Revisiting the Sexualization-of-Young-Girls Debate, Case Study One: Discourses of Stardom and Femininity Among Greek Tween Girls

Abstract

Tsaliki draws from a series of interviews conducted with tween girls from different class backgrounds in Greece as case studies for the debate on the sexualization of young children. Premised upon the view that we cannot make sense of the ‘tween’ unless we take into account its articulation with the market exigencies of childhood, and girlhood in particular, Tsaliki wishes to challenge the prevailing views and assumptions about the incendiary effects of sexualized and commercialized culture on young pre-teen girls. She argues that young girls’ consumption of popular culture (in the form of stardom and celebrity culture) illustrates how the entertainment media, rather than being construed as risk-laden, can be used towards the management of an ethical self, and as part of a broader identity work where issues of self-governance, appropriateness, taste and aesthetics are carefully raised.