
The sexual objectification of women in society today has gradually become more of an issue because of the contributions of the media. The media has the tendency to use the sexual objectification of women to promote or sell products. According to Google, the definition of objectification is the action of degrading someone to the status of a mere object (Google 2017). Rachel Calogero, who wrote Objectification Theory, states, “Sexual objectification refers to the fragmentation of a woman into a collection of sexual parts and/or sexual functions, essentially stripping her of a unique personality and subjectivity so that she exists as merely a body,” (Calogero 2). The sexual objectification of women is appalling due to the degrading nature in which it occurs and the negative effects it has on a woman’s mental and physical health. Pop culture today has increased sexual objectification through the way they exploit women in the media. 

Various advertisements utilize women who are half-dressed or fully naked on billboards, magazine covers, store posters, and commercials for their own personal gain. The media calls this the “Perfect Woman Ideal” and uses it to attract potential buyers. This ideal sets the standards in which men now compare women to. Typically, the ideal woman is tall with tan or dark skin, long hair, curves, a flat stomach, flawless skin, and defined features. While some women may look at this “perfect” woman ideal and not think twice about it, others look at this and shame themselves for not living up this beauty standard. These thoughts can ruin a woman’s health, both mentally and physically. In extreme circumstances, this has caused women to alter or change certain things about themselves. Some of the negative health effects include: mental health and eating disorders, sexual dysfunction, a decrease in academic performance, and even unnecessary plastic surgeries. Often this is done in attempt to make themselves resemble the models seen in the media.

According to Rachel Calogero, “Women comprise about 90% of those who suffer from eating disorders,” (Calogero 2012). Specific eating disorders like bulimia or anorexia occur more frequently because women experience body shame for the way that they look. It causes appearance anxiety and makes women change their eating habits in order to lose weight. Anorexia is the fear of gaining weight. People who contract this eating disorder will intentionally eat less to lose weight. It decreases energy levels as well as the ability to focus. Bulimia is when one binge eats a large amount of food at one time and then forcibly causes themselves to throw up to remove the food from the stomach before it digests. This is done with the hope that it will help one lose weight. Bulimia causes energy levels to go down as well and creates an increase in one’s level of exhaustion. Other harmful effects from vomiting are that it can cause the teeth to become brittle, as well as damage the lining of the throat from stomach acid in vomit. These diseases cause damaging effects to one’s health and immune system because one is either forcing themselves to vomit or starving themselves to lose weight (Royal College of Psychiatrists 2015).

Not only do women develop eating disorders, but they can develop mental health disorders as well. Some women develop anxiety or depression, which can lead to harming oneself or having suicidal thoughts. According to a TedxTalk by Caroline Heldman, objectification has caused an increase in the number of women who develop depression (Heldman 2017). Depression that is induced by objectification normally arises because of the need to fit in and look like the “perfect” women seen in the media. This causes women to engage in habitual body monitoring, which is when one is hyperaware of their looks. One of the most surprising points Carolina Heldman states is that women engage in habitual body monitoring every 30 seconds. Often this is regarding how a woman would view her exterior from a third person perspective. Examples of this are constantly fixing one’s hair or adjusting sitting position because they feel as if they are constantly being judged based on their looks (Heldman 2017). Mental health diseases are one of the many results of body shaming and sexual objectification. 

Objectification for women who are engaging in sexual activities can lead women to spectating during sexual experiences. This means that while women are engaging in sexual intercourse, they remove themselves from the situation to view it from a third-party perspective (Heldman 2017). This means that, again, habitual body monitoring plays a role in this because these women will constantly worry about what they look like- if there are fat rolls showing, or if they are even doing things the correct way. The media portrays women to look like objects of sex, created only to please the male gender. When women are portrayed as objects of sex, it increases men’s sense of power (Heldman 2017). These women forget about their own pleasure and become completely submissive to their partners in order to give the male in the situation a more pleasurable experience. Overall, sexual dysfunction caused by objectification interrupts the possibility of positive sexual experiences. Objectification de-humanizes women. It continues to hurt them, make them feel terrible about themselves, and continues to break them down to the smallest pieces of themselves until they feel like nothing. 

