6 Forms of Gender Discrimination

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We are surrounded by it. Sexist or gender discrimination, also known as sexism, is prejudice or
disregard for another person because of their gender. The mere fact being a man or a woman
becomes a reason for looking down on, stereotyping, or segregating them.

The biggest problem is that these forms of discrimination are so ingrained in our daily lives that
many times we’re unaware that they even exist. Although sometimes society takes small steps to
eradicate these practices, there is still a long way to go. Let’s look at some of its most common
forms.

Origin of gender discrimination

Gender is a social construct. For this reason, sexist attitudes promote stereotypes based on
beliefs, assertions, and dogmas about gender roles. Most importantly, they have been
developing socially and traditionally over time.
For example, think about the stereotypical man as the “head of the family”. He provides
financially for the family, and the woman is expected to stay at home taking care of the children.
This attitude, in addition being old-fashioned can seriously harm the victim’s mental health.

But beware. Although the first form of sexism to be identified was against women, this word
should not be used as a synonym for chauvinism. Sexism is not exclusive to the female sex,
but a form of discrimination that refers to both genders. It’s not just an individual thing either; it
is completely integrated in our social institutions. There are countless studies that conclude that
sexism is normalized and goes unnoticed.

We are not usually aware that we’re indirectly supporting sexist prejudices because we do not
even recognize them when they’re right in front of us. What are these forms of gender
discrimination?

Language and nuance

It’s not about changing your vocabulary or using fancy words that confuse rather than help.
Many times, sexism manifests in things as banal as the language we use towards
others. While a woman may be “girly” a little boy is already “a little man.” Why are we so
oblivious to this?

Benevolent sexism
If you go on a date with someone and you approach the door of the restaurant… Beware of
excessive chivalry! For example, say the man opens the door for the women (“ladies first”) and
she tries to let him go first but he flat out refuses. This is a problem. It is known as benevolent
sexism and, unfortunately, is a habit for most.

But this behavior of letting ladies go first can also backfire on men. Often, this behavior is
labeled as macho or paternalistic. On some occasions it can be. But if the intention is to be polite,
that doesn’t mean they are looking down on women.

Catcalling
Should someone be flattered by a stranger evaluating their body in public? Do you have to like
hearing someone’s opinion given out on the street, and loudly?

Women suffer the most from this form of gender discrimination. It’s common for them to
hear compliments or abusive comments from construction workers or almost anyone. While it
might seem flattering to receive praise, many women are afraid to walk on certain streets or be
alone on them. It is uncomfortable, and at times violent.

Gender discrimination at work

In Spain the wage gap was so high that between November 8th and December 31st, women
“worked for free”. The wage gap is so wide there that women earn on average almost 6,000
euros less than men every year. Therefore, they end up working almost 50 days free for the
country or their company. It’s quite an eye-opener!

There are also many other cases worldwide. One of the most striking was Harvey Weinstein,
one of the largest entrepreneurs in the United States. Countless women accused the producer
of films like Pulp Fiction and The English Patient of sexually harassing them. Analysts talk
about it as gender discrimination at work that could lead to a real cultural change.

Missing scientists
The number of female students in science careers is still much lower than that of men. Do you
think it is genetic or cultural? Do girls have to play with dolls and boys have to play with legos?
Pink or blue? Deep-rooted beliefs that we talked about earlier are the causes of this polarity.

Let’s talk about a very striking example, known as the Matilda effect. It is the absence of
recognition of women’s scientific work. Since 1901, men have received 97% of the Nobel
Prizes. And the cause has not exactly been a lack of female candidates.

Minimization in sports
In the sports section of the news, women occupy barely a third of the total air time. Some
attribute it to a lack of budget, but gender discrimination does not end or start there.

Women act as “decorations”, for example, in motorcycle competitions. In addition to this

objectification, many doubt their ability to lead men simply because they are women (for
example, Gala León, as captain of the Spanish Tennis Federation). More comments are
made about their body, age or marital status than their merits. Without a doubt, equality has
yet to be won.

What is sexism in sociology?

