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Millie Bobby Brown Slams Press For Over Sexualization of Children and Young Women

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Millie Bobby Brown Slams Press For Over Sexualization of Children and Young Women

By Movieguide® Contributor

STRANGER THINGS star Millie Bobby Brown recently condemned the press and public for sexualizing her throughout her career, especially after she turned 18 this year. 

“Any 18-year-old is dealing with navigating being an adult and having relationships and friendships and being liked and trying to fit in,” Brown said while appearing on the “Guilty Feminist” podcast. “It’s all a lot, and you’re trying to find yourself while doing that. The only difference is that, obviously, I’m doing that in the public eye, so it can be really overwhelming.”

Brown added that she has “definitely been dealing with [being sexualized] more within the last two weeks of turning 18 — seeing a difference between the way people act and the way that the press and social media have reacted to me coming of age.

“I believe that shouldn’t change anything, but it’s gross and it’s true,” the actress continued. “It’s a very good representation of what’s going on in the world and how young girls are sexualized. I have been dealing with that — but I have also been dealing with that forever.”

Brown isn’t the only STRANGER THINGS star who has called out the media for sexualizing young actresses.

Movieguide® previously reported on comments from co-star Natalia Dyer:

“I generally feel like, to me, it’s oversexualizing them,” Dyer said. “I feel protective over the younger kids even though they’re not kids anymore, they’re teens.  

Dyer notes that she has considered the young actors on the show friends from the beginning. Now that the show is successful, she wants to protect them from oversexualization, which she claims is a “culture issue.” 

Among the youngest in the cast are Noah Schnapp, 15, Millie Bobby Brown, 16, and Finn Wolfhard and Gaten Matarazzo at 17.  

“They’re all great people and all having to grow up in very crazy circumstances,” Dyer continued. “As a private person, I just feel like, leave people alone—unless you’re talking about their work or what they want to talk about. It’s a very tricky and complex issue.”

The 25-year-old actress stated that culture is quick to oversexualize young actors, saying, “There must be a bigger concept behind it as to why.”

Earlier this week, fellow former child star Cole Sprouse also rebuked the oversexualization of young women, particularly those on the Disney Channel.

“My brother and I used to get quite a bit of, ‘Oh, you made it out! Oh, you’re unscathed!’ No,” he said, referring to the many child stars who have struggled with drug and alcohol addiction and out-of-control behavior.  

“The young women on the channel we were on [Disney Channel] were so heavily sexualized from such an earlier age than my brother and I that there’s absolutely no way that we could compare our experiences,” he continued. “And every single person going through that trauma has a unique experience. When we talk about child stars going nuts, what we’re not actually talking about is how fame is a trauma.”

Movieguide® Founder and Publisher Dr. Ted Baehr addressed the role sex plays in the mass media product in his book The Culture-Wise Family. 

Baehr writes:

Movies and other mass media of entertainment present lust as love with one night sexual relationships, tedious ordeals, endless battles, or perverted activity. This desecration of love should be an anathema to God’s people.

KIDS suggests that promiscuous sex posing as love is acceptable among young teenage children. 50 SHADES OF GREY depicts sado-masochism as appropriate and even enticing. WAR OF THE ROSES suggests that marriage is war. MAGIC MIKE depicts hedonistic, promiscuous lust as a fulfilling lifestyle. THE SHAPE OF WATER promotes the idea that lust, including bestiality, should be expressed openly, without shame. In MOTHER!, traditional heterosexual marriage is depicted as a sad, emotionally abusive situation for women. The Disney movie RUTHLESS PEOPLE has the husband trying to murder his wife, while the wife is trying to blackmail the husband. In CRIMSON PEAK, parental neglect leads to a justification for incestuous lust. PHILADELPHIABOOKSMARTCALL ME BY YOUR NAMEBROKEBACK MOUNTAINBLUE IS THE WARMEST COLORBIRDCAGE, and LOVE, SIMON present homosexual lust as love.

Many horror movies capture an audience by luring them with the thought of forbidden lust, such as necrophilia (fornication with the dead) and bestiality (fornication with animals).

However, horror movies and other mass media of entertainment are not the only entertainment that extol forbidden fruit. The Disney comedy SPLASH lifts up bestiality in a humorous way by having the hero fall in love with a mermaid. Bestiality is not funny, hurts the animals and is condemned by God.

Many movies suggest, or even promote, the idea of sex with a child.

Patrick Fagan, Ph.D., offers the antidote to an oversexualized culture in his paper, “THE EFFECTS OF PORNOGRAPHY ON INDIVIDUALS, MARRIAGE, FAMILY, AND COMMUNITY,” available on Movieguide.org. 

Fagan says:

The cultural censure of disordered sexuality that enables stable family life has faded with the proliferation of Internet pornography. As a result, the effects of hyper-sexualization permeate society. Today’s youth are reaching puberty earlier, engaging in sexual intercourse sooner, while “Emerging Adults” are cohabiting more, having children out of wedlock,and getting married significantly later or not at all.

The key to militating against these damaging patterns and to protecting against the effects of pornography is to foster relationships of affection and attachment in family. The first and most important relationship is between the father and the mother. The second is engaged parents who love their children. In today’s technological society, this means limiting, monitoring, and directing their children’s Internet use. This, in turn, provides an invaluable shield against Internet pornography, and allows room for a healthy sexuality to unfold in a natural and socially supported way. In our over-sexualized culture, with a longer pre-marriage period, children need the capacity for abstinence if their sexuality is to be channeled into stable marriage, procreation, and healthy family life for their children. Strong families remain the best defense against the negative effects of pornography, especially when aided by regular religious worship with all the benefits it brings.

Finally, the fundamental role of government (including the courts) is to protect innocent citizens, most especially children and adolescents, and to protect the sound functioning of the basic institutions of family, church, school, marketplace, and government.They are all interdependent.Pornography, clearly, undermines both marriage and the family, and has a host of ill effects.It is time for government to reassess its laissez-faire attitude towards the proliferation of pornography, especially on the Internet.

Our present and future families need protection from this insidious enemy of love, affection, and of family and social stability.

 

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Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.


Now more than ever we’re bombarded by darkness in media, movies, and TV. Movieguide® has fought back for almost 40 years, working within Hollywood to propel uplifting and positive content. We’re proud to say we’ve collaborated with some of the top industry players to influence and redeem entertainment for Jesus. Still, the most influential person in Hollywood is you. The viewer.

What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.