Why Do Men Objectify 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.”

For example, the advertisements portraying a sparsely dressed woman eating a large burger “sexily.” This, for men, further sexualizes women which could contribute to the United States rape culture, but also get that unrealistic image of what a woman should be like ingrained in their minds. Young woman could watch those ads and feel terribly about themselves or strive to become that male fantasy that they believe will get them accepted into our twisted society. This, however, is not fantasy. A fantasy is “the faculty or activity of imagining things,” and this problem is very real. Women are sexual objects, and there is no way to put that lightly. Since the media is such a large and important part of the world, people lean towards believing what they see and hear. The media is yet another way in which women are portrayed as a tool for others

Sexual objection and non-sexual objectification were mainly measured in body exposure and body movements. The different areas of a woman’s body being displayed were used to operationalize the idea of sexual objectification. Similarly, camera angles such as panning down bodies and shots down shirts were tallied to create a solid definition of “sexualizing” for the purpose of this research. (see Appendix A and B)

Today's media is increasingly pornographic, and the notion that 'sex sells' has infiltrated the advertising of virtually all products and services. Both men and women are sexualized in contemporary media, but the extent to which women are sexualized is far greater that men are. Jean Kilbourne states in her talk, The Dangerous Ways Ads See Women, "There are stereotypes that harm men, of course, but they tend to be less personal, less related to the body." The stereotypes that drive the portrayal of women in the media lead to the repeated objectification, particularly sexual objectification,

Women are sexually exploited in the media. In today’s society if people watch television programs such as Chingy featuring Snoop & Ludacris – Holidae; Charlie's Angels; the Z100 commercial with Britney Spears; or Baywatch they will see that the feminine image is presented differently than the masculine. In these programs men are typically placed in sexual situations fully clothed, while women are presented in provocative clothing or less. The camera will frequently zoom in on body parts to focus on the woman’s buttocks, midriff, and legs. Society is still dominated by men who control what people see. As a result women are increasingly portrayed as sex symbols as a way for a media company to turn

Many television shows and commercials portray women as sex symbols. Women are seen in the media mostly as sex objects who exist primarily to service men. For example, there is an episode for American Dad that shows Steve stop his car while his is driving past a woman jogging just to take pictures. Steve says, “ Let’s get some from and don’t forget the rack.” Which in turn makes me feel uncomfortable in my own skin when I am out in public knowing that there are people out there that will only ever see women as sex toys. Another example, is the Carl’s Jr. commercials that show women in nothing but a bikini eating and licking slowly all over a Carl’s Jr. burger. This commercial disgusts me because women are far better

The objectifications of a woman have been known to be centered around the actions of a man. Cat-calling, slut shaming, and men being in a superior position while women are inferior or counted as their ‘objects’ are all parts of the dehumanizing nature of objectification. This indicates that women are centered around their appearance and feminine demeanor, and nothing else needs to be accounted for. However, there are other influences that have contributed to the vicious cycle society has on degrading women. Women objectify other women over similar matters as men, but not similar relevance in sociocultural context. Another contributor to women objectification is women’s self-objectification, in which they internally reflect on their appearance and demeanor to seek the approval of the observer. The last and most dominant factor that has been deemed the main culprit of turning women into objects is the culture of advertisement. Advertising has sexually objectified women for years, and is the backbone of the degradation of women in the real world. It also depicts unrealistic images of the female body and attitude that no female human being can actually live up to. The media has introduced the actions of sexual discrimination and harassment, and has influenced the ideas of how women should be treated. The combination of these three components are continuing the cycle of the objectification of women.