It is discrimination, prejudice, or stereotyping on the basis of gender, and is most often expressed
toward girls and women. It has been characterized as the "hatred of women" and "entrenched
prejudice against women". Sociology has examined sexism as manifesting at both the individual
and the institutional level.

Sexism
Sexism can take many forms, such as jokes or comments, sexual harassment or treating a person
unfairly because of his or her sex.

In some cases, these forms of sexism can be against the law. Sex discrimination is when
someone is treated less favourably, or not given the same opportunities, as a person of a different
sex because of their sex.

Sexism can also be against the law when it is expressed as discrimination against a person on the
basis of gender identity, intersex status, sexual orientation, marital or relationship status, family
responsibilities, pregnancy or potential pregnancy or breastfeeding.

The Sex Discrimination Act protects people against discrimination in many areas of public life
including, employment, education, getting or using services or renting or buying a house or unit.
There are some limited exemptions.

Sexual harassment is against the law in specific areas of public life, including in the workplace.
Sexual harassment is any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour where a reasonable person
would have anticipated the possibility that the person harassed would feel offended, humiliated
or intimidated. It has nothing to do with mutual attraction or consensual behaviour.

Innuendo, suggestive comments or jokes and insults or taunts based on sex can amount to sexual
harassment.

Sexual harassment can also occur where a work environment or culture is sexually charged or
‘hostile’, even if the conduct is not directed at any particular employee. Innuendo can be a
contributing factor to a sexually hostile workplace.

Example: In a situation where sexual advances had been made and rejected, the comment “I
really like working under you”, said with an emphasis on the word “under”, is an example of
innuendo that could constitute sexual harassment.
A person who sexually harasses someone else is primarily responsible for their
behaviour.However, in many cases, employers can also be held responsible for sexual
harassment by their employees towards other staff, clients and customers. This is called
‘vicarious liability’.

Exploitation of women in mass media

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The exploitation of women in mass media is the use or portrayal of women in mass media
(such as television, film and advertising) to increase the appeal of media or a product to the
detriment of, or without regard to, the interests of the women portrayed, or women in general.
This process includes the presentation of women as sexual objects and the setting of standards of
beauty that women are expected to reflect.[1] Feminists and other advocates of women's rights
have criticized such exploitation. The most often criticized aspect of the use of women in mass
media is sexual objectification, but dismemberment can be a part of the objectification as well.

Contents
 1 Criticisms of the media
o 1.1 Advertising
o 1.2 Film
o 1.3 Music
o 1.4 Music videos
o 1.5 Modeling
o 1.6 Pornography
o 1.7 Social media
o 1.8 Television
o 1.9 Video games
 2 Effects on society
o 2.1 Effects on young children and adolescents
o 2.2 Effects on women of color
 3 Counter arguments
 4 See also
 5 References
 6 Further reading

Criticisms of the media

Advertising

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.[2][3][4]

In Gender Advertisements, Erving Goffman sought to uncover the covert ways that popular
media constructs masculinity and femininity in a detailed analysis of more than 500
advertisements. The relationship between men and women, Goffman argued, was portrayed as a
parent–child relationship, one characterized by male power and female subordination.[5]

Many contemporary studies of gender and sexualization in popular culture take as their starting
point Goffman's analysis in Gender Advertisements. Among them, later research which expanded
empirical framework by analyzing the aspects of women's sexualization and objectification in
advertisements, M.-E Kang examined the advertisements in women's magazines between 1979
and 1991 and found out there are still showing the same stereotyped images of women: Nude or
partially nude images of women increased nearly 30% from 1979 to 1991.[6] 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. For example, in Vogue, sexualized images of women are the primary way of
portraying women in positions of inferiority and low social power.[7]

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). It found that the frequency of sexualized images of men and women has
increased, though the intensity of sexualization between men and women is different in that
women are increasingly likely to be hypersexualized, but men are not. Researchers argue that the
simple presence of images of sexualized men does not signal equality in media representations of
women and men. Sexualized images may legitimize or exacerbate violence against women and
girls, sexual harassment, and anti-women attitudes among men. They concluded that similarly
sexualized images can suggest victimization for women but confidence for men, consider the
implications when women are sexualized at the same rate as men are not sexualized, as they
were on the covers of Rolling Stone in the 2000s.[8]

Clothing designer Calvin Klein was criticized for using images of young, sexualized girls and
women in his advertisements, having said:

"Jeans are about sex. The abundance of bare flesh is the last gasp of advertisers trying to give
redundant products a new identity."

