My topic is about sexualization of women in society. The problem is that the media(magazines, TV, advertisements), men, and society have ideals of what women should look like(body), act, dress in public. Women face this issue everyday. Women have faced this issue since they were 6-12 years old. When girls are growing up they play with Barbies, not realizing that these dolls hold a superficial and un-realistic image of women’s bodies. The Barbies have tiny waists and big boobs. Nowadays, girls grow up with Bratz dolls who are way sexualized for girls who are 6. These dolls have full makeup on, their lips are usually large, and have short skirts. It does not portray a positive image for young girls. Sometimes it’s not the girls’ fault when it comes to succumbing to sexualization of girl’s bodies at a young age sometimes it’s the parent’s doing. We see this in shows, such as, Toddlers and Tiaras. In the show, 2-5 year olds run in a beauty pageant. The little girls look like 12. The mom cakes on the makeup, curls and hairspray, flippers(dentures for kids), whoreish costumes you only see in halloween. You just see the moms in the stands cheering on the daughter and getting way into it. It is the parent that shoves and pushes the child to do the pageant. The moms get extremly upset when their daughters don’t get 1st and the little girls are just happy making new friends and eating candy. It is scary to see these moms and what they are doing to these girls and it develops issues in child development. These little girls don’t have a chance at being kids. At younger ages, girls are introduced to adult sexuality and objectifying. When girls reach puberty they want to explore with makeup, short skirts, shaving their legs, new hair, heels, etc.. not knowing that this is a product/result of society expectations of them(mostly men). They are a product of society. Girls get ideas of how to dress by looking at magazines and advertisements and TV shows. They compare their bodies with these models who are 5’9+ and skinny. The girls then develop self-esteem issues, eating disorders and even depression. Statistics show that Ninety-five percent of those with eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.
Statistics also show that women are much more likely than men to develop an eating disorder. They yearn to change their bodies to be like these women and this behavior can lead to depression as well. TV shows such as “Keeping up with the Kardashians” do not help with girls’ self image because these girls are all plastic. The show shows the three daughters: Khloe, Kylie and Kim who have exaggerated on surgeries it seems like. Khloe has a huge butt and big lips, Kim has the big breasts and Kylie has also followed their sisters’ path and got a nose job and lip fillers(went horribly wrong). These girls prove that this is what women should look like and what guys want. We also see Kourtney’s boyfriend (ex now), Scott over emphasize their sex life on the show. He keeps asking her to have sex and it makes viewers think that this is normal behavior and expected of men and girls have to accept this to be in “happy and lasting relationships”. Especially when it’s a little girl’s role model and they look up to these girls then their whole up-bringing/behavior can change because they want to imitate someone of high status and trend. It’s not just in the media that we see this sexualization trends in girls. We also see more and more women on Facebook and Instagram posting their weight loss journey for everyone to see. While I think it’s great to celebrate losing 10 pounds or whatever it just makes it an uncomfortable post because these girls usually post their pictures in little booty shorts and a sports bra or worse, a bikini. They are exposing/exploiting their bodies. This also can reflect that they have bad low self esteem and are seeking attention from others(strangers) to feel good. A study conducted in Brunel University in London stated that people who post about accomplishments are more narcissistic. Narcissistic people broadcast the effort they put into their physical appearance for all to see and envy. With 50 likes on a picture it boosts confidence. The only problem is that men post on these kind of pictures and they are not celebrating women’s weight loss journey but rather their butt and legs. The girls who post their weight loss journey then get upset that men are leaving such crude comments. Umm.. what did you expect? You posted it to show off your new body so this is what you can expect from men. I don’t think women realize what audience they are attracting with these posts. The more that men objectify women as just sexual objects than this can effect the way men and women communicate. One study shows that when men are checking a girl out(focusing on body part), the girl picks up on that and it dehumanizes/degrades them. It creates distance between the man and woman. Men fail to interact and deal with emotions and only value their appearance and little else. It also is quite interesting that such honored professions such as nurse and teacher are being sexualized by men. As women increase power in society the possibilities of equality for women have been met with oppositional reactions intended to maintain men’s dominance. The widespread of media images of highly sexualized women is hypothesized to maintain men’s dominance by designating women’s bodies as property that can be evaluated, looked at, and touched at the impulse of men’s desire.
http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/girls/report-full.pdf
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/12/opinion/henson-toddlers-tiaras/
https://storify.com/solelylo_/the-negative-side-of-bratz-dolls
http://www.sciencedirect.com.ezproxy.fau.edu/science/article/pii/S1740144516301577 (Journal article,peer reviewed)
https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-is-wrong-with-men-objectifying-women
Barbie Lead Designer Blames Moms, Not Doll’s Crazy Proportions, for Girls’ Body Issues
http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a55017/kim-kardashian-naked-selfie-empowerment/
http://womenandadvertising.weebly.com/women-as-sexual-objects.html
http://allnurses.com/general-nursing-discussion/where-did-the-243308.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darryl-roberts/sexualized-culture-is-creating-mental-health-issues-in-our-youth_b_5994148.html
Shocker: Science Says People Who Post About Their Workout on Facebook Are Narcissists