby's wear or ‘provocative humour that pushes the boundaries'.

It is the retailer who decides what to put on their shelves.

 

Kids Free 2B Kids has decided to become actively involved in the issue of under- age drinking.

The early sexualisation of young teens is a potent mix with the increasing issue of kids drinking alcohol at younger ages.

NSW, QLD and Tasmania are the only states with a secondary supply law.  "Secondary supply "generally refers to the sale or supply of alcohol to people under the age of 18 (minors) by adults or other minors.

For more information about ‘secondary supply' see the fact sheet provided by the Druginfo Clearing house.

KF2BK believes that all states and territories should be aligned with the NSW Secondary Supply laws.

Results from a recent study by the Murdoch Children's Research Institute have alarmed brain development experts who say a generation of young people are destroying their chances of reaching their full potential.

 'Any level of alcohol consumed by people under about the age of 24 is doing a different level of damage and a more serious level of damage than someone over about that age,'' said John Eyre, managing director of Alcohol Related Brain Injury Australian Services (ARBIAS).

''You're damaging brain cells that haven't even gained certain skills, knowledge, or development yet,'' Mr Eyre said. Read more.

Kids Free 2B Kids has been working for some time on the issue of pornographic magazines and merchandise available in children's easy access and view. For more information read an article published in The Australian newspaper.

The Attorney Generals working officers are currently reviewing this issue.

We encourage you to support  an Australian online petition called Say No 4 Kids aimed at getting pornographic magazines away from childrens access and view. Click here to sign.

Director of Kids Free 2B Kids, Julie Gale, has written a chapter for a new book being launched this week.

Getting Real – Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls – edited by Melinda Tankard Reist and published by Spinifex, brings together some of the most vocal critics of the widespread pornification of culture.

The book will be available in most bookstores.

Contributors include:

Noni Hazelhurst – one of Australia’s most distinguished and respected actors, and well known speaker on children and the media.

Professor Clive Hamilton – Charles Sturt Professor of Public Ethics at the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, based at the Australian national University – and former Director of The Australia Institute.

Dr Emma Rush – lead Author of the reports ‘Corporate Paedophilia: Sexualisation of children in Australia’ and ‘Letting Children Be Children’, both published by The Australia Institute in 2006.

Professor Louise Newman – Director of the Centre for Developmental Psychiatry and Psychology at Monash University, Melbourne.

Steve Biddulph – Psychologist and author whose parenthood books are in four million homes in 29 languages worldwide.

Tania Andrusiak – Writer and Editor and co author of ‘Adproofing Your Kids’ also being launched in September. (Finch Publishing)

Maggie Hamilton – Publisher and author of the recent book ‘What’s happening to our girls?

Dr Lauren Rosewarne – Lecturer in public policy in the school of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Author of Sex in Public: Women in Outdoor Advertising and Public Policy.

Other contributors – Dr Abigail Bray, Dr Melissa Farley, Selena Ewing, Dr Renate Klein, Dr Betty McLellan,

On July 22 The Herald Sun reported that Julie Gale Director of Kids Free 2B Kids called for Cotton On to withdraw it's sexualised slogan babywear.

Cotton On Group marketing manager Emily Checinski said "...there's definitely a place in our society for provocative humour that pushes the boundaries".

New Zealand groups joined in the debate and called for people to Boycott the store.

Another Cotton On slogan baby t-shirt  - 'They shake me' - was discussed in the media yesterday. (14/8/09)

Later in the afternoon, The Australian newspaper announced that Cotton On would finally withdraw much of it's slogan range.

 Julie Gale has this to say:                                                                                                            

Issues like the sexualisation and abuse of children aren't humorous. They are serious.       Retailers, marketers and advertisers need to wake up and recognise that the community has had enough. They all need to be proactive in their responsibility to children, instead of only taking action after community outcry.

• Adult sexualised innuendo/humour does not belong on children's/baby wear. It should be a no-go zone!
• Children/babies become billboards, and this is involuntary exposure for other kids, siblings and  friends to receive those messages.
• One of the strong messages is that this is OK. It's acceptable...it's normal.
• It's part of the normalisation & desensitisation of what many academics are calling the pornificaiton of society and is symbolic of the broader issue of the sexualisation of children.
• Sexualised messages have become so all pervasive in our society that there are no longer any boundaries. It is no longer the preserve of adulthood.
• When retailers happily promote 'edgy' and 'provocative humour that pushes the boundaries on babyswear - then it is a clear sign that we have crossed a line.