Calvin Klein has also received media attention for its controversial advertisements in the mid-
1990s. 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.[9]

In a recent analysis, it was found that almost 30% of the clothing items available for pre-teen
girls on the websites of 15 national stores had sexualizing characteristics. 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). This exploitation of
women is being seen in younger girls.[10]

The overt use of sexuality to promote breast cancer awareness, through fundraising campaigns
like "I Love Boobies" and "Save the Ta-tas", angers and offends breast cancer survivors and
older women, who are at higher risk of developing breast cancer. Women who have breast
cancer say that these advertising campaigns suggest that having sexy breasts is more important
than saving their lives, which devalues them as human beings.[11]

Another trend that has been studied in advertising is the victimization of women. A study
conducted in 2008 found that women were represented as victims in 9.51% of the advertisements
they were present in. Separate examination by subcategory found that the highest frequency of
this is in women's fashion magazines where 16.57% of the ads featuring women present them as
victims.[12]

Film
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The Hollywood actress Geena Davis in a speech at the Millennium Development Goals Countdown event
in the Ford Foundation Building in New York, addressing gender roles and issues in film (24 September
2013)

In considering the way that films are put together, many feminist film critics[weasel words] have
pointed to the "male gaze" that predominates in classical Hollywood film-making. Budd
Boetticher summarises the view thus: "What counts is what the heroine provokes, or rather what
she represents. She is the one, or rather the love or fear she inspires in the hero, or else the
concern he feels for her, who makes him act the way he does. In herself the woman has not the
slightest importance."[13] Laura Mulvey's germinal essay "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema"
(written in 1973 and published in 1975) expands on this conception of the passive role of women
in cinema to argue that film provides visual pleasure through scopophilia and identification with
the on-screen male actor.[13] She states: "In their traditional exhibitionist role women are
simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic
impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness," and as a result contends that in
film a woman is the "bearer of meaning, not maker of meaning".
The Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media an organization that has been pushing the
industry for years to expand the roles of women in film.[15]

Research[weasel words] into the social implications of the presentation of women in film and its effect
on the African-American community indicates that young black girls are exposed to a
stereotyped portrayal of black females which goes beyond sexual objectification. Young black
girls are presented with only one type of depiction: an angry black woman who is obnoxious,
ignorant, confrontational and loud.[16] Not only do they struggle with internalizing these fixed
notions of who they are, they are also faced with definitions of beauty for African American girls
that are measured against white standards of what beauty should be. Film and social media
reflect an idea of female beauty based on features closely resembling those of women of
European origin, which is nearly impossible for a black girl to attain, or indeed any young girl.[16]
At the same time black characters are typically depicted in films in occupational roles such as
athletes, servants, musicians and criminals, roles which hold a lower status than the roles of
white characters.[17]

Music

A survey conducted as a part of the Human Use of Music Information Retrieval Systems
(HUMIRS) project found that 73.1% of respondents identified themselves as being "avid
listeners" of music.[18] Popular music often contains messages about women that involve
misogyny, sexual violence and abuse.[citation needed]

Listeners are often absorbing messages exploiting women without it being obvious. There are
multiple online articles that seek to identify songs that have misogynistic undertones woven
throughout them.[19][20] For example, an article in the online US women's magazine Bustle
provided a clip of lyrics from the song "Fine China" by Chris Brown. He sings "It's alright, I'm
not dangerous / When you're mine, I'll be generous / You're irreplaceable; Collectible / Just like
fine China." The article went on to conclude that the song was demeaning to women by referring
to them as objects or possessions.[19]

