I believe I speak for all women, and very few men, when I say I know what it feels like to self-objectify. But how do I know I’m self-objectifying? Well, I ask myself this: “Do I think that the prettier I look, the more lovable I am?” In other words, have I somehow learned that if I get my hair and makeup just right, and if I hide all of the flaws on my body well enough, and if I am passive and doll-like enough, then he’ll fall for me harder or want me more? Well, time to unlearn.
Remember the lyrics to this classic song? It may sound dated because it’s so straight-forward, and marketing is so much more subtle nowadays, but believe me, we’re still getting the exact same message.
What’s cute about little cutie?
It’s her beauty, not brains
Keep young and beautiful
It’s your duty to be beautiful
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved
Don’t fail to do your stuff
With a little powder and a puff
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved
If you’re wise, exercise all the fat off
Take it off, off of here, off of there
When you’re seen anywhere with your hat off
Wear a Marcel wave in your hair
Take care of all those charms
And you’ll always be in someone’s arms
Keep young and beautiful
If you want to be loved
Sexual objectification is nothing new. We see it every day – in magazines, on television, plastered to the sides of buses. The objectification of women is such an utterly common thing that most people rarely ever notice it (at least consciously). They never really step back and wonder why there’s a half-naked model in that beef jerky commercial, or why breasts are the focal point in that ad for shoes. That’s just how it is, we’re told. It’s human nature.
The images we see on billboards and in magazines present the ‘ideal’ image for women, as created by the advertising media. Depicting the ideal woman as young, sensual and “perfect”, the images create the subconscious thought that women are judged according to looks alone. Because the “young, tall, flawless, thin, and hot with a tiny waist, big round boobs and a round butt” ideal is almost always unattainable, real women go through impossible dieting and compulsive cosmetic surgery procedures to become significant in society.
The increasing sexualization of little girls has also led to the increasing rate of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. And then, there’s the existence of double standards that expect women to be innocent yet seductive, virginal but experienced.
These same images that objectify women and eroticize violence, often lead to violence against women and a general lack of respect for the gender.
Ads showing women without heads or without faces reduce them to nothing more than loose body parts – choice cuts of meat to salivate over.
And in the end it’s us, the consumers, who keep the process going. In consuming we only reinforce these crude commercial tactics.
Objectification is a phenomenon that not only changes the way we view models or actresses, but also how we see every woman — and ourselves.
The skyrocketing sales that result from ads that objectify women further affirm to marketers that this method is the way to go, fiscally speaking. It’s easy to imagine how one business, noticing the success of another, might adopt the same advertising model and embrace sexual objectification as a means of selling their products.
It’s a vicious cycle that’s brought society’s view of women to a whole new, perverted level.
And while that old adage ‘sex sells’ may be true when marketing to men, it’s not sex that brands and the media are marketing to women — it’s self-objectification. It’s the idea that in order to be desirable (and, ultimately, lovable), you must act/look/dress/etc. like this (this being the ‘ideal’ du jour). Oh, and if you don’t, well then you’re the only one to blame when you’re an unhappy, unmarried, dowdy 40-something spinster — right? I mean, they told you how to be sexy. You really should have listened! /s
‘Sex sells’ when it comes to men, but self-objectification sells when it comes to women.
We buy glossy magazines that tell us what clothes to wear and what overpriced perfume to buy if we really want to ‘sell ourselves’ and get the guy we want. Through the media, advertisers define what’s sexy and what’s beautiful. They set the standard for every woman; poster girls we all need to measure up to.
But how can we all? Not every woman has a 23-inch waist and a C-cup, and not every woman should! What’s more, these depictions are almost always digitally altered (blemishes concealed, cellulite removed, waist tightened, face reshaped, abs added), making it impossible for anybody to reach this so-called ‘standard of beauty’. No wonder so many women experience debilitating insecurity, self-objectification, depression, eating disorders, and sexual dysfunction after looking at these images.
Is it really about teaching women how to be attractive, or is it more about tapping into female insecurities?
Objectification is what makes girls and women feel the need to look perfect in front of peers and prospective dates. It fuels our insecurity and says, “Hey, you’d be more desirable if only your thighs were more toned, your skin was more tanned, your abs were flatter, and your lips were fuller. Go hit the gym — or just buy this product NOW!”
On the other side of the gender line, it subconsciously gives men the idea that these models are what a really ‘beautiful’ woman should look like. It tells them that they’re not man enough if they can’t ‘score’ with a woman like that. As both women and men begin to internalize these images, they begin believe it’s okay to treat women as objects or tools, and the problem worsens.
So, can you guess where we find most of these objectifying ads? Women’s magazines.
When I was a child, I used to look at the cover of Cosmopolitan and get angry. I couldn’t articulate exactly why, but I knew something was very wrong. Although reactions are varied when it comes to the topic of objectification, most women feel offended, degraded, and disregarded by the way our society accepts this objectification — even if they don’t yet consciously realize why.
Many women feel that worrying about these issues is rewarding, and by transcending these commercial standards of beauty, they can ‘feel sexy’ on their own terms. But it’s hard to argue with the fact that no matter how conscious we are of the facts, our brains have an intellectual side, and a lizard-brain subconscious. And it’s been proven that no matter how educated you are, it’s near impossible to escape the effects of advertising.
We all know women who endorse this messaging and openly self-objectify, not realizing that they are slowly (collectively) damaging not only themselves, but society. While feeling sexy is something every woman should experience, there is a difference between expressing sexuality and being used as sexual object.
