Essay on Sexualization in The Media

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.”

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,

"I don't believe in rape. No means no. Wait, if no meant no, all men would die a virgin. No means work on the neck, the nipples and come back in five minutes. I'm not saying a father should give this version of the birds and bees to his son. Listen she's gonna block your hands four or five times at least. I didn't raise you to be a quitter out there now did I. She wouldn't dress like that if she didn't want to get fingered." Comedian, Daniel Tosh expressed this quote meaning for it to be harmful. But, is it really harmful? Is this what society really thinks? Are women supposed to be easy? Do men need to take control and get what they want? A simple joke can be seen as what our society really

Gender role bias in advertisements has been so prevalent for so long that the untrained eye wouldn't even discern it. All the same, these biases, for the most part, put women in subordinate positions and men in dominant ones. This assumption on both the genders is unfair and demeaning. These ads portray women as subservient and play toys for men. Not only do the models depict an image nowhere near close to reality, but their bodies are scantily clad and what few clothes they are wearing are very revealing.

Many different articles and essays use statistics to back up their claims but you is to say if they are accurate or not? In “Little Girls or Little Women? The Disney Princess Effect” by Stephanie Hanes and “Toddlers in Tiaras” by Skip Hollandsworth they use many different statistics to back up their claims that the media is sexualizing little girls and that it is a problem for themselves and society. Even though they shock you with their disturbing statistics you wouldn’t know if they were correct without some further research.

Magazines, Internet, radio, music videos, music lyrics, and other types of mainstream media relentlessly portray sexualized images of women that not only promote narrow and unrealistic ‘standards’ of physical beauty, but seem to endorse, glorify and encourage them. We are almost back to the 1950’s, where women were seen merely as a sex object. Horrifyingly the media is now broadening their attacks and promotions of sex to teenagers and young girls. A report created by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), attest that there are many short term and long term physical, emotional and psychological effects of the premature sexualisation of teenagers and young girls.

In the video “Killing Us Softly”, Jean Kilbourne explains how ads portray women in our world. Women are portrayed as fragile, more vulnerable, and less powerful. Ads are photoshopped to make their bodies the “ideal image” of what women should look like. Ads promote sexual and unhealthy images of women. The pictures are photoshopped making the models body shape and skin color completely different to what her actual body looks like. It changes her face to look more appealing, body shape thinner, white or light skinned, and bigger breasts. Ads also create a climate for violence against women. Ads portray men as strong, big, and more powerful. Men don’t live in a world where their bodies are criticized and judged every day. Men are less likely

In society, women are held to a very high social standard. The pressure to look as perfect as all the models in magazines have driven many girls to an impossible fixation. Not only is it seen as a social norm, but also people do not even realize the degrading images of women in our everyday surroundings. After watching “Killing Us Softly”, this ideal was brought to my attention more that almost every advertisement piece that involves women promotes sexualization, objectification, and reinforces the feminine gender roles in America.

Imagine you are bored one day in the early morning. You reach for your favorite magazine, the newest edition of the widely recognized Vogue magazine. On the cover, as always, there is a gorgeous woman. She is dressed in a gold, sparkly, dress (which probably costs more than what you make in a year) and in even more expensive and fancy heels. Her hair and makeup are obviously professionally done, and she looks absolutely beautiful sprawled out on a large bed provocatively with a rabbit on either side. And then you realize something, this isn’t a women you are looking at; it’s a girl - a 10 year old at that! (“10-Year Old Vogue Model: Pretty or Pretty Weird?”).

Women throughout media are standing out as an object. As women we are attracting attention by dressing scandaless. In the book so sexy soon jean killbourne describes “when people are sexualized, their values comes primarily from their sexual appeal which is equated with physical attractiveness. Magazines become another electronic on how to view women as. For instance men are going through a magazine just to get their mind off few things but instead they come across a picture of a nice curvy woman who is laying on a new 2015 mustang being sexually attractive to men. The deep women dig for attention the more they are portrayed as an object. To change the media in today society will be improving a better way to investigate a better way on how

2010, the American Psychological Association (APA) released a report on the sexualization of girls in the media and found that massive exposure to media among youth creates the potential for massive exposure to portrayals that sexualize women and girls and teach girls that women are sexual objects. Examining various media, the findings proved girls are portrayed in a sexual manner more often than boys; dressed in revealing clothing, with bodily postures or facial expressions that imply sexual readiness. Women and girls are also more likely to be indicated portrayed in a sexual manner (dressed in revealing clothing, with bodily postures or facial expressions that imply sexual readiness) and are objectified (used as a decorative object, or as body parts rather than a whole person).

The media has a strong impact on us. From advertisement in commercials to radio, the media has been dictating what we should see and hear. The videos we watched in class showed how bad the media sexualize women in commercials and how bad women are treated in the media.

According to a poll of 10 to 16 year olds done by the advocacy group Children Now, "77 percent say that there is too much premarital sex on T.V., while 62 percent say sex on T.V. and in movies influences kids to have sex when they are too young" (Clark, "Sex, Violence"). The influences of the media is felt everywhere and especially in terms of human sexuality. Everything from TV commercials to the newspaper has some form of sex in it, usually to keep the audience interested. In modern society, the changing times as well as media executives wanting more ratings(and therefore money) have lead to teenagers more willing to try sexual acts at a younger age and the country being more openminded about sexual issues.

One of the most important resources of a business is its advertisement team. Due to the fact that people can and will buy your product only if they know about it.

Since birth human behaviour is influenced by what the individual sees and there surroundings, this influence is greatest at a young age and fades as the individual grows in age, but never completely goes away. In today’s society where sex is something that is openly broadcasted in order to promote everything from products to television shows, sex is something that the youth of today are exposed to from an early age. But what effects can this exposure at such a vulnerable stage in life cause? Early exposure to sexual content can increase the likeliness of youth participating in sexual activity by the large amount that they are exposed too, the glorification of sex, the lack of regulation of sexual content in the media by the government, and