Music is a key factor in the socialization of children. Children and adolescents often turn to
music lyrics as an outlet away from loneliness or as a source of advice and information. The
results of a study through A Kaiser Family Foundation Study in 2005 showed that 85% of youth
ages 8–18 listen to music each day.[21] While music is commonly thought of as only a means of
entertainment, studies have found that music is often chosen by youth because it mirrors their
own feelings and the content of the lyrics is important to them.[22] Numerous studies have been
conducted to research how music influences listeners behaviors and beliefs.[23][24][25] For example,
a study featured in the Journal of Youth and Adolescence found that when compared to
adolescent males who did not like heavy metal music, those who liked heavy metal had a higher
occurrence of deviant behaviors. These behaviors included sexual misconduct, substance abuse
and family issues.[26]
Music videos

Gan, Zillmann and Mitrook found that exposure to sexually explicit rap promotes unfavorable
evaluations of black women. Following exposure to sexual rap, as compared with exposure to
romantic music or to no music, the assessment of the female performers' personality resulted in a
general downgrading of positive traits and a general upgrading of negative ones.[27] A 2008 study
by Zhang et al. showed that exposure to sexually explicit music videos was associated with
stronger endorsement of sexual double standards (e.g., belief that it is less acceptable for women
to be sexually experienced than for men). Exposure to sexual content was also associated with
more permissive attitudes toward premarital sex, regardless of gender, overall television viewing,
and previous sexual experience.[28] However, Gad Saad argues that the premise that music videos
yield harmful effects and that the harm would be sex-specific (e.g., women's self-concepts will
be negatively affected) has not been supported by research.[29]

A survey found that 72.2% of black, 68.0% of white, and 69.2% of Hispanic youths agree with
the suggestion that rap music videos contain "too many" references to sex.[30][31]

Modeling
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In her article, "Negative effect of media on girls," Monique Smith discusses the evolution of
acceptable female figures throughout time. The transition between sexy meaning curvaceous to
sexy meaning thin made it difficult for women to keep up with the ideal feminine figure. Striving
for the virtually unattainable perfect body, women were viewed as a new way to make money.[33]
[self-published source]
The use of size 0 in advertisements and products of the clothing industry has been
met with criticism. For example, Dawn Porter, a reporter from the UK who had been challenged
to go on an extreme celebrity 'size zero' diet for a new BBC programme, Super Slim Me, logged
her experiences about her journey to a size zero.[34]

A study conducted in the UK found evidence that anorexia nervosa is a socially transmitted
disease and exposure to skinny models may be a contributing factor in the cause of anorexia
nervosa.[35]

According to model, Sarah Ziff, stories are told in the industry about models being sexually
assaulted.[36] 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.[37] In 2007 Anand Jon Alexander, a successful
designer who appeared on America's Next Top Model, was arrested on charges of rape, sexual
battery and performing lewd acts on a child, charges which in many cases concerned models who
aspired to work for him.[38] He was sentenced to 59 years in prison.[39]

Models have been denied food on shoots as they are expected to be thin, according to model
Vanessa Perron.[40] Due to the low level of regulation in the industry, modeling agencies often
view their models as independent contractors rather than employees and attempts to unionize the
industry have been largely unsuccessful. There are allegations that a fraudulent modeling agency
in Florida drugged aspirant models and used them to create pornographic films. According to
former agency executive Carolyn Kramer: "When you're a supermodel like Giselle or Christy
Turlington you're treated like royalty, but 99% of models are treated like garbage".[41] The low
level of regulation makes it easy for bad agencies to thrive and treat workers as nothing more
than a source for profit. In their defence, modeling agencies have said that models work at odd
hours for different clients, which means they cannot be considered employees. Legally speaking,
models sign on to management companies and not the other way around.[41] The Model Alliance,
created by the model Sara Ziff, provides its members with protection, advice and support. It is
guided by a partnership between the American Guild of Musical Artists and the Actors' Equity
Association.[42]

Pornography
Main article: Pornographication

In Effects of Prolonged Consumption of Pornography, a review of pornography research

conducted for the Surgeon General in 1986, Dolf Zillmann noted that some inconsistencies in the
literature on pornography exist, but overall concluded that extensive viewing of pornographic
material may produce some negative sociological effects, including a decreased respect for long-
term, monogamous relationships, and an attenuated desire for procreation.[43] He describes the
theoretical basis for these conclusions stating:

