The Importance Of Self-Presentation On Women

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.”

“In men, in general, sexual desire is inherent and spontaneous” whereas “in the other sex, the desire is dormant, if not non-existent, till excited” (457). Greg’s terminology is extremely power-laden. “Spontaneous” has the connotation of energy and activity, whereas “dormant” and “victim” imply inactivity. An important concept is the assumption that men, the “coarser sex,” act on women, the “weaker sex” (457).

This proves that half the demographics do not see the importance of sexual attraction or making themselves centre of attention while with the opposite sex. The girls that I surveyed were older teenagers between the ages of seventeen and eighteen, and these people were all for Lily Allen’s campaign for slamming the sexualised music videos. This shows that the older girls realise, the ideology of being ‘perfect’ does not exist, and these women shown in these videos are not ‘realistic”.

Media influence has caused beauty to evolve into ideals that can’t actually be attained. In addition to this, women are objectified and seen as sex objects, being sexualized by men without consequence due to the normalcy the media has created for genders. In fact, men are even encouraged to sexualize women. During her TEDTalk, Kilbourne presented a photo of an adolescent boy wearing a shirt that stated “pimp squad,” showing how our society is comfortable with men sexualizing women from a very young age. In contrast, women are labeled as sluts or whores without even engaging in sexual activity. I, for example, have been called a slut for wearing leggings, merely talking to a guy, and even wearing shorts— in the summer.

Tran, Thanh. "Extended Essay: Gender Roles, Sexual Desires." Winter Term Assignment. Portland State University, 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 2 Dec. 2015.

To do so, Levy turns to the experiences of several young women whom she interviews. From her interpretations of these experiences, Levy reaches the conclusion that these women’s sexual nature revolves around their need

My experience with the Barbizon Modeling and Acting school inspired me to help others who went through similar struggles like me. Genuinely speaking, that school is the place where the beginning of my career, development of my own self confidence and self love had started. Ever since the seventh grade I have began organizing fashion shows at SACS. The main goal for me is to help anybody who participates develop their self confidence, make them feel beautiful, and try to help them realize that everybody is unique and valued. In past years I focused on showcasing the trends of the season and work on the models self development behind the scenes. This year I wanted the theme to be confidence and showcase the work we do with the models during

It is common in the united states that women, especially younger women, are in a bind where neither sexual activity nor sexual inactivity is all right. (p.11) Women are viewed as being affiliated to men, and society judges women’s characters and personality just through sexuality. If a woman chooses to have sex, she will be labeled as a “slut” or “unprincipled”. On the other hand, if a woman refuses to have sex, she will be called “man-hater”

Note: This topic is very, very difficult. To create an archetypal figure that represents women’s sexuality in its healthiest form is to dismiss all of the variety created by cultures worldwide. A woman in the United States would have a very different definition of healthy sexuality than a woman on the other side of the world. A Muslim woman would define a very different archetype than a Christian woman, and the two of them would strive to live up to very different ideals and definitions of ‘healthy sexuality.’ Therefore, the figure I define is only my personal archetypal figure and should not be interpreted as one of all women.

“Flip through a fashion magazine, turn on the television, or listen to the lyrics of popular songs and unfortunately, you will quickly find a common theme: the sexualization of women and girls” (Sexualization of women and girls) Women are constantly bombarded by the media to attain a standard of beauty that is comparable to perfection. This unrealistic standard of beauty is resulting in a number of problems for young girls and women. The sexualization and beauty standards of women in media affects girls because it gives them unrealistic expectations, it causes unhealthy habits, and causes many physical, mental, and emotional problems.

Throughout history, definitions of sexuality within a culture are created and then changed time after time. During these changes, we have seen the impact and power one individual or group can have over others. In the Late Nineteenth Century into the Early Twentieth Century, we see multiple groups of people and or authorities taking control over the idea of sex and how they believe society is being impacted by sex. At this point in time, society had groups of people who believed they had the power to control how society as whole viewed and acted upon sex. Those particular groups and ideas changed many lives and the overall definition of sexuality within that culture.

The experimental investigation held by (Yamamiya, 2005-2008) observed 123 young college women’s behaviors before and after the exposure to these images. The results of the research indicated that relative to a control group, the exposure to thin and beautiful media images negatively influenced the state body image of participants with high internalization levels. In the study, Sex Roles by (Harper & Tiggemann, 2008), objectification theory by (Fredrickson & Roberts, Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1997) emphasizes that experiences of sexual objectification socialize women to engage in self-objectification. The study (Harper & Tiggemann, 2008) used an experimental investigation to examine the effects of media images on self-objectification of women. A total number of 90 Australian female undergraduates aged from 18 to 35 were randomly chosen to view images of a thin-ideal woman. Participants are reported with greater state self-objectification, weight-related appearance anxiety, negative mood and body dissatisfaction. The results demonstrate that self-objectification can be stimulated in women without direct focusing attention on their own

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.

This construction reinforces control over young women’s sexual expression. Faus highlights how it forces women to partake in this patriarchal culture where women’s bodies are under control

When you go on with your daily lives and norms, you tend to not give much attention to what kind of roles certain genders play or how we perceive certain gender to perform said roles. Lorber mentions in the early part of her argument that we seem to treat sex, gender, and sexuality and the norms that come with them like fish and water (Lorber, 1994) . We have almost become numb to the norms and expectations that come along with certain genders and roles. However, when we see something out of the norm or missing, we notice it. Whether we keep it to ourselves or point it out, that is up to the individual.