In an award-winning new documentary, the focus is on girls as young as 12 who post images of themselves online in lingerie, hoping to ‘feel sexy…like Megan Fox.’
‘Sexy Baby’ is a documentary that explores the concept of sexiness in the Cyber Age, set to open in U.S. theaters. It highlights how a generation of children is receiving their sex education from online pornography, a phenomenon fueled by Facebook, smartphones, and instant Internet access.
By following three young women aged 12 to 34, the film illuminates how technology and pornography are influencing the sexual identities of young girls, with filmmakers Ronna Gradus and Jill Bauer, former journalists from the Miami Herald, hoping to spark discussions among parents.
This documentary marks the first venture for the two women and made its world debut earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. Parents have described it as ‘troubling’, agreeing it ‘raises critical issues that need widespread dialogue,’ voiced one New York mother, Hedi.
Featured in the documentary, 12-year-old Winnifred aspires to imitate her musical idol, Lady Gaga, by wearing fish-net stockings and midriff-baring tops.
Alongside her friend Olivia, she takes alluring photos and later uploads them online.
‘Every girl wants to feel sexy – like Megan Fox,’ Olivia shared with ABC News, but confessed after a photo of her in a bra went viral, ‘I felt dirty afterwards.’
In the film, Laura, a 22-year-old kindergarten teacher from Alexandria, Virginia, is depicted saving money for vaginal plastic surgery to reduce her labia size, convinced it will transform her life.
Meanwhile, Nichole, 34, a former stripper and pole dancer from Clearwater, Florida, now yearns to have a baby with her husband, whom she met in the porn industry.
The filmmakers felt compelled to create this documentary after Ms. Gradus observed an uncomfortable scene among college students in a Coconut Grove, Florida club.
She witnessed girls gyrating on poles trying to catch the attention of their male peers, who casually tossed money into their bras yet seemed largely uninterested, as if the spectacle was entirely routine.
Following this, Ms. Gradus and Ms. Bauer concluded that this behavior likely reflects the overwhelming presence of sex in our current culture.
According to the filmmakers, “This film does not focus solely on porn; it examines the significant shift – the reality that everything is continuously available at our fingertips to people of all ages. We were particularly interested in how this influences our understanding of sexiness and sexuality.”
This realization—that such erotic expressions had become so commonplace—formed the foundation for their investigation into how our vibrant digital landscape has altered perceptions among women and younger generations.
The documentaryexplores these themes while tracing the journeys of three main characters whom Ms. Gradus and Ms. Bauer identify as belonging to Generation XXX.
Although Winnifred, Laura, and Nichole exist in a landscape where “privates are public and extreme is the new norm,” their responses to this reality differ significantly. Sexy Baby fundamentally investigates how social networking sites, web pages, and online video channels have saturated our perception of sex, transforming what was once considered taboo into something quite ordinary.
In a clip from the feature film that recently debuted at the Tribeca Film Festival, Laura, a sweet and seemingly impressionable young woman, shares her motivation for undergoing a labiaplasty.
‘All of this internet stuff traps you…I want to fit in and feel sexy. I just figure, it would be huge turn on to a guy to look like a porn star,’ she expresses.
The directors observed, ‘Laura clearly finds that there is a new standard of beauty which comes straight out of porn…her boyfriend compared her to the porn stars he watched on the internet.’
Ms. Bauer recounted how she and Ms. Gradus accompanied the young teacher as she socialized with friends, seeking to better understand her relationship with her body.
She shared told, “There was an amateur night at the club, and I guess every couple of weeks they give away a boob job. Laura and her friends were all sitting around saying, ‘That’s so cool.'” Ms. Gradus contributed, “There is not a lot of questioning that happens. Big boobs are the thing, being sexy is the thing, looking maybe a little more like a porn star is the thing, and she didn’t really question it. It was just sort of like, ‘I want to fit in and feel sexy.'”
In contrast, Winnifred, a savvy 12-year-old from New York, acknowledges that Facebook and pop culture promote an ‘anything goes’ mentality, yet she has little interest in porn and hasn’t really watched any.
‘Your Facebook profile is not necessarily who you are, it’s more like who you want to be,’ she explains to the camera. ‘We make ourselves seem like… down to fuck. We make ourselves seem like we’re up for anything. And in a way, all of this internet stuff kind of traps you. You’ve started an alter ego that has to be maintained and has to be real in a way.
‘So yeah, I mean it does kind of shape how you end up and how you actually are in real life.’
However, she admits, ‘I guess I’m the kind of person who doesn’t have the guts and doesn’t really care enough to look at porn. I know what sex is; I don’t need to see it in front of me played out.’
The filmmakers remarked, “Winnifred represents the next generation and simply put, is confused. She recently told us that she worries about her male peers who are getting their first glimpses of sex via hardcore pornography.”
Meanwhile, Nichole, described by Ms. Gradus and Ms. Bauer as an ‘ironic moral compass,’ attributes the pervasive influence of adult entertainment on mainstream culture to the digital age, asserting that things have spiraled out of control.
According to the filmmaking duo, sexiness is now ‘more computer-focused, Facebook-focused. Like, Like, Like…20 Likes, 30 Likes, 40 Likes, wow, I’m a superstar… as opposed to just passing a note in class and admiring someone.
‘Instead of “I’m going to hit you on the playground because I’m telling you in my way that I like you,” it’s “Let me slap you silly because I saw it in porn.”‘
To conclude, the perception of sexy has become the new standard of beauty, with everything around us perpetuating the idea that this should be our primary focus.
The documentary Sexy Baby: A Documentary About Sexiness and The Cyber Age premieres on October 19 in both New York City and Los Angeles, followed by a VOD release in November.
by Susan Floyd
