The Objectification Of Women

Women within the western culture reflect the hypersexualization of those images within the context of a global market in which the mainstream of sexual objects of women has increasingly been accepted as the norm. In the book Women in Popular Culture: Representation and Meaning, Marian Meyers’ states, hypersexualization is the representation of women as highly sexual objects (p. 6). Hypersexualization among women in the media has affected the way society represents women by portraying them as fragile, passive, vulnerable, less intelligent, and powerless figures, compared to men. This paper will focus on the way women are stereotypically portrayed and will emphasize the pornogrification of women as sexual objects in advertising; and bad effect in reality. Hence, women in the media are represented as hypersexual objects that differ from women in reality. However, people in the society are strongly advocating abolishing the society phenomena that promotes hypersexualization of women. There is scholarly evidence to support the thesis in addition to class discussions on Wesleyan College and Charles University will stand as sources, which includes: the women in popular culture by Marian Meyers, Philosophy

Sexualization differs from healthy sexuality. According to the American Psychological Association Task Force (APA), healthy sexuality is something that develops spontaneously in people that have not suffered any kind of traumatic sexual crisis. Healthy sexuality includes affection, a relationship and/or companionship, respect, and healthy intimacy between consenting people (APA 1). Sexualization, on the other hand, is something that is forced upon a person. The APA defines sexualization as a cause that ensues when one of the following causes occur:

Social forces influence our daily lives regardless of our awareness to them. This understanding illustrates the sociological imagination which challenges accepted beliefs and encourages questioning certain practises. Generally, society accepts what they are told about what it means to be a female. We rarely question practises that degrade females despite the blatant diminishing of women being frowned upon. The objectification of women can not be solely blamed on men as both genders contribute to the sexualization of women.

As presented in the movie Miss Representation, media and technology are important because they work as powerful messengers that build many people’s way of thinking. As we live in a technologically advanced generation, being exposed to media is so easy. Both media and technology works as delivering any ideas that shapes our society. They shape our minds about politics, our emotions, and our importance. Then, it means that media can also manipulate our perception of gender role. Among all the ideas that media tries to indoctrinate, it can also portrait the importance of a woman to being all about physical beauty. Media presents a perfect woman’s image focusing on their bodily figure making their value, worth, or mind would depend on their physical appearances. Thus, it influences the way men think what is important about women is their bodily attractiveness. In any kinds of media such as advertisement, films, or video games, women are generally appreciated by their looks, not by their intellectuals or achievements. As media depicts an unrealistic body image of women’s beauty, many young girls’ value is set as to become someone else with attractive appearance, nothing like smart, powerful, or leader-like.

Who is to blame for how young girls are being portrayed on television and in music videos? Has it come to society putting more emphasis on money instead of protecting girls from being exploited in today’s new culture? This seems to be a growing problem across the United States that has caused some concern as to how it is affecting girl’s psychological well-being as well as their health. (Hatch, L., 2011) Girls are no longer interested in playing with dolls. Parents do not take their little girls to have play dates with their friends at a park, instead parents

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

This study examines sexualized representations of women in fashion advertising through a theoretical structure identified as visual rhetoric. Documented findings on explicit images of women in advertising have focused on content analyses of these visuals and how they affect women. This investigation asks how sexualized imagery of women utilities rhetorically as part of a branding message designed to sell

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.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. However there is a well known, well discussed, universal definition of perfection for all women. One that is consistent throughout different areas of the world and different allotments of the human culture. This standard of the ideal woman is based off of not only physical but intellectual standards predominantly in advertising.

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

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.

When will I won’t have to spread my legs worldwide to have the world’s attention. When will my mind hold more value than my physical appearance. When won’t I be able to turn around and see an advertisement pressuring me to buy the next best thing to get the “ right look” or whatever is most will appeal to men or society in general.

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.

Objectification of women works with benevolent sexism to further oppress women in the media through its effects on self-esteem and well-being. Rollero’s (2013) article “Men and women facing objectification: The effects of media models on well-being, self-esteem and ambivalent sexism” examines media representations of men and women and how they are related to levels of sexism and psychological well-being. The literature on objectification has mostly indicated the connection between viewing objectified media representations and women’s body displeasure and motivation to achieve a slim body. The goal of the current study was to further past research by studying the effects of objectified media images –considering both male and female models– on psychological well-being, self-regard, and support of sexist states of mind. 166 undergraduates (51.8% males) participated in the study. Results indicated that objectification of men lessened men’s happiness, whereas objectification of women was more damaging because it lessens women’s happiness, appeal and social self-confidence. Furthermore, objectification of women affects men’s validation of sexist attitudes, increasing aggression toward women while decreasing aggression direct to men. Typically, only women are examined in studies of objectification. The inclusion of both male and female effects in the article makes it unique in comparison to other similar studies. Furthermore, the inclusion of both males and females allows for

The objectification of women is commonly used to refer to the presentation of women in the media as an object. Women 's bodies are routinely used as objects to sell various products. In certain pictures women are presented as being vulnerable and easily overpowered especially in ads were they have on revealing clothing and take on submissive roles. These images are found in music videos as well, where the focus is only a particular body part. Lyrics to some songs promote this objectification as well.