Monday, May 19, 2008
Writer discusses Durham's 'Lolita Effect' (NetIndia123, May 12) The racy photo shoot of 15-year-old Miley Cyrus has been dubbed as "The Lolita Effect" by an Indian-origin professor from University of Iowa. MEENAKSHI GIGI DURHAM, associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the University of Iowa, has slammed the media for circulating damaging myths that distort, undermine and restrict girls' sexual progress. The sexualization of teen girls, which she dubs "The Lolita Effect" in her book of the same name, is part of a larger marketing effort to create cradle-to-grave consumers. While writing in Dalhousie University's Nabokov Online Journal, Durham said that since the publication of the novel "Lolita" more than 50 years ago, it has become the favorite metaphor for a child vixen. Yet that perception is a misreading of Vladimir Nabokov's famous novel. Indeed, Lolita does nothing to attract Humbert Humbert's devouring and doomed passion. NetIndia123 bills itself as a premier online publisher of news and information specific to India. http://www.netindia123.com/showdetails.asp?id=951247&cat=Entertainment&head=Miley+Cyrus+photo+scandal+latest+example+of+%27The+Lolita+Effect%27