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Objectification and Exploitation of Girls and Women by the Mass Media and the Social Media
Objectification of Women by the Mass Media
From the early nineteenth century, in television, films, printed and television commercials, and music videos, sexual objectification, and exploitation of women became an increasingly growing trend. Along with objectification, different industries also started using a false and unreal image of women's physical appearance, body image, and beauty. Today, across television, billboards, glossy pages of magazines, and social media we can see hypersexualized and unrealistically perfect female forms. Advertisements, music videos, and films dehumanize girls and women and portray them as commodities. Women's bodies are used to sell everything from car tires to entertainment !!
The exploitation of girls and women by the Fashion Industry
Fashion industries hypersexualized girls and women's clothing. Wearing tights, extremely short, or revealing dresses are characterized by boldness.
Over the last 25 years, big clothing and cosmetic brands have started targeting young girls. Advertisements show them wearing highly provocative dresses, make-up, and often in age-inappropriate, hypersexualized postures and body language. Trying to keep up with the latest fashions, often kids and the parents become victims of these brands.
Models, supermodels, beauty queens, even dolls reinforce the idea that girls and women must have unrealistic beauty and figures.
When Sexually Objectification is a Professional Requirement
There are many situations, and professions such as certain forms of dancing, beauty pageants, modeling, and cheerleading, where the sexual objectification of women is encouraged and promoted. In addition, many women work in environments whose main purpose is to offer explicit targets for men to objectify them e.g., exotic dancing and cocktail waitressing.
The Harmful Effects on the Society
Self-objectification, Depression, and Self-harm Among Young Girls and Women
Studies have shown the negative effects the media has on the mental health of young women. These women feel their appearance is a measure of the amount of love and the power they receive. As a result, It puts tremendous pressure on them to conform to conventional beauty standards.
According to psychologists, women internalize people's objectification of their bodies, resulting in them constantly criticizing their own bodies. Girls and women compulsively monitor their own body's outward appearance. They become overly concerned about how others may perceive their physical appearance.
According to Jess Wiener, the cultural expert for the Dove Self-Esteem Project, "Viewing unrealistic and unachievable beauty images creates an unattainable goal which leads to feelings of failure. This is especially true of young girls who have grown up in a world of filters and airbrushing."
Click here to participate in the Body Confidence Campaign initiated by Rights of Equality to defy the ideal and unrealistic standard of female beauty, and to promote self-acceptance and self-love.
A False Sense of Perceived Empowerment and Self-Objectification
Women in many western cultures participate in their own objectification. An increasing acceptance of the pornification of mainstream media in a culture that largely embraces materialism and objectification. Thus, many women actively consent to objectification. They make overt attempts to gain male attention by purposefully and consciously advertising their own object status.
Supposedly these women are "happy" to "freely" participate in the objectification of the female body to gain "empowerment". But, when women need to use their bodies to draw the attention of the world, it is counterproductive to empowerment.
Girls who think they must wear revealing dresses to look beautiful are victims of patriarchy. Where other people control the body images and the sense of well being of women.
Normalizing Violence Against Women
According to UNICEF, "The objectification and sexualization of girls in the media is linked to violence against women and girls worldwide. "
Media normalizes the act of dominance and aggression against women by constantly showcasing them as objects of pleasure. Boys and men tend to internalize that message, and it influences their subconscious biases of how they view women. They tend to legitimize violence, harassment, and anti-women views and behaviors.
A scene from a dance item in a mainstream Bollywood movie
Andrea Dworkin, in her book Woman Hating, says the process of turning women into sex objects is the first step towards justifying violence against them. Dworkin explains that if media views women as a series of parts rather than a whole person, then inflicting violence upon them becomes easier to justify. Sandra Lee Bartky also describes sexual objectification as a form of dehumanization in her book Femininity and Domination. She explains that turning women into sex objects disciplines them into a state of submission. It teaches them to monitor their appearance and behaviors in order to suit harmful cultural norms. Sexual objectification is thus a way of denigrating women as a class.