The values expressed in pornography clash so obviously with the family concept, and they
potentially undermine the traditional values that favor marriage, family, and children...
Pornographic scripts dwell on sexual engagements of parties who have just met, who are in no
way attached or committed to each other, and who will part shortly, never to meet again... Sexual
gratification in pornography is not a function of emotional attachment, of kindness, of caring,
and especially not of continuance of the relationship, as such continuance would translate into
responsibilities, curtailments, and costs...[44]

Another study conducted by Svedin, Åkermana, and Priebe concluded that male partners' use of
pornography might be integrated within the objectification theory framework for women,
considering that pornography is a socialization agent for sexual attitudes and behavior. It often
portrays men objectifying women via gazing at women's breasts and/or labia, non-permitted
aggressive and sexualized touching of women's body parts, making sexual and derogatory
remarks about women's body parts, and engaging in forceful oral and anal sex despite women
gagging and crying. As pornography portrays women succumbing to this objectification, male
viewers may internalize a view that these behaviors are acceptable.[45] According to the tenets of
social learning theory, men who view pornography may learn and transfer the objectifying
behaviors they view in pornography to sexual encounters with their female partners. Men's
pornography use may correspond to higher levels of experienced sexual objectification by their
female partners. Pornography usage may also enable men to treat their female partners in
objectifying ways and believe that it is acceptable to do so.
Partner's use of pornography can also be negatively linked to women's well-being. Qualitative
studies of women whose male partners heavily use pornography have revealed that these women
reported lower relational and psychological well-being. The women perceived that their partner's
pornography use was connected to their inability to be intimately and authentically open and
vulnerable within their relationships. Women from this qualitative research also reported a
personal struggle regarding the implications of their male partners pornography use for their own
self-worth and value. These women were feeling less attractive and desirable after becoming
aware of their male partner's pornography use.[46] Similarly, women view their partners in a new
way. The general conclusion that women feel is that their partner is not who they originally
thought he/she was. The mate is seen as a sexually questionable and degraded being since the
partner seeks sexual fulfilment through the objectification and sometimes degradation of women.
[47]

Social media

Social media has a prominent effect on people's lives, especially those who use social media
platforms more frequently than others. A study conducted in 2006 found inverse relationships
between the frequency of social media usage and the relationships adolescents formed with the
impact it had on their sense of self.[48] When social media usage increased, adolescents began to
form stronger relationships online while their sense of self was impacted negatively. 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.[49] Positive social media content results in increased presence
on networking sites among adolescent users.

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.[50] In the 2000s, these platforms have emerged as integral communities for publics to
voice their opinions, resulting in a changed online behavior associated largely with
misinformation.[51] One example of these behaviors is displayed in a 2017 Dutch study conducted
by Johanna M. F. van Oosten. This study found that adolescents play out stereotypical gender
roles in their self-presentations in social media. 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.[52]

The prevalence of social media and its influence on self-perception among adolescents,
especially young girls, is undeniable. Research has shown a significant scientific link between
social media and depression among young girls.[53] In addition, this link between depression and
social media perceptions has been connected to obesity among young girls.[53] The negative
implications social media poses on women associated with their appearance or how they carry
themselves reveals a chain reaction; the depression related to negative social media experiences
can manifest itself in the form of poor academic performance and further mental and physical
health issues.[53]
Such evidence of substantial mental and physical harm suggests that the root of the problem can
be found not only within social media advertising and usage, but in the way young girls are
taught to internalized responses on various social media platforms.

Social media has a dominant role in today's society, more than ever before. Today with social
media has also come with an influence on self-appearance specifically on younger women
especially, and that can lead to many negative affects such as anxiety, eating disorders, and
depression. Only 11%of girls worldwide would call themselves "Beautiful" according to the
"Dove Self Esteem Project".[54] Sexual Objectification has also come out of social media as the
normal in society today, which can lead to sexual violence against girls, "Only 1% of adolescent
girls who have experienced forced sex reached out for professional help.", According to data
collected from 30 countries.[55] This can of course lead to multiple problems in dating, and can
put girls at huge risks at places such as college campuses and schools. “The exploitation of
women in mass media leads to the misjudgment of women in reality. The depictions of women
through the eyes of media are oversexualized and only represent women as objects of sexual
desire.”,[56] the increase in social media and reliance on it grows more and more each passing
year, with that the depiction of what a girl should look like to be considered "Beautiful" in
society.