Breast feeding is also aligned with this sexual cogitation and body shaming from the way the media portrays women in advertisements and commercials. Women’s breasts are seen as sexual objects rather than body parts with a specific purpose, which is to nurse their children. This has caused a social stigma and shame for women who openly breast feed in public settings. Women are often forced by society to take their infants to a bathroom or use a cover in order to breast feed in public spaces. Despite this being uncomfortable and inconvenient, a mother is required to feed her baby regardless of this social stigma. Some would argue that it is inappropriate because it has become a societal norm to keep breasts covered due to the sexual orientation breasts have acquired. Yet, society forgets that breasts primary purpose is to nurture young infants. In this case, men are not necessarily the ones objectifying breastfeeding mothers. Women shame other women for breast feeding in public because the majority of women consider it immodest. Maureen Shaw mentions that public breast feeding began to be “distate[ful]” in the 19th century when processed baby food became readily available (Shaw 8). “Today, breasts have become synonymous with sex in American culture. This means that while advertisements and billboards can expose women’s breasts, new mothers cannot,” (Shaw 9). 

Men objectifying women starts at an early age. For example, school dress codes focus on what a young girl is wearing to school, in which case a teacher may deem their outfit to be inappropriate. These “inappropriate” outfits include but are not limited to: spaghetti straps, tank tops, shorts, leggings, anything that shows the collar bone or shoulders, and even baggy t-shirts. While there should be dress codes enforced to ensure that young girls are not exposing too much of themselves, the details of some of the dress codes in America are outrageous. The majority of public schools in America direct most of their dress codes towards the young females of the school. Girls often have longer and more detailed dress codes than boys. Schools enforce these dress codes and remove girls from the classroom to change if they are showing their collar bone or wearing shorts because “they distract the boys.” They are disrupting not only the teachers class time, but the female student’s educational time as well, just to send them home or to in-school suspension. That, in term, is distracting the girls; not the boys. Girls are often barred from events like Prom and other school functions because the authorities of the school do not approve of strapless gowns or a low cut back on a prom dress. In an article written by Li Zhou, she interviewed a middle school student named Maggie Sunseri from Versailles, Kentucky. Sunseri says, “The dress code makes girls feel self-conscious, ashamed, and uncomfortable in their own bodies,” says Sunseri (Zhou 10). “My principal constantly says that the main reason for [it] is to create a ‘distraction-free learning zone’ for our male counterparts,” (Zhou 11). By bringing an abundance of attention to what a young girl is wearing, it teaches boys to view women in a sexual nature. To make matters worse, boys in school who do break dress code, often do not face the same consequences girls do. Sunseri said, “I’ve never seen a boy called out for his attire even though they also break the rules,” (Zhou 2). The use of sexual objectification through high school dress codes is teaching young men that it is okay to view women based only on their looks. This perpetuates rape culture and sexual harassment in society today. 

Another negative effect of sexual objectification is sexual harassment. There are traditional stereotypes of both men and women that society normalizes. The media teaches society that men are dominant and strong while women are made to look submissive and weak. Images in advertisements from companies like Calvin Klein depict beautiful, yet often photoshopped, naked women to gain an audience. This is suggesting that women should to look like those models in order for men to desire them. It is also suggesting that men should only want women who look like the models in those advertisements (Scala 2013). Such advertisements can be degrading to women and even encourage sexual harassment. “The fashion industry displays female images that portray scenes of violence. A beautiful woman wearing a product and then killing her or bringing harm to her is a common theme that often appears in the selling of women’s clothing and perfume. For example, the Jimmy Choo advertisement suggests that the man is going to kill the woman and bury her in the hole he is digging,” (Scala 2013). This is sending an underlying message that is okay to treat women like they are not people, which is not true. The media not only portrays violence against women in their advertisements, they also sometimes portray rape scenes that become glorified and viewed as desirable (Scala 2013). Again, this perpetuates sexual harassment. “Sexual assault has been known to cause the survivor to have feelings of guilt, anxiety and inadequacy, as well as loss of control and a distorted body image. Often the survivor feels disgusted with their own body,” says Scala. (Scala 2013). 