Regardless of race or gender people in today’s society have probably seen something on the media and have strived to be more like that image. Women objectification is very common like in Alabama’s sorority recruitment video, they only showed the prettiest of girls with the nicest body; the whole video did not tell of any offers or why an individual should come to their college, instead it only showed girls playing around in bikinis or minimal clothing (WKRGNews). Although this recruitment video was later taken down due to the controversy it caused, it shows that women objectification is out there and very common. Men are similar to women in the fact that they are also objectified. Objectifying men is seen as not as big of a problem than female objectification but it is equally important. Magic Mike XXL objectifies men by portraying Mark Wahlberg and other actors with great bodies by dancing and other classic chick flick scenes (WarnerBrosPicture). Actors in movies like Magic Mike XXL make the average man look plain disappointing as well as women in magazines or other movies. The average person in today's society can differentiate between flawless and average but none the less objectification of men and women occur frequently in the

This is achieved by objectifying people. As Kilbourne argues “Sex in advertising is pornographic because it dehumanizes and objectifies people” (Kilbourne, 491-2). The mass media is blatantly objectifying people, which is wrong. We all know it to be wrong. So why then, do we allow it to continue? Perhaps this is because the objectification of people has become so commonplace in our society that we just accept it? However, that doesn’t make it right. Kilbourne 's image of the media is chilling. But, perhaps it is necessary. People need to act against the mass media. Or they will just keep at it until we are nothing but sex objects.

The article, “Looking at Women” by Scott Russell Sanders published in The Norton Reader, 13th edition, embarks on a journey to find out why men look at women. Sanders starts off with his personal encounter as adolescence were he was told not to look at women out of lustful desire, because women would not want to be stared at like that. He also wondered from his early college days, were his bunkmate had pictures of nude women and he and others would endlessly stir at these pictures. Sanders questions whether women enjoy being looked at by men and how should men look at women. He uses quotes from people and facts to find answers to these questions. He also analyses the problem from global perspective. He wonders why women try so hard to look good. He concludes with the fact that women like looking good, but they sometimes don't like it when men stare at them. Sanders opines in his thesis that " to be turned into an object – whether by the brush of a painter or the lens of a photographer or the eye of a voyeur, whether by hunger or poverty or enslavement, by mugging or rape, bullets or bombs, by hatred, racism, car crashes, fires, or falls – is for each of us the deepest dread; and to reduce another person to an object is the primal wrong” (188).

The documentary “Miss Representation” delves into how the media and society. The viewer is exposed to how the media builds an expectation of how women should look and act. When the media portrays women as the perfect weight, height, and behavior for the target audience, it lowers the self-esteem of the females watching that cannot hope to compare to a fictional character. Men exposed to these types of advertisement and entertainment are taught to objectify women. It distorts societies and male expectations of how real women should look and behave. The documentary also discusses the lack of female protagonists in television and movies. There is a distinct lack of female heroines in our world today. This shortage further diminishes the hopes

Multimillion dollar companies frame women as submissive beings, and focus on their appearance. They have to sell the woman’s body in order for them to make a profit for their products. There is a disproportionate portrayal of women in the media as sexual beings rather than intellectual beings. As a result, men focus on the sexual nature of the woman and disregard the intellectual capacity of the woman, which allows men to objectify women.

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.

In this era, both men and women are obsessed with beauty and obtaining perfect bodies to be accepted by society. The majority of the population can be found on social sites or watches numerous hours of television a year, which contain advertisements and product placement. In fact, Jean Kilbourne states that, “3,000 ads [are] see[n] per day, on average” (Killing Us Softly). The media is responsible for creating the idea of what body image and beauty standards are accepted. Body image plays a very important role in our society in shaping our identities. Advertisements can have both benefits and damaging affects depending on the illustration, model, and message. In the United States, the damages associated with negative body image is a significant

Yes, women’s bodies are used to sell products, or portray a “perfect image” of how men want their women, but women must voluntarily advertize their own bodies. Some females may considered “sexy” or “racy” photos and commercials to be degrading, but those women choosing to do so can find it very empowering. They not only feel confident but they are becoming something that men swoon over and yearn for; ergo creating a sense of authority. Sexism runs rampant in every facet of our society.