The Lolita Generation

Special Report: Gender Perspective on Cultural Practices and Childhood
Control and Circumvention Strategies
By Aurélia Mardon
English

Based on research on middle-school female pupils and their families, this article analyzes the relations that develop between mothers and daughters during pre-adolescence around clothes. The focus is primarily on the early hyper-sexualization of pre-adolescent girls' bodies, in other words, the acquisition by these very young girls of elements of adult women's clothing, linked to their media tastes. The author shows a social gap with regard to the control of these practices: working-class mothers more readily agree to them than do middle- and upper-class mothers.

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Go to the article on Cairn-int.info