A woman’s sexuality is a reflection of her own self-image. It becomes more difficult for women to develop self-confidence when they are regularly bombarded by perverse depictions of the female body.
But in the new MeToo world, this is slowly starting to change. Women are getting educated and choosing to support companies like Aerie (which uses real-ish un-retouched women in their campaigns) while Victoria’s Secret’s sales and runway show viewership is on a downward trend. Sales of magazines like Cosmopolitan are down, and a new breed of unconventional models are becoming well known.
Change can only start if consumers take a stand against sexual objectification by boycotting products of companies that practice it. Hopefully a day will come when women can be confident about their naturally given attributes, rather than worry about the size of their breasts or the circumference of their butts.
Want to learn more? Here are a few great videos:
For more information about the above film, visit their website at MediaEd.org
Below is another great, 8-minute video on the topic (you can watch the full 90-minute film here):
…and a 16-minute TED Talk about this topic:
People need to stop teaching younger women to view themselves as sexual objects. If you’re taught that your whole value is based on what you are to men, then you’re going to buy into that same mentality later on in life. Was thinking of the cheerleaders at football games. serving as eye-candy for men. that’s their sole purpose. If they honestly thought they were athletes, then they should demand making cheer-leading as a whole new sport with competitive spirit. Not just some semi-nude women gyrating in front of some of America’s best athletes. Instead, they can BE the best athlete in their sport without just being there as an objectified performer.
Agreed! I always found the concept of cheerleaders offensive. It wouldn’t be so bad if they were 50% male, and they dressed in non-sexual outfits, but it’s such a super objectifying thing the way it’s currently set up.
I think that the everyday experiences of women is, more or less, a cumulative depersonalization via portrayals on television, magazine covers, etc., and in social interactions, such that the societal and experiential message many women receive tells them that their looks and sexual attractiveness are the currency upon which their value is, at least in part, based.
I think there’s a false dichotomy between treating someone as a “depersonalized object of desire” and treating them as “an individual with a complex personality.” Is not it possible to treat someone as a sexually desirable individual with a complex personality? From where comes the assumption that finding someone’s body desirable depersonalizes them? Last I checked, most people want to have sex with people, not with objects. Sexual desire and desirability, being part of “the human experience,” ought to make us feel like more of a person, not less, or so it seems to me. This is something that has always bugged me about this subject area.
The dichotomy is not false. Key words: DEPERSONALIZED OBJECT. You can desire a person, or you can desire an object. But you can’t do both at the same time. You either view women as people, or you don’t.
Objectifying is bad because of the way it manipulates people. It has nothing to do with the models supporting the product it has to do with the mental backlashes that can come from the conformity suggested in the commercial. The integration of psychology into commercials has infected this message of conformity since the 1950’s. The underlying message has only grown strong since the birth of our mass society in the 20’s but recently the ads have become more effective at what I would like to call inception. They make you think it was your idea to get this product and to lose your weight and be incredibly good looking. It promotes eating disorders, and bankruptcy even if we don’t see it on the surface. A perfectly fit woman may see a clothing ad talking about being ‘curvy’ and the picture of the girl looks exactly the same weight, this might bring the woman to think she needs to lose more. This can happen beyond health and that is what makes this wrong.
I believe that the objectification of women in today’s society is a growing problem. The media allows young children to believe that what they see in television and video games is OK. In the future, I do not want my children to see women parading around in their underwear and think that it is acceptable. We must teach our younger siblings and future children to carry themselves with respect. It is bad enough that we have to listen to songs where women are being portrayed as sex objects, but the worst part is the fact that women themselves are the ones dancing to those types of songs.
Hi Hilary!
Objectifying women especially as objects is sad. People are judged by what they wear. If you dress a certain way on purpose, it’s your prerogative. People should not be objectified by what they wear, but society holds people accountable for what they wear.
Models and actors know they are being objectified. We know they are and don’t have to follow suit with that. It’s just like how beauty is portrayed with models and actresses. We know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that being thin to the point of being anorexic is not healthy. Yet models, actors, and actresses are made to believe that being extremely thin is they only way they can be accepted and keep their jobs.
Wearing an attractive outfit versus wearing a revealing outfit might be a different thing if one knows the difference.
Objectification leads to adolescents who see themselves as only the sum of their physical parts, which leads to teenagers who are insecure and shallow, which leads to adults who star on Jersey Shore. Sure, I like it when people think I’m attractive, but it really bothers me when they think that’s ALL I am.
In my opinion some occasional objectification is a reminder or notification that a person is attractive to others. A long term or frequent objectification of a person however, just lets them know that their only value to others is their ability to look good. What is the person left with when their beauty fades? So a little objectification is not that bad, but a lot is extremely negative.
I think that’s also why there are so few roles for older women. In Hollywood and the media, as soon as a woman shows signs of aging (or, enough so that it’s a hassle to Photoshop them out), their value goes down. I am so sick of seeing older men being portrayed as sexy, and sleeping with younger women. Speaking of that, I think I’m going to write an article about how sexist the James Bond franchise is!
I definatly understand where you are coming from I just graduated from a small woman’s college. On a daily basis we talked about how women are objectified everyday. You don’t see men in the tighty whiteys all time. why is okay for women to be in there bra and underwear. If women are supposed to look like Victoria Secret model shouldn’t we expect men to look like Abercrombie models?
The real problem is that objectification in general is bad and reduces people to their bodies and/or looks, male or female. One can’t reduce a person to the role they play on a daily basis-that means yes, objectifying an actor as ‘just’ an actor is also wrong.