Sexual Media and Objectification
After appearing on a Vanity Fair cover with an exposed chest, Emma Watson attracted criticism given her previous feminist campaigning and strong advocacy of respect for women. In response to allegations of double standards when appearing almost topless, Watson later remarked: “Feminism is about giving women choice, feminism is not a stick with which to beat other women.[...] It's about freedom, it's about liberation, it's about equality. I really don't know what my t*** have to do with it,”. For Watson, it was possible to portray oneself sexually, yet at the same time take issue with the objectification of women.
This is not the first time this sentiment has been expressed. Last year, Ariana Grande took to Twitter in order to express her concerns regarding female objectification. Whilst out with her boyfriend, an unidentified man followed and told him: "Ariana is sexy as hell man I see you, I see you hitting that!" Following the encounter, Grande said she felt “sick and objectified”, further stating: “It hurts my heart that so many young people are so comfortable enough using these phrases and objectifying women with such ease.” Grande lamented on widespread female objectification, stating: “Things like that happen all the time and are the kinds of moments that contribute towards a woman’s sense of fear and inadequacy.”
Up until this point, I fully agreed with her, just as I agreed with much of what Emma Watson stated in her previous campaigning. The problem came when Grande later denied the truth: that her own sexual self-expression was the cause of her objectification, as in the case of Watson. Reading her lyrics clearly proves the point. One example would be her song “Dangerous Woman”, in which she sings:
Somethin' 'bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman
Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout you
Makes me wanna do things that I shouldn't
Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout you
All girls wanna be like that
Bad girls underneath like that
You know how I'm feeling inside
We are told explicitly that women are inherently “bad” sexual beings, even those who embrace modesty or tradition. Such messaging clearly suggests to men that women are desperate to have sex, and that men are easily able to dominate them. In response to the criticism, Grande Tweeted: “Women (and men) can express themselves however they’d like!!! Even loving sex!! This is not an invitation to be disrespected.” The reality, however, is that disrespect is inevitable in the face of sexual media. Over time, a strong body of scientific evidence has emerged confirming the link between sexual depictions and objectification.
In 2009, Princeton psychologist Susan Fiske conducted a study in which heterosexual men were linked to an MRI brain scanner and shown pictures of men and women, both fully and partly clothed. When later asked to recall what they saw, the men “selectively recalled” the images of scantily-clad women. When viewing these images, the subjects experienced a deactivation of their medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), the part of the brain which allows us to appreciate another person’s mind, and their humanity as a result. Therefore, the study concluded: “hostile sexism predicted deactivation of right mPFC in response to looking at scantily-clad women,”. When further elaborating on the findings, Fiske stated the subjects experienced a “lighting up” of their premotor cortex and posterior middle temporal gyrus, both of which activate when one intends to use tools.
Women are uniquely challenged by objectification. Whilst men can also be victims, research has shown that women suffer from this far more acutely. In 2011, Belgian psychologist Philippe Bernard led a group of researchers that showed pictures of scantily-clad men and women to a group of 78 university students. The group theorised that the brain better recognises images of humans turned upright rather than upside-down, whereas images of objects can be recognised either way. The researchers found the participants were less able to recognise the images of men placed upside-down, but were more able to recognise the images of women in the same position, showing that: “...sexualized men were perceived as persons, whereas sexualized women were perceived as objects.”
This was corroborated by further research conducted in 2012, which noted: “several studies show that sexualizing women leads to dehumanized perceptions of women but not men”. This study also discussed and tested the sexual body part recognition bias, the hypothesis that female bodies are subject to local processing, whereby they’re reduced to their sexual body parts by the viewer. This contrasts with male bodies that are subject to global processing, whereby they’re seen as a whole.
An initial image was briefly shown to 83 undergraduates, which featured either male or female sexual body parts. After a brief pause, two images of sexual body parts were shown, one image was the original, and one presented the person's sexual body part with a different appearance. Students were asked to identify the original. Half of the tests involved full body recognition in which both body part images were shown as part of the full body, whilst the other half involved recognition of the body parts in isolation. The researchers predicted that a greater degree of interest in women's sexual body parts on the part of the viewers would mean that women's sexual body parts would be better recognised when shown in isolation.
