Sexualization and objectification involves taking something and making it out to be an object rather than a living thing, and making it seem like it is a sexual thing when it really isn’t. Everyday, people frown upon women for breastfeeding in public because their breasts are supposedly too “sexual” to show any part of in public. There are also chain restaurants, or “breastaurants” that require waitresses to wear revealing outfits to show off their bodies. However, in other types of establishments, such as bars, strip clubs, or burlesque bars, women are degraded and frowned upon for showing off their bodies. Honestly, the sexualization and objectification of women’s bodies is a problem and needs to stop.
Women need to stop being scolded and frowned upon for using their bodies in a way they are meant to be used. Breast feeding is a good example of this. Many people frown upon breast feeding, mainly in public. They say that such a sight makes them uncomfortable. However, what about breast feeding makes people uncomfortable? It cannot solely be the sight of a woman’s breast, because often times, people are still uncomfortable when it is covered, simply because they know that it is under there. Perhaps the reason for the uncomfortableness that is experienced when seen that a woman is breast feeding in public is caused by the connection often made between women’s breasts and sexual acts. However, women have breasts for the sole purpose of feeding their child, and the objectification of women’s breasts as “toys” has created this uncomfortableness when women use their breasts for their original and proper purpose.
Along with the beauty of a woman’s body comes a specific function for each part. Women often don’t have control over certain ...
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...lastly, when a women is confident and proud of her body, or uses it to make money, whether it is because she can’t make money any other way or because she enjoys using her body to entertain others, she should not have to be afraid of being degrading or stereotyped or viewed as an incapable parent.
Works Cited
"Breastfeeding in Public." Womenshealth.gov. Women's Health, 1 Aug. 2010. Web. 04 May 2014.
Heldman, Caroline, PhD. "Sexual Objectification...: What Is It?" The Society Pages. Sociological Images, 2 July 2012. Web. 04 May 2014. .
Louissaint, Rachel. "Who Are We to Judge?: Is She a Hoe or an Opportunist?" MadameNoire.com. Madame Noire, 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 06 May 2014.
"Twin Peaks Restaurants." Twin Peaks Restaurant. Front Burner Restaurants, LP, n.d. Web. 04 May 2014.
Travis, Cheryl Brown, Kayce L. Meginnis, and Kristin M. Bardari. "Beauty, Sexuality, and Identity: The Social Control of Women." Sexuality, Society, and Feminism. Ed. Cheryl Brown Travis and Jacquelyn W. White. Washington: American Psychological Association, 2000.
Deborah Tolman author of “Dilemmas of Desire” dwells on uncovering a wealth of feelings about sexuality from teenage girls who are faced with a lot of struggles in developing sexual identity and detached from their sexuality. One of her main argument is centered on the juxtaposition of media representations of girls as highly sexualized objects. For instance, “the urban girl is viewed as the overly sexual young jezebel. Latinas are often eroticized as exotic, sexually alluring and available.” (Tolman, pg.170). I agree with this statement due to simple fact that we are living in a highly sexualized cultural milieu and evidence of sexualization is seen through mainstream culture. Images such as Sarah Bartman depict African American/ urban portrayal of sexual imagery formed socio-historical
While societies change and old forms of patriarchy corrode, new ones concentrate and develop (Bartky 94). A woman’s feminity is no longer restricted to certain forms of disciplinary practices such as her dressing and her smile. However, the center of attention in today’s modern society is a female’s body and its appearance. Bartky argues that when this anonymous power controls a woman about how she should feel about her body, oversees everything she does and directs her to change what is not good enough, she immediately becomes objectified (Bartky, 94). While today‘s world is advancing, a female’s body, such as her breasts will always be the center of attraction and always be seen as sexual.
Some people don't particularly like seeing a woman breastfeed. It makes them feel "uncomfortable". Woman are asked to leave the room or to stop breastfeeding by those who feel uncomfortable. Breasts are viewed as sexual items rather than a natural way of providing nutrients and comfort for a child. Some people are against public breastfeeding because they don't want to explain what is going on to their child. Woman are often told that their child is to old to be breastfed. It is no ones business but the mothers how...
