Clive Hamilton; 29/6/08
In a store one Saturday morning early in 2006, I became aware of a bank of television screens tuned to a music video showing a rap singer engaged in simulated sex with several barely clad dancers. The women were bent over while the rap singer rhythmically thrust his genitals at their backsides. There were quite a few children in the store with parents. I looked around to see if anyone was shocked that soft porn should be shown in a “family environment”, in public on a Saturday. No one seemed to be taking any notice and I thought maybe it was just me. I considered complaining, but wondered whether I was so out of touch I would be regarded as weird. So instead, a few day later I asked two of my researchers at the Australia Institute, both young women with progressive social attitudes, to carry out a study of the sexualisation of children.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/child-sexualisation-shrouded-in-weasel-words-20080628-2yj5.html