Stephen Sharper

Senior

Sociology Major

Guest Columnist

I

think there’s an all too familiar story that many guys my age can tell.

You’re walking somewhere and your eye just happens to catch a nice pair

of legs. As you look up, your attention is maintained by what seems to

be the figure of a healthy, full grown woman.

Finally, you’re

in for an unsettling shock when your eyes meet the face of the young

lady you’ve been checking out. You’re shocked because upon seeing the

girl’s face, you realize that she is just that — a little girl.

When

I say little, I’m generally talking anyone under 18 years old which,

for me and many of my peers at Oakland University, is too young.

Specifically for the purposes of this topic, I’m talking about girls

who look like they could very well be 13 or 14 years old. Now that is

disturbing.

What I’ve come to notice over the past four years

or so, maybe even longer, is that there is an overall increase in the

sexual nature of dress that adolescent and now preadolescent girls seem

to favor.

Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but when I was in

junior high school I don’t exactly remember every girl showing up to

school as if they were going to the club after class.

Granted,

it was a trend that definitely started by the time I was in junior

high, which was around the turn of the millennium, but it definitely

seems more prevalent now.

I take a lot of interest in the

social sciences, especially topics of gender and sexuality, and have

taken a lot of classes related to that interest. I’ve learned in my

Women Across Cultures class that first menstruation among native

peoples generally takes place at around 17 years of age. In industrial

countries, especially the United States, we have girls starting their

periods as young as 11.

Hormones in our foods seem to be the

most likely cause but what are some of the implications of this

phenomenon? Young girls are starting to reach sexual maturity sooner

and at an age where I believe they should be worrying about high school

placement tests and having fun with their friends instead of asking

their moms to take them to Victoria Secret.

I may be all about

freedom, especially women’s freedom, in a time where the media is ripe

with ideas about what it means to be a true woman. I just think that 12

and 13 years old is a little too early to be exploring one’s sexuality

in that particular way.

There are a number of problems with

this trend, some trivial and some potentially quite serious. First, I’m

simply tired of looking at attractive, seemingly  college aged women

and finding that they are freshmen in high school. It’s not just me

either. I’ve talked to a number of my male friends who have had the

same experience.

On a more serious note, I have also taken

notice of what seems to be the increase in sexual activity of young

women from ages 12 to 14. Now, I don’t want to condemn anyone’s sexual

history, but I think 12 is a little too early to be having sex. I’ve

heard this from classmates who knew people in junior high school who

did it; talk shows have eaten up this topic in recent years and there

have been articles online about this phenomenon.

America’s

kids may be maturing faster on a physical level, but mentally and

emotionally I think 12 is far too young for anyone to know the full

implications of sexual activity. This doesn’t even begin to take into

account the possibility that this age group may see increases in

attempted and perpetrated sexual assaults.

I’m a firm believer

in the idea that women should be able to dress however they wish and be

free from harassment, discrimination and, most especially, assault. In

reality, however, people often use women’s clothing choices as excuses

for why such heinous crimes are committed.

At the end of the

day, media images about sex, the fashion industry’s desire and obvious

success at marketing sexier clothing to a younger audience, combined

with parental consent and complacency has combined to create this new

dilemma. I guess only time and social science research will reveal the

problems that will emerge from this new trend, and how serious the

implications are for our young ones.