"The girl is a sight of a culture's most intensified disinvestments and re-castings of the body"-Elizabeth Grosz
Sexual objectification is generally reserved for women, and occurs when a person is dehumanized and made into a sex object. The difference between a subject and an object is that a subject participates in the action, while the object is acted upon. We see objectification happen through the portrayal of women in a hyper-sexualized manner mainly on television or in advertisements.
In order to gain acceptance, women adhere to the standards set by the media. Some women believe that they are empowered by these beauty standards that emphasize their sexual nature and gain them sexual currency through objectification. Girls are observing the sexual nature of their role models, and are desiring at younger and younger ages to copy them.
In 2007 the APA Task Force reported that "girls in the United States are exposed to both implicit and explicit messages from parents, role models, peers and the media that promote a limited image of women focused on sexual attractiveness," (Goodin 2011).
Regardless of their physical adherence to beauty standards, women are more than what they externally portray. Girls need to know this, and need role models who are less concerned with their physical perfection, and more concerned with their achievements and contributions.
We are raising a generation of future women (girls) who are being taught that the most important thing in life is their observance of unrealistic standards, and their physical attractiveness. We are raising weak women. A woman is more than her physicality and sex. She is her intellect, her emotion, her hobbies, her spirituality, her artistry, etc. Most importantly she is her-uncompromising-self. Her sex is only a fraction of who she is.
In order to gain acceptance, women adhere to the standards set by the media. Some women believe that they are empowered by these beauty standards that emphasize their sexual nature and gain them sexual currency through objectification. Girls are observing the sexual nature of their role models, and are desiring at younger and younger ages to copy them.
In 2007 the APA Task Force reported that "girls in the United States are exposed to both implicit and explicit messages from parents, role models, peers and the media that promote a limited image of women focused on sexual attractiveness," (Goodin 2011).
Regardless of their physical adherence to beauty standards, women are more than what they externally portray. Girls need to know this, and need role models who are less concerned with their physical perfection, and more concerned with their achievements and contributions.
We are raising a generation of future women (girls) who are being taught that the most important thing in life is their observance of unrealistic standards, and their physical attractiveness. We are raising weak women. A woman is more than her physicality and sex. She is her intellect, her emotion, her hobbies, her spirituality, her artistry, etc. Most importantly she is her-uncompromising-self. Her sex is only a fraction of who she is.