Exploitation of women in mass media
Jean Kilbourne, Robert Jensen, Sut Jhally and other cultural critics accuse mass media of using sex in advertising that promotes the objectification of women to help sell their goods and services.
[8] Lindner further developed Kang's analytical framework in a study of women in advertisements and found out magazines rely on gender stereotypes, but in different ways, particularly in terms of sexualization.
[9] Research conducted by Eric Hatton and Mary Nell Trautner included a longitudinal content analysis of images of women and men on more than four decades of Rolling Stone magazine covers (1967–2009).
Several of Calvin Klein's advertisements featured images of teenage models, some "who were reportedly as young as 15" in overly sexual and provocative poses.
The clothing emphasized or revealed a sexualized body part (e.g., bikinis and push-up bras), or had characteristics associated with sexiness (e.g., red satin lingerie-like dresses).
Weighted down with taboos and volatile attitudes, sex is a Code Red advertising technique ... handle with care ... seller beware; all of which makes it even more intriguing."
[28][clarification needed] Geena Davis has expressed that throughout the film industry, there has been a lack of female representation and a pattern of inaccurate portrayals of women and girls in movie roles.
[47] Fernanda Ly, a pink-haired model who has worked for designers such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior, says that she was groped at a young age by a stylist while shooting a lookbook, and the memory still haunts her.
According to a study conducted by Xinyan Zhao, Mengqi Zhan, and Brooke F. Liu, social media content that weaves emotional components in a positive manner appears to have the benefit of also increasing one's online influence.
Digital social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat allow individuals to establish their influence through sharing opinions, insights, experiences and perspectives with others.
Results of this study show that it is predominantly women that feel pressured to conform to hyper femininity and stereotypical gender roles online, including personality traits, domestic behaviors, occupations, and physical appearances.
Authors Elina Mir, Caroline Novas, and Meg Seymour report, "Almost 25% of adolescents believe that social media has mostly a negative effect".
"[77] A 2012 study led by sociologist Stacy L. Smith found that in both prime-time television and family films, women were highly likely to be depicted as thin and scantily clad.
[82][91] A 2016 study by Fox and Potocki had similar findings, in which they ran a survey which found that "video game consumption throughout the life span is associated with interpersonal aggression, hostile sexism, and RMA [Rape Myth Acceptance]".
[92] Out of the top 10 video games listed midyear 2010 (New Super Mario Brothers; Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare; Battlefield: Bad Company 2; Final Fantasy XIII; Wii Fit Plus; God of War III; Pokémon SoulSilver; Wii Sports Resort, Mass Effect 2, Pokémon HeartGold Version; Morris, 2010), several have violent content, including violence against women, and some contain sexual objectification of women.
Once a woman starts to self-objectify and compare her body to others, it may be a risk factor for human functioning, and may also lead to impairment in multiple life tasks, such as forming meaningful interpersonal relationships and achieving academic success.
[102] A study done in 1994 about the effects of media on young and middle-aged women found that of adolescent girls aged 11–17, the primary desire was to "lose weight and keep it off."
[103] A study reported in 2018 demonstrated the effects of showing a group of women, aged from 18 to 41, images of thin and overweight (or plus size) female models.
[105] Jess Wiener, an expert for the Dove Self-Esteem Project, explains that "viewing unrealistic and unachievable beauty images creates an unattainable goal which leads to feelings of failure.
[108] According to the social cognitive theory, modeling such behaviors outlined within popular media have long-lasting effects upon the self-awareness and self-identity of young girls.
[109] A common problem among young girls is a number of afflictions directly related to a negative body image, that can resort from these objectifying ads.
When it comes to women in the media, there is already a lack of positive representation, but when there are female portrayal, they are predominantly represented as white, young, glamorous, heterosexual, and less influential than men.
[citation needed] According to the American Psychological Association, when comparing one's body to the sexualized cultural ideals, this significantly impaired the ability for women of these ethnicities to regulate cognitive functions, including logical reasoning and spatial skills.
Along with African tribes, some sections of Islam believe in this as well,[130] many times they are arranged with women as young as twelve or thirteen marrying men older that fifty or even sixty years old.
Exploitation is not confined to the United States but extends globally, appearing in various forms and intensities depending on cultural, social, and economic contexts.
[132] Facebook, for instance, was found as a common site used to identify and target potential victims, particularly Indigenous girls who may have limited access to education and information about exploitation risks.
[134] Milton Diamond from the University of Hawaii found that the number of reported cases of child sex abuse dropped markedly immediately after the ban on sexually explicit materials was lifted in 1989.
[152] Cultivation theory states that over time, exposure to mass media such as television, movies, or video games influences an audience's perceptions of reality.
Male gaze theory, popularized by Laura Mulvey, is a concept many feminist film critics have pointed to in classical Hollywood film-making.
[156]Sayings like "sex sells" contribute to the idea that women are considered a commodity, and are further objectified by exploiting the sexualization and fragmentation of the female body.
