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Everyone is up in arms about that dodgy Netflix 'Cuties' film because it sexualises 11 year old girls, but let's not pretend that our society doesn't already sexualise and objectify little girls in ways that most people don't think about or are even complicit in: a thread.
People obsess over making little girls look pretty from birth. It's common for people to use "sexy" as a compliment for baby girls. People pierce girls ears (I'm not inc. religious reasons) and apply nail polish: both cultural signifiers of adult female sexual availability.
Girls clothes are cut to be revealing; boys wear shorts, girls wear hot pants, etc. For school, girls are expected to wear skirts/dresses which show their knickers (crotch) a lot. Girls' fashion increasingly copies adult fashion, including tight dresses and high heels now.
Interaction between girls and others is cast in sexualised terms: if they play with a boy, they get teased he fancies them, "is he your boyfriend?", etc. If a boy bullies them, they're told he fancies them (accepting abuse training 101!). Girl friendships are cast as rivalries.
We live in an incredibly sexualised society: tits on display on supermarket magazine shelves, models in kinky undies in Ann Summers windows, people in fetish gear during Pride, women dressed in sexy schoolgirl fashion to attract men, even men watching porn in public on mobiles.
The pop music they listen to, and the videos they watch, are incredibly sexualised. Dolls are dressed sexually with heavily made-up faces. Even Lego Friends, the range for girls, uses curvaceous minifigures with eyelashes and pouty lips. And more besides.
Girls' behaviour is constantly sexualised and policed: cross your legs! Don't sit like that! You get called Lolita and don't understand. People are weird about you eating food like bananas. I sucked my thumb past toddlerdom- men you'd think were decent had a lot to say about that
Sexual harassment for girls starts around age 9/10. Sadly, many girls have been inappropriately touched, abused and even raped by men and boys long before this age. Rape happens in primary schools and is on the increase due to porn. We are scared of males long before we're 11.
Then secondary school. Innocent 11 year olds suddenly in the same space as horny older teens. Many boys revel in sexually harassing girls and telling them all about sex in gross ways. Many go further. Male teachers and friends' dads will be openly or covertly inappropriate.
And boys are taught that their sexuality must be conquering. The pressure to kiss boys and more, starts around 11. Many girls get their 1st boyfriend because that will put other boys off. Better to suck one dick than be felt up on the bus by many hands. So even nice boys benefit.
There's so much more I could say. And I already know my mentions will consist of women agreeing and telling their stories, some good men feeling terrible, but more men determined to deny our lived experiences and minimise the huge responsibility men have to SORT THIS SHIT OUT.
