Iowa Independent Interview with Author of "The Lolita Effect"

The Iowa Independent has an interview with Gigi Durham, author of The Lolita Effect. 

I just picked up a copy of the book so I'll give you my own review soon.  In the meantime, here is a portion of the interview:

Iowa Independent: So does your book look at the other end of the sexualization and marketing of tween girls and examine the role of men?

Durham: It looks at all aspects regarding the marketing of this type of sexuality and the narrow, restrictive form of sexuality that's commercially driven to young girls. But it also looks at the impacts, such as the rise in child-sex trafficking and child pornography and how this is being legitimated by the mainstream media and the impact on girls who are not learning about sex in healthy, progressive natural, normal ways. They are not being given this safe transition into adulthood, where they have good information about sexuality and they can make good choices themselves.

They are not getting good information from the media, and they are not getting this information from anywhere else either, because we are so skittish about dealing with these issues. As a result, we have really high rates of teen pregnancy in the industrialized world, twice that of the U.K. and eight times that of Japan. Moreover, one in four girls in this country has had a sexually transmitted disease (STD). We are not doing it right; we are not giving these girls what they need.

Iowa Independent: On the flip side, do you think marketers are targeting adult males and their desires or fantasies about the Lolita persona?

Durham: I totally do think so. Because not only are they marketing to children, but at the same time there is this other effect where adults are exposed to these same kinds of images, in particular adult men, subsequently giving these men the implicit idea that these young girls are sexual objects -- which I think is really problematic. The effect is an implicit or tacit support of those ideas.

Iowa Independent: Putting this in a recent context, what are your thoughts about the explicit photographs of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus in the latest issue of "Vanity Fair"?

Durham: For me, the very fact that this generated so much public controversy shows that this is a really important issue. In a way I was glad. This points to how we tend to polarize girls' sexuality in our society. There's no middle ground, we either repress girls' sexuality or we exploit it for profit. The big outrage that this girl is a pure, innocent and chaste girl is a bit ridiculous. At the same time she is very young, so I don't think it is OK that her body is on display for this voyeuristic gaze for commercial profit. The issue is more complex than the way it has been presented; it's not an either-or issue.

Iowa Independent: Do you think marketers are consciously branding female innocence and purity with the intent of eventually using this branding to exploit the sexualization aspect of their marketing strategy?

Durham: It almost does seem that way, doesn't it? Brittany Spears took this same route. She started out a Mouseketeer on the "New Mickey Mouse Club" and then she became a sex symbol. They start out innocent, then overnight they become sex symbols and there is no transition, which is not good for girls, who need an extended time to understand and cope with their own sexuality as it develops. In a way, it's a social trauma.