Sexual suggestiveness
[1][2][3][4] There are variations in the perception and display of sexual suggestiveness, including but not limited to gender, culture and generation.
[5][6][7][8][9] Sexual suggestiveness may also involve nudity, or the exposure of the nipples, genitals, buttocks or other taboo areas of the body.
[12] In some cases, displays of sexual suggestiveness may be misinterpreted which may lead to dangerous or harmful situations.
[14] There is not, however, any evidence to show that these women are aware that their actions or earnings are intrinsically linked to their menstrual cycle.
The idea that sex sells is evident in many aspects of daily modern life particularly within social media and film where female sexual ornaments are a focal point.
[15][16] The progression of the Internet and social media means that sexual content is far more available and accessible in the 21st century than ever before.
[23][24] For example, wearing clothes or skirts/shorts that show skin is not something that most Western women would consider to be overtly provocative but it is still regarded as sexually suggestive by others.
Misconstruing people's behaviour can have disastrous consequences, contributing to harassment and rape culture.
[citation needed] To support this assumption research shows that males perceive people as more interested in a sexual encounter than females do.
Unfortunately, this difficulty in separation between the two from the male's point of view may lead to rape or other sexual assault.
In light of this, males, therefore, tend to read sexual acceptance signals in friendly actions even when this may not be the females intention.
[39] Females are however better at reading platonic signals from the opposite sex and at differentiating between liking, loving and sexual suggestiveness.
[46] Evolutionary theory proposes that humans all behave in the same way, in order to maximise survival and reproductive success.
[47] In particular, some Christian and Muslim communities are more strict on what levels of suggestiveness are appropriate for unmarried young women.
A considerable amount of research has concluded that sexually suggestive content is pervasive in the media.
For example, the use of the phrase "bend over backwards" when describing a colleague, in the sitcom How I Met Your Mother, is used by the main character Barney to imply something in both a figurative sense (i.e. that she is willing to work hard) and a suggestive sense (alluding to her flexibility in sexual positions).
Sexual content in the form of innuendo, suggestive imagery and double entendre is used as a tool in advertising.
[53] Furthermore, advertisers use sexually suggestive material to imply an association between their product and benefits which are in some way related to sex (such as mate attraction).
While the physical properties of the model are the most sexually suggestive, a number of non-verbal communicative features have also been identified as being provocative, such as the models pose (plumped lips, cocked head to show the neck) as well as verbal communicative features such as suggestive comments.
Research has shown that the effects of sexually suggestive references in the media are also moderated by the developmental stage of the viewer.
