Showgirl models fashions from the Enter the Night revue on an airplane, Las
Vegas, Nevada.
from Lauren Greenfield's Girl Culture: Faculty Guide
Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona

If I really, really want someone to notice me, I'll walk up to them and introduce myself. If I want 'em to see me sexually, I'll maybe [unbutton] my shirt, tighten my pants, or bend over. Something to get their attention and show a little bit of sexual activity going on: "Hey, look at me. I'm showing some flesh. You know you want to look."

—Sheena, 15

Exhibitionism examines how girls mimic the sexy appearance and attitudes of media idols. It suggests that flaunting sexuality is a cultural requirement for girls growing up today.

 

 

Kristine, 20
Playmate Suzanne Stokes
Becky, 20
Showgirl, Las Vegas
Kristine, 20, poses for a lingerie shoot for Ocean Drive magazine, Miami Beach, Florida.

Sheena, 15, tries on clothes with Amber in a department store dressing room, San Jose, California.

I am interested in the element of performance and exhibitionism that seems to define the contemporary experience of being a girl...

—Lauren Greenfield

Greenfield’s camera confirms that little girls in contemporary America learn early about artifice and sexual power. At four or five, they are comfortable vamping in makeup for the camera and capable of mimicking the erotic moves of the models and pop stars who call the cadence in American popular culture.... We see and feel the filter-down effect: in the giggly girls who privately stuff their bras and pose in imitation of these cultural icons, and in those who take up erotic performance in more public venues.

—Joan Jacobs Brumberg

Understanding the dialectic between the extreme and the mainstream—the anorectic and the dieter, the stripper and the teenager who bares her midriff or wears a thong—is essential to understanding contemporary feminine identity.

—Lauren Greenfield

Britney, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child: They're role models 'cause they like action and movement so much.... My mom won't let me wear what I want, 'cause she's a mom and she's bossy. I really like belly shirts. She doesn't like that they show our body.... I really want to be seven better than six, 'cause I look like a seven-year-old. I really want to be a teenager. Now. Really fast.

—Lily, 6

I think it is a fantasy for girls to go onstage. Maybe because they want to see what they can use their body or their sexuality for. Maybe to get attention.

—Leilani, 21
Becky, 20, in a bikini contest during spring break, Panama City, Florida.
Playmate Suzanne Stokes, 21, at the Playboy Mansion, Los Angeles, California.
Sheena, 15 years old