Sinead O’Connor spoke to Magic FM in an exclusive interview and discussed her opinions on the sexualisation of teen stars in the music industry today. She explained that it’s not just young girls who are being exploited and used Justin Bieber as a key example. The 20-year-old American pop sensation came to fame when he was only 16 years of age.
Sinead said: “I think that people focus an awful lot on the female aspect to this, but it is also the males. The very young male artists who are practically children or look like children are also being sexualised. Justin Bieber is a great example. When he came along he was only 16 years of age. Obviously he was extraordinarily talented, so I’m not trying to negate that, but he was very much being sold on his sexuality.”
She continued “Britney Spears, of course was quite inappropriately young to be sold in that way, dressed up in a school uniform, but I think that really people forget that the guys are going through it as well, and I think that is quite important.”
Sinead concluded “What concerns me is that the audience of these artists are children themselves. The children are being sexualised too early and both the male and female sense of worth is focused on the way they look and whether or not they are attractive to the opposite sex”
