Essay On Objectification Of Women In Media

Dr. Caroline Heldman details the increasing objectification of women in media. She maintains that though objectification has always been a problem, there has been a notable increase of suggestive content in all forms of media in recent years including: television, film, and mass marketing. “A steady diet of exploitative, sexually provocative depictions of women feeds a poisonous trend in women’s and girls’ perceptions of their bodies” (Heldman 344). This trend of exploitative material has lead the American Psychological Association to write an investigative report on self-objectification. “The APA found that girls as young as 7 years old are exposed to clothing, toys, music, magazines and television programs that encourage them to be sexy or “hot” (345). The blunders committed under the banner of feminism are indeed perceived by young girls, who are taught from a young age to see their bodies as objects. The inclusive nature of modern feminism does not recognize the ramifications of the entitlement they espouse. Heldman maintains that, “The notion of objectification as empowering is illogical, since objects

There may be agreement for a movement toward gender equality, but how is this goal to be accomplished if there is a disparity on the definition of equality? If a woman must “take off her clothes to be heard” or use “eroticism” as a way to get ahead in life, is that not a self-defeating method? If one forfeits one’s sexual autonomy in the arena of sexual commerce, whether that is prostitution or pornography, is that not a form of degradation of the feminine person? Men rarely, if ever, employ the same methods to achieve success. Is the main lining of pornography actually the free expression of liberated feminists? Or, as Levande suggests, the result of conspiring media conglomerates who use women as pawns for their own monetary gain under the guise of