Hyperexualization In The Media

If you turn on the television or flip through a fashion magazine, it is very likely you will presented with many displays of hypersexualization of girls and women in advertising images and in media. There are many components to sexualization. It occurs, according to the American Psychological Association, when “a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior, to the exclusion of other characteristics.” This person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy. “Sexualization” happens when a person is sexually objectified- that is, made into a thing for others’ sexual use, rather than being seen as a person with their own independent actions and abilities to make decisions. Oftentimes, sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person without their knowing it or consent. Sometimes, researchers use the word “hypersexualization” to describe roughly the same idea. In the article, “Media’s Growing Sexualization of Women”, hypersexualization is defined as, “The act of making something extremely sexual and erotic.”

We live in a society surrounded by billboards and magazine advertisements displaying the over sexualisation of women. As a society, people tend to be okay with it. But the depiction of women in this way does not just end there. It may be surprising to hear that every year, approximately 460 000 people in Canada are sexually assaulted. That is over 1260 sexual assaults a day, 1 every minute. Over a third of them will never be reported. The media is one of the most trusted and effective sources of information, conveying society norms. We live in a media based society and everything we do has some impact on the media. Sexual assault victims are represented negatively in the media further promoting a problematic rape culture. This is often done

In Piercy’s poem, “Barbie Doll” the girl goes through puberty and has a really hard time with it. A classmate tells her she has a big nose and fat legs. It states that nobody noticed that she was healthy and intelligent, they just saw her culturally unacceptable body type. (643) Media is one of the biggest influences on little girls, “Children 8 to 10 spend about 5.5 hours a day using media.” (Szabo) There are so many influences on T.V. from the shows to commercials, that use sex to sell their product. Even

The authors studied the depictions and portrayals of women’s and men’s bodies were more likely to appear in Disney movies as well as other G-rated movies, which was pretty odd for young children. They maintained, “Research cannot address what children take away from their repeated viewings of such movies […] we will need research on what children take away from such media to address these issues” (Martin and Kazyak 2009:319,321). Not to mention, the authors also wondered what social-sexual information would be available to young children as they were watching the G-rated

In the American culture today, women are becoming more sexualized at a younger age due to the influences of the corporate media. Corporate media and society form the perfect idealistic body that women should have and is constantly being promoted making younger girls start to compare themselves to them at a young age. Certain shows and movies, such as Disney, influence young children and teenagers through their characters as to how a woman is supposed to be accepted. The way the corporate media and society make this body image they want women to have starts in a very early stage in a woman's life without them knowing. There are these childhood movies, such as Disney, Barbie and Ken dolls, programs such as Netflix, teen

With the media becoming the main source from which the current society gets their daily information concerning products, news stories, and entertainment, it is wise to think critically about the messages they are conveying to us. These corporations spend large sums of money every day in order to grasp our attention. The question as to whether or not they have their customer’s best interest in mind arises and leaves the public no answer but to look to the advertisements they have produced. Consider the pistachio industry using a woman with a whip to grasp the viewers’ attention. In reality, is a provocative image what it takes to sell us a simple bag of pistachios? With advertising decisions like these come negative consequences such as the

link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010714208/OVIC?u=scot67242&xid=d9cbf746. Accessed 20 Nov. 2017. Originally published as "Feminism, Consumerism, & the Sexualization of Girls,", 2 Mar. 2007.

The sexualization of women and girls surround Americans and is damaging to females as well as to American society. Females receive the sexualized messages regarding their appearance and how they should act via the media, retailers, and American society’s acceptance of these behaviors. As a mother, Girl Scout Leader, and school paraprofessional I cannot help but to question are these messages inflicting psychological damage on girls? Whom can I hold accountable for sexualizing female youth? What can I do to prevent sexualization from affecting all of the young girls in my life? The sexualization of girls is unacceptable because it is degrading to females, can cause serious life-long psychological damage and sexist attitudes, and may lead to violence against women and girls.

