Sexual Objectification Of Women: Article Analysis

In the article, “The Negative Effects of the Media on Body Image” by Esther Vargas, there were several issues discussed about the negative effects that media has on body image in society. Many girls

The body image movement aims to improve the relationship between women and their bodies in a more positive manner (Dove 2014). Currently, women are suffering from an increase in body self-consciousness as a result of medias role regarding beauty ideals. Researchers have found that women worldwide do not view themselves as beautiful and are consistently troubled about their appearance and concluded that six out of ten girls are concerned about their appearances (Dove 2014). As a result, anxiety and self-consciousness are all contributing factors producing significant health concerns among women (Aubrey 2007). Media has developed a reputation in society for women to be held to unachievable beauty standards as they promote a “thin culture” (Hesse-Biber et al. 2006). This promotion of beauty standards has inspired the body image movement to educate and encourage women to love their bodies in order to achieve more self-esteem and confidence (Dove 2014). As well as, corporations are beginning to

Thesis: The media puts pressure on women of all ages to conform to their standards of what looks best, and this pressure results in women having a negative body image.

Also, the media lowers women's self-esteem by making them believe that if they don't have the appearance of the young woman in the advertisement, their body is not classified as beautiful. Diana Vancura in her article, “The Media Focus Too Much on Looks” not only emphasizes the idea that the media ignores women's talents, but also the idea that they only “advertise a specific body type as beautiful” constantly. Once again we see how media puts down any beauty that

“The media have taken many celebrity appearances into their own hands, many times without permission” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). Because of the media photoshopping women 's beauty on TV, social media, and even advertisements, it began to create a high rate of accusations of teenage girls’ all over the world. “In a recent study, the University at Buffalo sociologists found that the portrayal of women in the popular media over the last several decades has become increasingly sexualized, even pornified"( Donovan par.1). Due to this, women have been treated as sexual objects everywhere. Objectification comes from the lack of confidence and media 's portrayal of beauty. Due to this, the portrayal of men is not the same as females. Objectification is when women are treated like sexual objects. ‘Objectification is often defined by physical appearance, rather than personality” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). As a result, women struggle to keep up with these trends today. “In order to achieve a ‘perfect’ look, the media manipulates photos using unnecessary editing in Photoshop to completely contort the original, creating an unnatural image” (“The Objectification of Women” par.2). The media is the dominant cause of these actions of teenage girls insecurities, high rates of surgical treatment, and males creating these fictitious assumptions. Objectification in social media should end because it causes teenage insecurities, it

Looking back over this course the most valuable reading I learned was about persuasive writing and the different types of writing to use with a particular audience. I found myself in the beginning to be a cognitive writer, but now I think I have implemented all the views of writing during this course and have learned a lot. My favorite activity or essay I wrote about was the argumentative essay in written assignment 8. I wrote about, Sexual Objectification of Women" it is here where I learned through research and facts to persuade and educate the reader about human sexual objectification.

Being female has affected my life in many ways, both positive and negative. However, when I compare them the negatives outweigh the positives. Almost all the negatives on my list seem to lead to double standards. A double standard defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary is “a set of principles that applies differently and usually more rigorously to one group of people or circumstances than to another; especially a code of morals that applies more severe standards of sexual behaviour to women than to men.” I feel this is very fitting as even in the definition itself it refers to gender double standards that apply to women more than men. I have experienced double standards from sexual objectifications to social pressures and stereotypes.

Topics that really hit home for me were the rampant sexual objectification of women and our over dependence on technology, the new age addiction. Caroline Heldman brings into perspective the world of sexually objectifying women from music videos to TV advertisement and the clear line between objectification and empowerment. I think we are living in a very confused society, if we believe that women are empowering themselves when they are used as objects. We are sending a wrong message to the youth of our generation that it is ok to be objects and not be viewed for your intellect. Women are more that beautiful objects to be viewed for pleasure or eye candy (pop culture term), they should be viewed for their strength, love and kindness and help

Because females, and even younger females have started to become very sexualized in the media, these images can start to mold at a young age what a female “should” be like. “Sexualization occurs when women and girls are most valued for their sexual appeal, are sexually objectified, or have sexuality inappropriately forced on them” (American Psychological Association, qtd. in Stone et al. 1604). When media portrays these types of images depicting women to be a certain way, it can cause many issues, such as lower body and self esteem, and even depression (Stone et al. 1605). A study is conducted to see how children perceive sexualized girls, and what traits they should possess, such as being popular or being smart (Stone et al. 1606). Ellen

Because of the fashion industries portrayal of beauty in advertisements, a value system that focuses on looks and external beauty is built by the men and women that are exposed to them (Sheehan 108). Although the word "fashion" is often used in a positive sense, the Fashion Industry itself may have some significant negative impacts. Many studies connect the exposure to such advertisements and media coverage of thin models to women with a negative self-esteem and issues with body image. The images of women that are presented by the Fashion Industry, especially in magazines, represent an image that is nearly impossible to achieve. As a result, many women and even men turn to eating disorders in hope to become the image of beauty that has been created for them by the Fashion Industry and the media. So, it can be argued that sociologically, the Fashion Industry indeed has a negative impact on the values, self-esteem, and the perception of women and men such as listed below. factor

Everywhere you turn, there are magazine covers, movies, reality TV shows that portray woman in a sexual light. When was the last time that we as a society sat down and realized the effect that this is having on young girls, teens and even grown women. The portrayal of women as sexual objects in these and many other types of media have greatly affected the mindset of society. What affects has this had you ask? There are there main effects that we will explore. First, is the effect it has on their self-image. Second, is the effect on how they portray themselves in their relationships. Third is the effect it has on their mental state.

The female body image is highly influenced by the mass media and the media’s portrayal of women, ‘70% of college women say they feel worse about their own looks after reading women’s magazines’ (University of Massachusetts & Stanford University, 2006), the portrayal of women in the media has an unrealistic approach and brings out body dissatisfactions and this results in eating problems and disorders.

Beauty and Body Image in Media. (2009)Roberts, S., & Fredrickson, B. (1998). “Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks.

The media have constructed attractiveness for a long time many sociocultural standards of beauty and. Especially women’s body images have been a primary concern because the value of women has been measured how they look like. How women have similar body traits with the modern female body images has been a significant and essential issue, historically. The sociocultural standards of beauty which have been created by the greed of the media have dire impacts on young females. The current beauty level of the female body image in the media is thinness. In fact, the preferred female body images have been changed through the media. Throughout history, sometimes skinny women’s body images were loved, and sometimes over weighted women’s body images were preferred. Whenever the media have dictated the ideal female

For centuries females have been often viewed as objects rather than human beings. Primarily, we