Girls Need 'Feminist Role Models'

August 07, 2008

Teenage girls who are using terms like "slut" and "whore" to describe themselves need strong feminist role models in the classroom, a researcher has said.

Girls interviewed by Jessica Ringrose, lecturer in the sociology of gender at the Institute of Education in London, boasted about being good at sex.

She found that the teenagers regularly used sexualised language and saw their ability to satisfy male desire as a yardstick of their success.

They also used stationary branded with the Playboy bunny logo but dismissed associations with nude models saying it was, "just a good cartoon".

Dr Ringrose said that teachers should make time in the curriculum to counter the myth that men and women have achieved equality.

The image of femininity presented by celebrities like Paris Hilton needed to be countered by strong feminist role models, she said.

She told the Times Educational Supplement: "We need to reinvigorate feminism. Teenage girls are struggling to find a positive identity that's not completely defined by their sexuality. Positive role models can help them find the strength to resist being sexualised by men's needs."