Selling sexy to girls

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How did we go from witch, devil and nurse to vampy witch, sexy devil and seductive nurse?

Since television was deregulated in the early 1980s, marketing strategies have taken over all aspects of kids' lives. From bedsheets to clothes and shoes to the lunch box they carry -- they're all linked to media, to popular culture. The message is, this is what's desirable, this is what you should be.

And look at what they were offered: For boys, there was GI Joe, He-Man, Transformers, Ninja Turtles, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. For girls, there was My Little Pony, Care Bears, Disney's princesses. Gender roles were very much part of that marketing. There was a whole new escalation in gender division when children began to become a market.

Kids are trying to figure out from an early age, "What does it mean to be a girl, or to be a boy?" They look at the most dramatic examples they can find to figure that out. Marketers are making it the most extreme they possibly can for that reason. Sexy is part of that marketing to girls -- just as macho and violent has become the way to market things to boys.

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What about boys? Are they under any similar pressures that you see reflected in Halloween costumes?

First of all, the girls' costumes set up certain expectations in boys as well as in the girls who wear them or want them. What are boys' reactions, looking at girls when they're all dressed up in these sexy costumes? They think, "That must be what girls look like to be pretty, and being pretty is the important thing." The equivalent of sexy costumes for girls are the violent, macho characters for boys. Mimicking these characters is about being ready to fight, to be macho. For boys, choosing these costumes, the ideal is an image of toughness. It's not about human feelings, connections; it's about being tough and macho.

When that becomes the ideal, as expressed in Halloween costumes, that's how boys judge each other, so it's no surprise there's more and more bullying between boys, especially when one doesn't satisfy that image. There's a similar dynamic for girls: How they look and what they buy affects their view of themselves. But it also becomes the basis for how they treat other girls. It's harder and harder to have relationships.