Messages gone wild

Jean Kilbourne, who took on tobacco advertising in the '70s, is now issuing warnings about the sexualization of childhood. (Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff)

For decades, Jean Kilbourne has been documenting how the marketing of alcohol, cigarettes, and other products undermines society's health. A senior scholar at the Wellesley Centers for Women, Kilbourne is particularly concerned about the damage inflicted upon young people and women. Her latest book, written with Wheelock College education professor Diane Levin, is titled "So Sexy So Soon: The New Sexualized Childhood and What Parents Can Do to Protect Their Kids" and takes in everything from Bratz dolls to 7-year-olds discussing oral sex.

Q. Give us the big picture here.

A. First, it's absolutely not about sex and sexuality. We're all for that. The problem is sexualization - turning people into objects - which does real harm to girls in obvious ways and to boys in less obvious ways.

Q. Why the emphasis on early childhood?

A. Researchers have found that 6-month-olds can recognize corporate logos, so this is how early marketers are now targeting children. Girls are taught that being pretty and thin and "sexy" makes them popular. Children are being sexualized in ads meant to appeal to adults as well. We've heard story after story of kids bewildered by sexual messages they didn't know how to process and acting out accordingly. Our message to parents is, you need to intervene long before the tween and teen years.

Q. Are things much different now from, say, a decade ago?

A. They're much worse. I first mentioned this problem in the 1970s, but it was nothing like today. There's far more pressure on girls to be sexy and hot, to dress like hookers. It's starting way earlier, too.

Q. How big a factor is the Internet?

A. Huge. It's made pornography not only readily accessible but inescapable. Meanwhile, the language of porn has gone mainstream - in ads, video games, TV shows, et cetera.

Q. What's a thinking parent to do?

A. We're careful not to blame parents, who are doing their best in a marketing culture that basically seeks to alienate their kids from them. The most important thing is having lots of open and honest communications with your kids, beginning very early.

Q. Are you at all in alliance with the "family values" crowd?

A: No, and in many ways this whole issue has been hijacked by the extreme right. Of course we think parents need to set limits. But we advocate for more sex education, not less. For doing more than just saying no to kids watching a particular TV show.

Q. Decades ago, you took on tobacco advertising. Does that industry's demise give you hope?

A. It does. In the '70s, it was considered crazy to talk about it. Successes have come from taking the focus off the individual smoker and putting it on the industry. We know what works to solve a lot of these problems. What we've lacked is the political will. But I'm not nearly as alone as I was back then.