Stephanie Hanes’ “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” first appeared in the Christian Science Monitor in 2011. Hanes aims to convince her readers that little girls are being exposed to high amounts of sexualized content at a very young age. With strategic organization, supporting evidence, a specific purpose and intended audience, Hanes is able to produce a convincing argument.

The sexualization of young girls and women in society is a prevalent theme in mass media. Presently, the sexualization of females is commonly seen in various consumer items like clothes, dolls, and even in Disney movies, according to “The Sexualization of Girls Is Harmful” article. The author says that sexualization occurs when “a person’s value comes only from his or her sexual appeal or behavior; a person is held to a standard that equates physical attractiveness with being sexy; a person is sexually objectified- made into a thing for others’ sexual use; and sexuality is inappropriately imposed upon a person (AboutKidsHealth).” Furthermore, the author provides statistics on how girls are being sexualized by the products they see and use

Parents can also get involved by monitoring their children’s media, placing media devices in common areas, and using media with their children (Greenfield, 747). This in itself can effectively mitigate the effects of media sexualization. Overall, parent child communication as well as parental monitoring of media, are only a small part of the solution. Children must learn more about media sexualization from sources other than their parents in order to get a deeper understanding about the issue. This leads to schools and education systems being the next part of the

On all platforms of media women, and even young girls are oversexualized, which leads to men viewing women as no more than breasts, vaginas, and legs or any other body part men prefer. Even in current television shows, movies, comic books, and advertisements, women are still depicted as sexual objects. Everyday billboards portray women in a suggestive manner for people of all ages to see. The over-sexualization of women's bodies causes girls to have little confidence and causes boys to believe that girls are only sexual objects for their enjoyment. Girls cannot be blamed for their sexualization; they are just emulating what they see in the media.

Once these young children reach their teen years and even into early adulthood, this objectification brings on a second effect. Their ability to form natural relationships is dwindling. Take for instance the show Rock of Love or The Bachelor. Women on these shows compete amongst each other for one man’s affection. The actions of these women go much further than a regular conversation and first date. You see these women get naked, make-out with each other, even sleep with these men all in the hopes that for one more week they are able to stay in the house, just to turn around next week and do it all over again. What is this teaching our children? Well for one it is teaching them that this type of behavior is acceptable. This acceptable behavior has attributed to higher teen pregnancy, multiple sex partners and now the new craze – sexting. In a SPARK Summit video, Yanique Richards a high school student feels that these types of shows are directly targeted towards her and her peers. She states that “these shows are shown when I directly get home from school and I don’t want to do homework and I am sitting in front

On all platforms of media, women and even young girls are oversexualized; thus leading to men viewing women as no more than breasts, vaginas, legs, or any other body part they prefer. Even in current television shows, movies, comic books, and advertisements, women are still depicted as sexual objects, which can damage a woman’s confidence. The oversexualization of women 's bodies can degrade a young woman’s confidence, and when girls try to boost confidence by dressing or acting like the women they see in the media, they are reprimanded for it. Girls cannot be blamed for their sexualization; they are just emulating what they see in the media.

Pornography has strong influences over its viewers. Recent research has been done in attempt to find the link between sexually explicit material and how exposure to it has caused changes in a person’s aggression level toward women, and one’s cognitive development of sexual and social standards and expectations. The findings are grounds for advising trying to regulate the accessibility of pornography to minors to avoid these potentially harmful influences. Although, during adolescence, usually centered between the ages of 13 and 19, sexual curiosity is expected, compulsive curiosity to sexual material that is not most realistic in nature can cause unrealistic views of women and sex roles. These impacts are happening in the plastic minds of 13 and 19-year-old web surfers who are unaware of the effects taking place. Child pornography is a form of child sexual abuse. Federal law defines child pornography as any visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor less than 18 years old. Progressively, child pornography laws are being used to punish the utilization of computer technology and the Internet to get, share, and appropriate pornographic material including kids, including pictures and movies. Having a violation of federal child pornography laws is a serious crime and first time offenders found guilty of producing child