Leave Nothing to The Imagination - The Hypersexualization of Women in Media

Today, there is an influx of sexually implied content in the digital world. Whether it be ravishing advertisements, sexual dance moves, explicit song lyrics, or filters to make users look seductive - sexualization is very much persistent and present. But what is over-sexualization? How often does it occur? Does it impact women and society? And are there advancements that we can take to fix this?

It is important to get a full understanding of hypersexualization before diving deeper. According to Quebec, “hypersexualization, or the sexualization of public space, involves the attribution by the media of a sexual character to a product or behavior that has nothing intrinsically sexual about it”. In sum, it is when the media sexualizes something that does not need to be sexualized or whose original purpose has nothing to do with intimacy to push their product. Think perfume commercials, Victoria's Secret campaigns, certain food commercials, etc. Anything online that makes you stop and think “hmm are they trying to sell their product or the girl?

“All too often, the media sends the message that girls should be pretty, not powerful; noticed, not respected. And this is incredibly harmful, not just to a girl and her development but to our cul culture at large.”

Today, advertisements tend to resort to ‘porno chic,’ “a trend that involves simulating pornographic images to increase sales. Porno chic places women in submissive roles while promoting male domination and sexual performance. Close-ups of legs, breasts, and thighs reinforce the idea that women are sexual objects and not fully-fledged human beings”. To take a look at the numbers, a 2016 Oxford study estimated that sexual content appears in approximately 85% of major motion pictures, 82% of television programs, 59% of music videos, and 37% of music lyrics. And on top of that, we have over-sexual social media content.

Since social media is still relatively new, and ever-evolving, the rules of content regulation are still being slowly figured out. A very interesting article written by Genesis Hernandez on Medium highlighted the fact that “laws for censoring content are unable to keep up with the constant surfacing of new social media outlets, and the sexually explicit content posted”. With first amendment rights, it causes problems with the government’s ability to enforce limitations on sexual content on social media. Therefore, for the most part, users can post whatever they want for any and all to see. Mix that with forced advertising that is porno-chic leaning and we have a sexual buffet.

“All too often, the media sends the message that girls should be pretty, not powerful; noticed, not respected. And this is incredibly harmful, not just to a girl and her development but to our cul culture at large.”

It is easy to brush this off and think of it as a non-issue but the reality is that these messages are detrimental to our society. It sets the gauge for what a culture considers normal. The research conducted by Oxford also found that the “social learning theory is used to explain how adolescents may observe sexual content in the media and then model their own behavior after that content”. On top of this, the social cognitive theory suggests that “viewers’ scripts, schemas, and normative beliefs are shaped by their engagement with media content, and that these beliefs and values lead to behaviors”. It suggests that if women are regularly exposed to messages implying that men are sex-driven and women are sexually passive, both parties might internalize those sexual scripts. The normalcy of sexualizing women by the media can lead and has led to subconsciously objectifying women which increases the chance of violence against women, sexual coercion, and rape to occur. Unicef said it best -”all too often, the media sends the message that girls should be pretty, not powerful; noticed, not respected. And this is incredibly harmful, not just to a girl and her development, but to our culture at large”.

In an age of sexual liberation, it’s not that people can’t be sex-positive and that sex should be taboo, it is simply that there is no need for overexposure when it holds such negative impacts. It is important to bring awareness to this issue and advocate for change.