By this point, it would be unsurprising that the predictions were indeed correct: "the results suggest that women’s bodies are reduced to their sexual body parts in perceivers’ minds with their sexual body parts recognised better when presented in isolation (body part recognition) than when presented in the context of entire bodies (whole body recognition)." Once again, men were not subject to the same degree of objectification: "Men’s sexual body parts were recognized better when presented in the context of entire bodies (whole body recognition) than in isolation (body part recognition)." When assessing possible causes of sexual objectification, it was unsurprising that: "sexually objectified women in the media" were regarded as a potential cause, influencing viewers to: "adopt a local focus for women’s bodies, focusing on their sexual body parts, rather than their entire bodies."
Some may emphasise the supposedly harmless nature of objectification, mentioning "locker room talk", or citing the notion that "boys will be boys", however objectification has very real and serious consequences. In fact, the objectification of women in popular culture could be regarded as the single most damaging influence they face. It has now been understood that the sexual arousal much of contemporary pop culture inspires in the minds of viewers does not always remain strictly cerebral. Rather, the effects of objectification and sexual media have numerous consequences in reality.
A 2014 study confirmed links between objectification and sexual coercion within relationships, and an increased sense of shame in women. In light of this, researchers Laura Ramsey and Tiffany Hoyt noted the harmful effects of contemporary pop culture, stating: "Activists should continue their work reducing the objectification of women in our culture, such as through the recognition and removal of objectifying images in the media." Another study in 2015 demonstrated a link between objectification and sexual assault, finding that women can become more passive when being objectified, noting that: “women who are recurrently objectified may increasingly define their bodies for the purpose of serving others,”.
Ad campaigns devised by fashion houses and broadcasting organisations, sensual performances by film actresses and musicians, and certainly internet pornography, have all long been regarded as psychologically damaging, causing depression and low self-esteem in women. This trend has not abated. According to the UK Girls Attitude Survey from last year, almost 40% of girls surveyed reported comparing themselves to celebrities most of the time, and most 70% stated that pornography negatively influences media portrayals of women. Moreover, 70% of 11-16 years olds and 80% of 17-21 year olds agreed that women are too frequently depicted as sex objects.
Sexual media has also caused a disturbing trend of self-objectification amongst women. Italian social psychologist Francesca Guizzo confirmed this effect to be a risk with regard to sexual media in general: “The overall pattern of results suggests that the chronic exposure to objectifying media might lead to the dangerous assumption that such female portrayal is the norm, thus further reducing people’s likelihood to react,”.
Specific research on both advertising and frequent social media usage have further reinforced the problematic nature of self-objectification. The authors state their findings: "shows that spending more time reading magazines and on Facebook is associated with greater self-objectification among young women and these relationships are influenced by women's tendency to compare their appearance to others, particularly to peers on Facebook,".
It conclusion, it cannot be denied that sexual media, irrespective of format, poses a significant social problem. Sexual media degrades women by urging others to adopt more dehumanising attitudes towards them. It is welcome news that Emma Watson, Ariana Grande, and others have highlighted the need to address the broader issue of dignity for women, but it is not coherent to maintain a position where express such sentiments whilst also displaying your own sexuality, thereby facilitating the inevitable and problematic reception of such displays. As has been demonstrated, sexual media has a powerful ability to morally corrupt and demoralise those who interact with it. If this is true, then it must be acknowledged that securing dignity for women begins with resisting it, rather than being a participant.
This returns us to Guizzo, who mentions the need for campaigns which seek to combat the trend towards sexualisation of women: “Media literacy messages in the form of critique videos may be valuable tools to promote more active and critical media consumption and media specialists, concerned citizens, and social media activists may use such messages to motivate women to collectively take action against sexual objectification,”. For me, that is the most pertinent message to share on International Women's Day.