Television

Television is often subject to criticism for the sexual exploitation of women on screen,
particularly when teenagers are involved. In 2013, the Parents Television Council released a
report that found that it was increasingly more likely for a scene to be exploitative when a
teenage girl was involved. The report also found that 43 percent of teen girls on television are the
targets of sexually exploitative jokes compared to 33 percent of adult women. Rev. Delman
Coates, a PTC board member said, "young people are having difficulty managing the distinction
between appropriate and inappropriate sexual conduct". This report is of a series that's about
media sexualization of young girls.[57]

The researchers from the study claim that "[i]f media images communicate that sexual
exploitation is neither serious nor harmful, the environment is being set for sexual exploitation to
be viewed as trivial and acceptable. As long as there are media producers who continue to find
the degradation of women to be humorous, and media outlets that will air the content, the impact
and seriousness of sexual exploitation will continue to be understated and not meaningfully
addressed in our society."[58]

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. They were also
vastly underrepresented in STEM fields when compared to their male counterparts, and had less
speaking roles. According to this study, only 28.3 percent of characters in family films, 30.8
percent of characters in children's shows, and 38.9 percent of characters on prime time television
were women.[59]

According to a report by the Women's Media Center (WMC), it found that the gender gap has
not declined and that in some industries it has gotten worse. In television, it found the percentage
of female TV characters has decreased and that the ones who make it on-screen are not likely to
get the lead roles compared to the male characters. "According to the Center for the Study of
Women in Television & Film's 'Boxed In' report, CW Television Network[60] is the only TV
network where women can be seen in accurate proportion to their representation in the U.S.
population".[61]

Video games
Main articles: Women and video games and Gender representation in video games

The video game heroine Lara Croft (here portrayed by Alison Carroll) is one of the examples cited for the
sexual objectification of women in video games.

According to a report done by the Entertainment Software Association in 2013, 55% of game
players are male and 45% are female.[46] Women's roles in many modern games usually are less
important to the game and rely heavily on stereotypes.[62] Video games' female characters also
tend be lighter skinned individuals, as are their male counterparts. Furthermore, many of the
female characters found in video games intentionally depict woman to be sultry and enhance the
body form of females in an effort to appeal to men's desires[63] Although not demonstrating
blatantly racist stereotypes, many games practice racism through omission of racially diverse
characters.[64]

Video games have been found to offer a smaller range of roles to female characters compared to
male characters, and these roles tend to involve being victims or prizes to be won. The majority
of female characters are also not playable. These roles for women have been found to have a
negative impact on the perception of women in gaming and even main playable female
characters are found to be unrealistically proportioned with revealing clothing. If a sexualized
female character is the main protagonist and portrayed in a positive light, studies have shown a
potential negative effect if the character is hyper-sexualized in a stereotypical manner.[65] A
recent Ohio State University Study has found that sexist and violent content in games cause male
gamers to identify with the male lead, and find less empathy with female victims of violence,[66]
although a 2017 review of this paper suggested several flaws and a reanalysis of the dataset using
different statistical methods found no sexist effect, concluding "These results call into question
whether use of “sexist” video games is a causal factor in the development of reduced empathy
toward girls and women among adolescents".[67] Similarly, the results of a 2015 study suggested
that "sexist video game play is related to men perceiving women in a stereotypic and sexist way",
but found that the same correlation did not occur with female players.[68]

A German longitudinal study from 2011 to 2015 explored the connection between gaming and
sexist attitudes. The results of this study concluded both that playing video games was not
predictive of sexist beliefs and that sexist beliefs were not predicative of video game play. The
researchers stressed, however, that the study did not, nor was intended to, disprove the existence
of sexist attitudes in general.[69] A 2012 study also raised concerns about the correlation between
video games and individual attitudes. Focusing on the Singaporean subjects playing the game
Grand Theft Auto, the study found some evidence of "first order cultivation effects" – which
relate to the perceptions of situations and issues – but found that second order effects, relating to
beliefs and issues, were provided with only limited support by the study. This led the authors to
conclude that previous studies on cultivation effects from television may not directly relate to
effects from video game playing.[70]

