Sexuality & Society

 Sexualization and its Effect on the Family and Society 

Women

The problem of sexualization has developed over the years, which means that young American girls inherit a legacy that has been passed on down by previous generations including women themselves. The negative effect therefore has been:

• Cognitive function is paid less attention 

• Dissatisfaction with the body 

• Compromised mental and physical health 

• Compromised sense of sexuality, attitudes and beliefs. 

• Self sexualization and self-objectification by adult women 

As young girls mature and go out into the world of work they are further compromised. The report provides the following example:

"In a study it was found that when the sexy job applicant applied for a managerial job, she was rated as less competent and less intelligent than the conservatively dressed job applicant; participants also indicated that they would experience fewer positive emotions, and more negative emotions toward the sexy applicant (compared with the conservatively dressed applicant) if she were hired. None of these differences was found when the applicants were described as applying for a job as receptionists. These data imply that self-sexualization or sexualization by others is likely to have a negative impact on women seeking professional careers".

Sexualized adult women therefore become partners in "idealizing youth", and the look of youth as the golden age, which once upon a time, used to be the age period over 30s. Supermodels become the societal standard of beauty which women make every effort to live up to.

"The most famous models became internationally well known before they were 16. Of the six champions on the popular television program America’s Next Top Model (2006) (which requires contestants to be at least 18, presumably for legal reasons), the oldest champion was 23, and the average age of the champions was 20.2. Given this ideal, it is not surprising that as women age, they become increasingly invisible. Many women respond to this cultural standard by making every effort to remain and look as youthful as possible. This shows in the huge increase in sales of “anti-aging” beauty products and plastic surgery rates (especially for procedures that lift and tuck aging body parts).  Even with plastic surgery, it is impossible for an adult woman to maintain the look of a 17-year-old adolescent. This inability to meet the culturally imposed standard of beauty may lead to body shame, lowered self-esteem, and a reduced sense of well-being".

Two studies have concluded that:

• Women aged 20 -60 are constantly exposed to advertisements displaying body-focused anxiety than those who were not. 

• Regular exposure to the media's "White ideal" to women who can not match that i.e. non-Caucasians 

• Women encountered more ageism "… a 35-year-old woman reported being referred to as “a dried up old maid” 

Boys and Men

The sexualization of women, especially by the media has an impact on boys and men as well. From several studies, the report noted that exposure to pornography leads men to:

• Rate their female partners as less attractive (no marital commitment) 

• be less satisfied with their partners’ attractiveness, sexual performance, and level of affection 

• express greater desire for sex without emotional involvement. 

• Jeopardize men’s ability to form and maintain intimate relationships with women. 

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The report notes that when boys and men see girls and women only as sexual objects, they are unable to relate to other aspects of their nature or characteristics.

"When one person objectifies another, it is difficult, perhaps even impossible, to treat that person with empathy, an important predictor of satisfaction and stability in intimate relationships".

Impact on Society

The report enumerates the societal infrastructures that are affected:

• Cultural institutions  -  schools and workplaces 

• Social attitudes - expectations 

• Social problems – sexual exploitation 

We often like to perceive ourselves as free-thinking people who make up their own minds; however in general, this is not the case. For instance it was found that:

• Girls who wore school uniforms got a more favorable response, and were rated more highly academically by their teachers 

• Girls who wore school uniform had a more positive perception of their safety and their peers 

• Male undergraduates who read men's magazines tended to sexually objectify women 

• Both men and women exposed to sexually objectified images (e.g. R- rated material, pornography etc), accepted myths about rape (women invited it through their behavior). 

• Both male and female students who watched 3 consecutive neutral music videos afterwards perceived men hitting women as a form of sexual harassment 

• Both male and female students who watched sexist music videos saw sexual advances as being natural. 

• Sexualized portrayals of girls led to free association of child with sex, even if a child's dress is not sexualized 

• Exposure to sexualized content affects how women behave, and how men treat women.

"Undergraduate men exposed to 16 sexist and objectifying commercials later asked more sexist questions of a female confederate posing as a job applicant, recalled more about her appearance and less about her personal background, and rated her as friendlier, more suitable to hire, but less competent than did the controls. Similarly, it was found that after exposure to a 15-minute pornography tape, stereotypically masculine men were perceived by a female experimenter to be more sexually motivated, they positioned themselves closer to her, and they recalled more information about her physical appearance than did men in other situations. Using a similar paradigm, it was reported that a pattern in which gender-typed men appeared to rate a female partner lower on intellectual competence after viewing a sexually explicit film and higher after viewing a nonsexual film". Report of the APA Task Force on the

Schools and the Workplace

Increasingly we can see in Muslim societies what has been taking place in western societies. The report challenges the belief that dressing sexily brings more freedom, by showing that it achieves the opposite! The report shows how sexual harassment by schoolboys has become a part of daily school life in the form of jokes, leering, touching, grabbing, and commenting on physical features. 

The report states that:

"Several studies suggest that the sexualization of girls contributes to sexual harassment and coercion".

In the workplace it was found that:

• Men who watched their female counter-parts have low empathy for their "targets". 

• Males exposed to sexualized portrayals were more likely to sexually harass females 

• There is increased misperception of friendliness from women as a sign of sexual interest 

So which came first, the chicken or the egg? If anything, the report demonstrates how easily influenced our sexual identity is, and the price of sexual liberty. Only the family can rebalance the relationship between the individual and society, when advocates of sexual liberty fight to defend a matrix that continually reinvents itself.

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