Traditional gender roles are the behaviors and practices we adopt from learning and what has been passed on from past generations. We learn these from our fathers, mothers, grandparents, and peers. It’s a set of unwritten laws that each gender operates under. These roles have no exception. This soon becomes a problem in society because it creates sexism based off of traditional principles on what each gender should be doing or how they should be acting. Research suggest that “Sexism is defined as prejudice or discrimination toward people based on their gender” (Marks & Zaikman, 2014, Pg. 334). Sexism correlates with the double standard of women on the aspect of it being acceptable in society for men to promote sexual activity and women being bashed and looked down upon when they promote their sexuality. There has been more prevalent news of women taking the stand on their sexuality and bodies. The double standard that exist in America has more recently raised attentiveness in society with such campaigns as Free-the-Nip. The free the nip campaign is a fight for equal rights amongst women. The main ideology of the campaign is for women to have equal rights when it comes to being bare chested in public, the same rights that men have (Reporter, 2015). The double standard here is society saying that women should not be allowed to be bare chested taking
The issue being presented in this video is the over sexualization and objectification of women to sell a product. Sexualization of women, and men, is unfortunately incredibly common in westernized culture and is constantly being one up’d by the images being portrayed, constantly reinforcing the stereotypes of gender. The problem with this add is not only the sexualization and objectification of the women, but also the subtext of the theme. This ad essentially copied and pasted the official video of Robin Thicke’s "Blurred Lines” and added phallic products for more effect, the women in the ad are nothing more than props surrounding the product, and at one point literally becoming a table on which the “Beats Pill” is displayed. This is worth
Pornography can be defined as printed or visual material displaying erotic descriptions or visuals of sexual body parts or sexual activity, and is largely aimed to appeal to a male audience through sexual scenarios which often dehumanize and exploit women and their bodies. Though largely, pornography is is designed to please a masculinized audience, there are some feminists, from multiple genders, who aim to “reclaim their right to enjoy sexual images without violence and negativity” (Klinger). Ideally, pornography would be a context in which there would be a conscious movement towards eliciting a healthy reclamation of sexually charged images from all genders- especially women. Those against pornography usually emphasize the specifics of porn as it occurs in modern culture. Oftentimes anti-pornography feminists point out the extremely male-oriented vision of sexuality, the sexism, and with descriptions such as: “women presented as dehumanized sexual objects, things, or commodities; shown as enjoying humiliation, pain, or sexual assault; tied up, mutilated, or physically hurt; depicted in postures or positions of sexual submission or servility; shown with body parts- including though not limited to vagina, breast, or buttocks- exhibited such that women are reduced to those parts; women penetrated by animals or objects; and women presented in scenarios of degradation, humiliation, or torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual” (MacKinnon). As the pornography industry is now, it contributes to the ideals of rape culture by fetishizing femininity and female “fragility” and/or “innocence”. This obviously misogynistic practice also creates a reliance on understanding...
Instead, women are portrayed as a piece of meat to the world by the more skin they show; proving that sex sells. Some female artists do not present thems...
The sexual objectification of women is detrimental not only to women, but also to their children and even the environment. This objectification may prevent women from breastfeeding.
The sexualization of women in the 21st century has led many to wonder whether or not the feminist movement actually resulted in more harm than good. Although the progress and reform that came out of the feminist movement is indisputable, things such as equal rights under the law, equal status and equal pay, the reality is that the subjugation of female roles in society still exist, and the most surprising part about this is that now women are just as much as at fault for this as men are. Ariel Levy defines female chauvinist pigs as “women who make sex objects of other women and of ourselves” (Levy 11). This raunch culture is mistakenly assumed to be empowering and even liberating to women when it is in fact degrading and corrupting to the modern feminist movement and makes it more difficult for women to be taken seriously in society. The shift in the nature of the feminist movement is in Levy’s opinion attributed to by the massive industry now profiting off of the sexualization of women, the reverse mindset now adopted by post-feminists and women in power roles in our society, and ultimately the women who further their own objectification as sex objects and thus, so by association, deem themselves lesser than man.
In the American culture today, women are becoming more sexualized at a younger age due to the influences of the corporate media. Corporate media and society form the perfect idealistic body that women should have and is constantly being promoted making younger girls start to compare themselves to them at a young age. Certain shows and movies, such as Disney, influence young children and teenagers through their characters as to how a woman is supposed to be accepted. The way the corporate media and society make this body image they want women to have starts in a very early stage in a woman's life without them knowing. There are these childhood movies, such as Disney, Barbie and Ken dolls, programs such as Netflix, teen magazines, and the most common source of them all, the internet.
Excerpt from K. Conboy, N. Medina and S. Stanbury, eds. Writing on the Body: Female Embodiment and Feminist Theory (401-17). NY: Columbia University Press, 1997.
A common trend in the entertainment industry today is the objectification of women in society. Sexualizing women are seen in media such as; movies, advertisement, television show and music video, where their main focus is providing the audience with an image of women as sexual objects rather than a human. This is detrimental to society since the media is producing social stereotypes for both genders, which can further result in corrupted social habits. Objectification in media are more focused on females than male, these false images of women leave individuals with the wrong idea of the opposite sex. As media continuously use sexual contents regarding women, the audience starts underestimating women. Specifically movies, it allows media to shape the culture’s idea of romance, sex and what seems
1), an unbelievable 40% say their biggest fear pertaining to breastfeeding is nursing in public (Lansinoh Laboratories Inc.). Pleading that nursing a baby is natural, multitudes of comments counter that argument, saying defecation, urination, and even sexual intercourse are natural as well, but they aren’t doing it in public. These types of comments are disadvantageous to breastfeeding success rates and are regulating women to restrooms, changing rooms, hot vehicles, and even homes, in response to having to feed their child. Dismantling arguments for modesty, a blanket term tossed around to validate all forms of intolerance, typically stemming from allegedly religious followers, to reclaiming breasts being seen only as sexual objects, and educating society on the benefits of breastfeeding and how it helps our country are the only way we can begin to provide all nursing mothers a chance to meet their breastfeeding
A woman’s body is not something that an individual could look at and criticize it due to it’s size or body shape because it can cause significant damage to an individual emotionally, physically and psychologically. According to Gallivan “ Adolescent girls often think that being thinner would make them happier, healthier and better looking”( Gallivan 12), but being happy and better looking does not have to be about being thin or being sexy, it is about how an individual portray herself as a person and learn to embrace and appreciate their body just the way it is. Parents should teach their children the value of appreciating, embracing and loving the body that they are born with, because once children carried this lesson, they will learn not to criticize, mocked and tease someone because of their size and