February 24, 2006 (The Sign!)

I know you have all had one of those days.  That was today.  Seventh graders are not very mature, and the topic we discussed was... well... one of those topics they could not handle.

I decided to have them explore the images they have in their magazines.  Along with observing whether the people in their magazines are powerful and powerless, I thought it might be interesting to see how many sexual/seductive images their magazines contained.  Sure, that sounds extreme, that is until they actually started finding them all over.  I was especially surprised with the content of some ads in Teen People.

I told the students that the human animal gives off a sign when it is time to procreate.  Animals use visual as well as chemical signs.  Well, a woman is usually the one who (when married and of age) gives the sign.  That is what we recognize as sexy/or seductive, or at least says the male may proceed.  

Since we are hard-wired to respond to this, advertisers know that men respond to this, and women might want to have the power that can come with being in charge.  

In short, I do not know if the topic was completely appropriate for all students, but as a father of a somewhat developing 8 year old daughter, I made every attempt to make the students aware of the messages but also tried to impress upon them that if they did not recognize the sign, that was a good thing!  

I hope I have not offended any parents;although, I believe I can justify the study of the images in their magazine.  The sexualization of children concerns me.  I wanted to make them aware of the images they look at and the messages they send.