The Lolita Effect

[Image from the Kubrick version of the film Lolita. Sadly not mine. I'm not that cool.]

Note: I titled this blog The Lolita Effect originally seeking to address issues with fashion stylings of child clothing, but soon I realized my musings--and the nature of the issue, expanded far beyond this. The ideas presented here are broad, and cannot be explored in depth, however, the connections are important. The issue extends to a bigger picture that does not merely involve children, but perceptions and stereotypes promoted by media and cultural acceptance--and the societal problems to which they are related.


The Lolita Effect. Lolita is a loaded term within itself. While relating to a clothing style popular in Asian culture, the word stems originally from the Nabokov novel of the same name which focuses on a pedophiles obsession with a promiscuous girl on the cusp of puberty. Her name being Dolores or Lola causes him to generalize all girls of this nature as Lolitas. This etymology in mind, the Lolita Effect gradually becomes something more sinister than at first glance. With regards to this post, when I refer to the Lolita Effect, I have something more current in mind. Child Fashions. Silly, I know, but the more I look at them, the more preposterous they seem. I have very little opinions in the realms of feminism, but I recall my first time being appalled at young girls clothing was when the emergence of shirts that said things like "math is hard" came to be, as they promoted a stereotype that truly captured the flaws of the education system. But more recently, my concerns are of a different nature. The first eyebrow raised came at bikinis targeted at small children. Sure a baby in a bikini might be a little silly, but a toddler should not have a bikini with a padded bra. Yes. That's right, they're padded. And while it may be a young woman's choice to wear shorts that look like underwear (personally, I find the fact that I can't find shorts that don't fit like such annoying), these things should not be targeted to elementary and middle school kids. The issues is two fold. For one, these fashions tell children to be in the norm (what is seen in the media), they must dress (and act) a certain way--on that is increasingly mature and inappropriate for the ages in question. The second issue is the sexualization of children this causes. Pedophilia is already an issue without the encouragement of such thoughts. And while there is a lot of research with regards to the nature of pedophilia and pedophile thoughts, it should be obvious that encouraging and promoting things that lead to such thoughts is unacceptable. In no way am I trying to say that victims of pedophilia are at fault--no victim of any form of crime should be regarded as such. But the fact remains that one does not tempt fate of robbery by leaving doors wide open and valuables accessible for all. So why sexualize young children so they might be prey?

The deeper issue at hand here is the things we promote as a culture via media and society. While I am personally of the belief that such things should not rule our lives, anthropologically speaking, I also understand that for a culture to survive, the complete disregard to media and social norms is impossible. However, the things promoted by media that are shown as values to our culture may be changed. Right now, we face a particularly difficult dual situation, a society in which people are increasingly overweight, but that value unrealistic weight goals.

I can't even pretend to know how such a phenomenon occurred--people are becoming increasingly obese, yet models and other people in media get smaller. However, both are dangerous. With more and more of society becoming overweight and obese, these weight levels have become such a societal norm that in some cases, clothing sizes are becoming bigger without changing the size numbers. Yet while this seems to send the message that the increasingly waist size is acceptable, the images we aspire to--those of models, actresses, and singers, dictate that people should be stick-thin to be attractive, an unhealthy notion in the opposite direction. Neither of these are reasonable places to be, and while we have long acknowledged the problems of too-thin, with increased attention to eating disorders to anorexia and bulimia, we have failed to identify the reverse issues of being too big (though the stigma against it have barely made it a current problem), and the issues of excessive dangerous weight loss from this state. It's a tough line to teeter--the issue of needing those who are unhealthy to lose weight without encouraging weight loss as a positive thing, especially to the extent of the opposite end of the spectrum.

What we need is a different goal. We seek to lose weight or portray a certain image. But instead we need to seek to gain certain qualities so these things don't matter. Seek self-esteem or comfort. Seek courage. Seek happiness. Yes, it's important to be a healthy weight. And we want to look nice, because inevitably, people do judge on image, and looking presentable is of some importance, but it should not be our obsession, especially at such levels. By changing our perspective, the issues at hand can be solved.

Of course, this isn't going to happen overnight. This is where those children come in. The Lolita Effect has been a result of these faulty societal perspectives. But the children effected by this can also be the change needed to move new societal norms. By taking children out of these ridiculous and dangerous expectations, and instilling strong positive values in them in lieu of the ones we currently hold. With older generations, such changes are difficult, but if each newer generation is instilled with these different values, eventually they will become the norms of culture. Until this is the case, the Lolita Effect, and the cultural ideals it encourages, is a danger to society and the youth is one that should not be ignored.