Read: Importance of Introducing Gender Education In Early Childhood
The attitude of Boys towards Girls and Relationship
Boys, from a very early age, are exposed to unrealistic, vulgar, hypersexualized images of women everywhere. The roles, and behaviors of women in films, music videos and commercials are too stereotypical and a far cry from equality.
Along with objectifying women, glorified male masculinity, male dominance in media and mass media have deep impacts on shaping up a children's mind.
If a child is exposed to certain experiences as a part of his/her normal developmental dynamics, they tend to normalize it and develop a lot of unconscious biases towards that experience. These children would definitely grow up to replicate those experiences in their lives as adults.
Boys learn to dehumanize women and to view them merely as bodies or body parts of pleasures. It causes mental health issues among boys and their unrealistic expectations from women. Women's sexuality and body interfere with their ability to have a healthy and functional relationship as adults.
Read: Domestic Violence Against Women Across The World-Where Are We?
Resources for Media Literacy and Media Activisms
Killing us softly is a documentary first released in 1979 and since revised and updated four times, focuses on images of women in advertising, in particular on gender stereotypes, the effects of advertising on women's self-image, and the objectification of women's bodies
Studies suggested "the need for media literacy and media activism to help change the current normative body discontent of women in the Western world." We have seen a growing number of actresses, models, and feminists activists have started speaking against media and the internet for objectifying women.
4 Every Girl campaign is calling on entertainment and media industry leaders to create an environment where young girls feel valued and are defined by health media images of themselves. Sign their petition to call on leaders in the media to produce media images that respect, empower, and promote the true value of every girl.
Preventing eating disorders: A handbook of interventions and special challenges is a published book of the comprehensive resource provides multiple prevention strategies, programs, and approaches for health and mental health workers, educators, researchers, students, and interested members of the community at large who work to prevent eating disorders and related problems.
"Go Girls" (adapted from Giving Our Girls Inspiration and Resources for Lasting Self-esteem) program is a program that brings junior and senior high school girls together to advocate responsible advertising and positive body images of youth by the media.
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media works within the media and entertainment industry to engage, educate and influence media producers to dramatically improve gender representation in films; to stop stereotyping girls and women; and to create diverse female characters in entertainment targeting children ages 11 and under.
Also read: The Role of the Society in Crafting Our Body Image
Related reading and watch lists:
Report of the APA Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls
Violence Against Women Through the Lens of Objectification Theory
Preventing eating disorders: A handbook of interventions and special challenges
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAgawjzimjc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GR_hq7OVzHU
5 Gender Equality Campaigns Which Made a Huge Impact
Why Many Women in India stay Away From The Workforce?
MeToo: A Movement Truly Helped Women to Overcome Victim Shaming
Women and their rights as well as their image is a topic that will never stop debating and therefore we must not stop talking about it. Thank you
Shruti and Delta
Thank you for such an amazing share…this is something which needs to be pondered upon
Marie Koss
Love how you described each point. I agree, and yet I think it comes from the family first. If in the family young girl is appreciated for who she is, she will be raised as a confident woman 🙂
Suman Doogar
I really like the topics you choose to discuss. There are some grave issues that needs to be talked about. As a psychology teacher, I try to talk to my students about abuse, objectification, impact of media etc.
I find it sad that there are still such horrible attitudes towards women in the 21st century. Even from other women. For instance, the idea that women are asking for sexual abuse by wearing revealing clothing.
Heather @ US Japan Fam
As a mom of young girls (and a boy) I'm thinking about this stuff ALL. THE. TIME! Even something as simple as whether or not I should put them in dance class – the type of dance school you choose, some have recitals with full makeup and booty revealing costumes, do I really want my girls doing that!? Ugh. Just let them be kids. And let's move away from all of this so the next generation is better!!
I think it's safe to say that there has been more done for women in the last five years via social media than there ever has.
This topic is an important issue. We cannot control what comes out on TV or on social media. That is why parents have a big role in teaching their children to have the right perspective on this matter. Thank you for writing to increase awareness on this topic.
What you shared is an eye opener… Thanks for this