The trend of portraying sex-typed images of women and violence against women in popular
video games continues to proliferate and promulgate in video games. Video games depicting
sexual objectification of women and violence against women resulted in statistically significant
increased rape myths acceptance for male study participants but not for female participants.[62][71]
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]".[72]

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), most have violent content, including violence against women, and some contain sexual
objectification of women. Not only are gamers increasingly being exposed to video games
containing sexual objectification of and violence against women, but research also indicates that
such exposure can be excessive.[62] A national sample of youth aged 8 to 18 found that "8.5
percent of video game players exhibited pathological patterns of play," which is "very similar to
the prevalence demonstrated in many other studies of this age group, including across nations".
[73]

Effects on society
Critics of the prevalent portrayals of women in the mass media observe possible negative
consequences for various segments of the population, such as:[74][75][76]

 Women self-objectify in terms of body surveillance by adopting a form of self-consciousness in

which they habitually monitor their own body's outward appearance and spend significant
amounts of attention on how others may perceive their physical appearance [77]
 Unrealistic expectations held of how women should look or behave.
  Stereotyping of women who are positively portrayed by or sexualized in the media, such as the
theme of a "dumb blonde" or "blonde bimbo", limiting the societal and career opportunities for
people who fit these stereotypes.[78]
 Psychological disorders such as body dysmorphic disorder, anorexia, and bulimia.
 The excessively coercive nature of appeal to strong sexual instincts to sell products or promote
media.
 Increase in the likelihood and acceptance of sexual violence.[79]

According to Muehlenkamp and Saris–Baglama, self-objectification of women can lead to

depression, noting that "the relationship between self-objectification and depression can be
explained by the anxiety and powerlessness women may experience as a result of not knowing
when or where they will encounter objectification. These feelings may increase women's
vulnerability to depressive symptoms. Once a woman starts to self-objectify and compare her
body to others, it may be a risk factor for holistic human functioning, and may also lead to
impairment in multiple life tasks, such as forming meaningful interpersonal relationships and
achieving academic success."[80]

In addition, it can lead to sexual dysfunction. Engaging in sexual activity involves another person
focusing attention on one's body and during sexual relations a woman can be distracted by
thoughts about her body rather than experiencing sexual pleasure.[81]

Many studies have shown the negative effects that this exploitation of women in the media has
on the mental health of young women, but recently the studies have focused on aging women in
western societies. It has been observed that the exploitation of young attractive women in the
media causes aging women to feel a variety of emotions including sadness, anger, concern, envy,
desensitization, marginalization, and discomfort that their appearance was being judged by
others.[82]

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." The results
were not different for older women. When asked what they'd most like to change about their
lives, the answer for over half of them was their body and weight.[83]

A recent study done by Vanderbilt University illustrated how sexist commercials have a greater
impact on wellbeing than commercials that do not exploit women. The study was designed with
three different groups: one was exposed to sexist media, one was exposed to neutral media, and
the control group was not exposed to media at all. Of the women exposed to sexist advertising,
there was a substantial difference. The women in this group expressed having a body larger than
it was in actuality and expressed feeling a greater disparity between their own body and the
"ideal body." Following exposure to this kind of media, there was an immediate negative effect
on their mood. It was also concluded that adolescent girls exposed to sexist media are the most
highly impacted demographic.[83]
Effects on young children and adolescents

Statistically, a significant number of young children are exposed to sexualized media forms from
early within their childhood: influence upon girls' self-image has been reported within girls as
young as 5 or 6.[84] 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.