Men are taught to view women as trophies or prizes to win (Tran 2). “Frequently represented as rewards for men who vie for us even though our desires are rarely – if ever – taken into consideration,” (Tran 4). Take Steve Erkels love for Laura Winslow for an example. He treats her like she is a prize to be won versus a real human being. According to Robin Tran, Four Ways Men are Taught to Objectify Women From Birth, “She’s [Laura Winslow] more like his obsession. His insistence on repeatedly pushing himself into her life is represented as charming, cute, and nerdy. In reality, it’s destructive, objectifying, and dehumanizing.” (Tran 2017). And while the audience does genuinely believe that Steve cares for Laura, he does so in a creepy, stalker kind of way. She obviously does not reciprocate the same feelings toward him, yet he never gives up and constantly vies after her as if she is a trophy that needs to be won or a goal to achieve. Most TV shows and movies revolve around the necessity for a love interest. It encourages men to mistreat, be aggressive toward, and disregard women. Men are also encouraged to believe that women are their property. “If you view people as “property,” there’s a subconscious feeling that you can do whatever you want to them because you don’t consider them fully formed human beings. For example, if you own a product like a cell phone and the phone does not function the way you want it to, you might throw it due to frustration,” (Tran 56). This point also refers to the use of the media to encourage sexual harassment. Men often have a lack of empathy for women and their feelings because they are viewed as less than human by objectification standards.

Some may argue that there is a double standard when talking about objectification. “Yes, men objectify women’s beauty. But women do the same for men’s power, status, and wealth,” says Josiah Lippincott (“Women Objectify Men…” 4). Although it often goes unnoticed, women objectify men just as often as men objectify women. Take “Magic Mike” or “Fifty Shades of Grey” for example. Women objectify those characters as well as real people like them, not only because of their looks, but also because they are “…billionaire bad boy[s] with a taste for violent sexual domination,” (Lippincott 4). For most women, those characteristics are attractive. Men tend to focus on women’s outer beauty while women typically focus on men’s social class and dominance capabilities. The media portrays women as victims of males who are only attracted to them because of their bodies (Lippincott 5). Society’s culture of pornography helps depict that. One could argue that the use of women in porn is teaching men to lust after women but the women who pose for these pornography advertisements know that it will give them easy access to men who are wealthy and high in power and social class (Lippincott 4).

In order to halt the objectification of women, the media needs to stop using women to sell products. The issue with that is sex and the perfect woman ideal helps companies sell products. By looking at advertisements that beauty stores use, one can see how they use the sexual objectification of women to make a profit. These advertisements show women with flawless skin and gorgeous features. This makes other women think that if they buy and use this product, they can look like the models too, even though most of the models are photoshopped. Beer and cologne commercials tend to use naked and half-dressed women to appeal to men because they know it will catch their attention.  In the United States today, women are raised thinking they always have something they can improve about themselves when society needs to improve the way they view women. Girls do not need to spend hours on their makeup and hair because beauty standards say that bare faces and messy hair are not attractive or presentable enough for a man.  Women are not objects used for sex at men’s disposal. In order to decrease the use of sexual objectification in the media, both men and women need to stop consuming damaging products. This means avoiding purchasing products that use the objectification of women in their advertisements. If something is offensive, in this case objectification advertisements, one can boycott the product or company or report it to someone who can lobby to have it removed from the sources it is published. Women also need to stop seeking attention for their bodies. The media teaches society that men only want women for their bodies to fulfill their sexual desires. Women need to take a stand for themselves and prove to men that they are more than just their looks. Objectification will only continue to increase as a problem if women are constantly displaying themselves in a provocative manner. Men should act as supporters for women and stop evaluating women on their looks, and instead evaluate them as a person. The use of objectification causes so many negative effects not only to women, but society as well. As aforementioned, the use of objectification in the media teaches both young men and women that it is okay to treat each other as objects of sexual desires rather than human beings. 
