Sexual Objectification, Part 1: What is it?

This is Part 1 of a four-part series on sexual objectification–what it is and how to respond to it. The phrase “sexual objectification” has been around since the 1970s, but the phenomenon is more rampant than ever in popular culture–and we now know that it causes real harm. What exactly is it, though? How do we know sexual objectification when we see it? 1) Does the image show only part(s) of a sexualized person’s body? Headless women, for example, make it easy to see them as only a body by erasing the individuality communicated through faces, eyes and eye contact: We achieve the same effect when showing women from behind, which adds another layer of sexual violability. Covering up a woman’s face works well, too: 2) Does the image present a sexualized person as a stand-in for an object? The breasts of the woman in this beer ad, for example, are conflated with the cans: Likewise the woman in this fashion spread in Details, in which a woman becomes a table upon which things are perched.

Sexual Objectification, Part 2: The Harm This is the second part in a series about how girls and women can navigate a culture that treats them like sex objects. (Part 1 can be found here.) Sexual objectification is nothing new, but this latest era is characterized by greater exposure to advertising and increased sexual explicitness in advertising [PDF], magazines, television shows, movies [PDF], video games, music videos, television news, and “reality” television. In a culture with widespread sexual objectification, women (especially) tend to view themselves as objects of desire for others. This internalized sexual objectification has been linked to problems with mental health (clinical depression, “habitual body monitoring”), eating disorders, body shame, self-worth and life satisfaction, cognitive functioning, motor functioning, sexual dysfunction [PDF], access to leadership [PDF] and political efficacy [PDF]. Widespread sexual objectification in U.S. popular culture creates a toxic environment for girls and women.

Sexual Objectification 3: Daily Rituals to Stop This is the third installment of a four-part series about how girls and women can navigate a culture that treats them like sex objects. (See Part 1, Part 2.) There are four damaging daily rituals of objectification culture we can immediately stop engaging in to improve our health. 1) Stop seeking random male attention. Most women were taught that heterosexual male attention is our Holy Grail before we were even conscious of being conscious, and its hard to reject this system of validation. But we must. Heterosexual male attention is actually pretty easy to give up, when you think about it. Suggested activity: When a man catcalls you, respond with an extended laugh and declare, “I don’t exist for you!” 2) Stop consuming damaging media. That includes fashion, “beauty” and celebrity magazines, along with sexist television programs, movies and music. 3) Stop playing the tapes. Suggested activity: Sit with your legs sprawled and the fat popping out wherever. 4) Stop competing with other women.

Sexual Objectification (Part 4): Daily Rituals to Start This is the fourth part in a series about how girls and women can navigate a culture that treats them like sex objects. See also, parts One, Two, and Three. Cross-posted at Caroline Heldman’s Blog. This post details some daily rituals that help interrupt damaging beauty culture scripts. 1) Start enjoying your body as a physical instrument. Girls are raised to view their bodies as an thing-to-be-looked-at that they have to constantly work on and perfect for the adoration of others, while boys are raised to think of their bodies as tools to use to master their surroundings. Fun Related Activity: Parkour,”the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one’s path by adapting one’s movements to the environment,” is an activity that one can do anytime, anywhere. 2) Do at least one “embarrassing” action a day. 3) Focus on personal development that isn’t related to beauty culture. According to research, women spend over 45 minutes to an hour on body maintenance every day.