Becoming sexual: A critical appraisal of the sexualization of girls

Like this prior movement, which expressed paranoia over the effects of uncontrolled female sexuality on society, the current sexualization discourse emphasizes the "problems associated with a particular type of deviant or 'phallic' femininity'" (p. 53), which places the "sexualized girl...far afield from acceptable constructions of feminist femininity and family values" (p. 61). Through an examination of girl celebrities deemed at risk to the covers of books on the subject (which often conjure up the name of Lolita) to an analysis of the resonance of the JonBenet Ramsey and Madeleine McCann cases, Egan seeks to show "how powerful [is] our attachment to the white girl child as an object of protection, identification, and as a site of collective mourning" (p. 73).