It’s been 49 years since Barbie dolls first hit the shelves in 1959, yet not much has changed about the way our society portrays women in the media. Today, along with the Barbie dolls that continue to pollute toy store shelves, young girls are being marketed other suggestive toys, such as Brat dolls. While these dolls can be seen as harmless, they are also part of the corrupt message our society is sending to young girls. However, the most troubling issue is the role models our society forces on the tween and even younger population.

Miley Cyrus first shot to tween-queen stardom back in 2006, when her show Hannah Montana became part of the Disney juggernaut. While she began as a wholesome role model for the elementary and middle school population, Cyrus soon began to slide down a slippery slope. Suggestive pictures of her surfaced on the Internet, and she later did an provocative cover for the magazine Vanity Fair.

However, Cyrus wasn’t the first Disney pop-princess to hit a rough patch. In late 2007, Vanessa Hudgens became part of a photo scandal when nude photos of her were released via the Internet. The High School Musical star apologized for her actions, as did Cyrus, but that doesn’t erase the effect the photos have had on their impressionable fans.

Disney stars aren’t the only ones who have been getting attention for their involvement in inappropriate photos. Jennifer Aniston, who stars in Marley and Me, recently posed for a series of suggestive nude photographs in GQ (Gentlemen’s Quarterly) magazine. Marley and Me was a family movie that was released for Christmas, just a few weeks ago.

Photos like these are proof that women are being overly sexualized in the media. What message are we sending to girls when stars like Cyrus and Hudgens are allowed to stay part of the wholesome Disney family? And when Aniston’s publicity has sky-rocketed in light of her recent photo spread? In the media, women have become sex symbols, and it is unfair that this is the message we are sending to young girls. With women such as Hillary Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Michelle Obama in our society, the media should be putting more emphasis on them and focusing less on people like Jennifer Aniston, Miley Cyrus and Vanessa Hudgens.