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amyvanhymA 13-Year-Old Girl Is Not “All Grown Up” - Mara Wilson on the Sexualization of Child Actresses and Millie Bobby Brown
The attention Millie gets is a little weird at times, but don't forget that many of the guys crushing on her are the same age. It is also the case that she sometimes dresses very maturely for her age. That she has an adultlike wardrobe is not sexual, and recognizing the maturity of it is not sexual. Maturity isn't primarily a matter of sexuality, and to treat a girl being described as "all grown up" as though it is necessarily about sexuality, is implicitly if not overtly sexist. The linked article that called her "all grown up" was clearly describing the maturity and professionalism of her style. It said nothing sexual at all.
A maturing girl is blooming sexually. Acknowledging this fact can be done gracefully; is not necessarily dehumanizing. All of this -- how sexual Millie's maturity is or isn't, what maturity means and how a teen girl should be addressed in the public eye -- is a topic to discuss, but not one to get so hyperemotive about. Concerned and interested? Sure. "Sick and furious"? Tone down the hysteria, Mara. You are not the "big sister to the world." You are not the queen bee. The world will not benefit from the moral panic produced by your reduction of all discussion of Millie's maturity to an assault upon her sexuality.
The attention Millie gets is a little weird at times, but don't forget that many of the guys crushing on her are the same age. It is also the case that she sometimes dresses very maturely for her age. That she has an adultlike wardrobe is not sexual, and recognizing the maturity of it is not sexual. Maturity isn't primarily a matter of sexuality, and to treat a girl being described as "all grown up" as though it is necessarily about sexuality, is implicitly if not overtly sexist. The linked article that called her "all grown up" was clearly describing the maturity and professionalism of her style. It said nothing sexual at all.
A maturing girl is blooming sexually. Acknowledging this fact can be done gracefully; is not necessarily dehumanizing. All of this -- how sexual Millie's maturity is or isn't, what maturity means and how a teen girl should be addressed in the public eye -- is a topic to discuss, but not one to get so hyperemotive about. Concerned and interested? Sure. "Sick and furious"? Tone down the hysteria, Mara. You are not the "big sister to the world." You are not the queen bee. The world will not benefit from the moral panic produced by your reduction of all discussion of Millie's maturity to an assault upon her sexuality.
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Date: 2017-11-16 02:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-16 06:56 pm (UTC)