In a study on the sexualization of women in media, by the American Psychological Association,

it was found that women or girls are, statistically speaking, more likely to be dressed
provocatively and forced into poses that suggest sexuality. Another study, on print media,
completed by psychology researchers at Wesleyan University found that 51.8% of the time,
women are objectified in advertisements. This number changes when the study was narrowed to
men's print, where women were objectified in an increased 76% of advertisements.[85]

A common problem seen among young girls is any number of afflictions directly attributed to a
negative body image, caused by these objectified ads. The APA is aware of this situation and put
together a task force to complete a study across all major advertising and media platforms. What
they found was numerous problems being found in young women can be traced back to these
displays of women as sexual objects. The affects span a wide range of disorders and illnesses,
from anxiety, to eating disorders, to depression, and even prevent young girls from creating a
healthy sexual life. This task force is reaching out to both the media and families with young
children in an attempt to properly inform all people on the negative impacts of the way media is
used nowadays.[86]

A study conducted by the Department of Psychology at Knox College provided insight into risk
factors such as media consumption hours, maternal self-objectification, maternal religiosity, and
television mediation; each has been shown to affect rates of media influence and rates of self-
internalization of their potential negative influence.[87]

Effects on women of color

Support has shown that the effects of media exploitation vary for women of different ethnicities.
Research has depicted that these implications often resonate beyond cultural boundaries, to cause
significant differences among African American, Latina, and Asian American women.

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.[75]

Spanish-language TV in the United States statistically projects more stereotypical roles for
Latina women, often portraying them as 'exoticized' and 'overly sexual'; meanwhile, more Latina
youth, on average, watch more television than that of the standard caucasian American child.[84]
This combination projects increased rates of the acceptance of the negative effects within
minority women within the US, leading to a greater acceptance of standard gender roles and
negative stereotypes projected by Latina characters. However, studies have shown that Latina
women who watch more black-oriented television shows see a general increase of body
acceptance over time.

Counter arguments
Gallup & Robinson, an advertising and marketing research firm, has reported that in more than
50 years of testing advertising effectiveness, it has found the use of the erotic to be a
significantly above-average technique in communicating with the marketplace, "...although one
of the more dangerous for the advertiser. 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." This research has led to the popular idea that "sex sells".

Camille Paglia holds that "Turning people into sex objects is one of the specialties of our
species." In her view, objectification is closely tied to (and may even be identical with) the
highest human faculties toward conceptualization and aesthetics.[88]

Danish criminologist Berl Kutchinsky's Studies on Pornography and sex crimes in Denmark
(1970), a scientific report ordered by the Presidential Commission on Obscenity and
Pornography, found that the legalizing of pornography in Denmark had not (as expected)
resulted in an increase of sex crimes.[89] Since then, many other experiments have been
conducted, either supporting or opposing the findings of Berl Kutchinsky, who would continue
his study into the social effects of pornography until his death in 1995. His life's work was
summed up in the publication Law, Pornography, and Crime: The Danish Experience (1999).[90]
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.[91]

Some researchers, such as Susan Bordo and Rosalind Gill, argue against using the phrase "sexual
objectification" to describe such images because they often depict women as active, confident,
and/or sexually desirous.[92][93] For this argument, there have been several refutations that
intensity of women's sexualization suggests that "sexual object" may indeed be the only
appropriate label. The accumulation of sexualized attributes in these images leaves little room for
observers to interpret them in any way other than as instruments of sexual pleasure and visual
possession for a heterosexual male audience.[46] Yet, some scholars have criticized such
statements as overly homogenizing because they render invisible differences in this process of
sexualization.[94]

Some social conservatives have agreed with aspects of the feminist critique of sexual
objectification. In their view however, the increase in the sexual objectification of both sexes in
Western culture is one of the negative legacies of the sexual revolution.[95][96][97][98][99] These
critics, notably Wendy Shalit, advocate a return to pre-sexual revolution standards of sexual
morality, which Shalit refers to as a "return to modesty", as an antidote to sexual objectification.
[96][100]

See also
  Bechdel test
 Dehumanization
 Gender advertisement
 Gender role
 Killing Us Softly
 Media and gender
 Misogyny and mass media
 Rape culture
 Sex in advertising
 Sex in film
 Sexual objectification
 Sexual revolution
 Sexuality in music videos
 Sex in video games
 Sexualization

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