The current study examined the psychological consequences of trait and state self objectification. This study had three main objectives: to examine the relation between trait self objectification and various eating pathologies; to examine the degree of state self objectification (induced by three different conditions) and the impact of condition on affect and sense of self; and finally, to examine the effect of condition on interactions with the opposite sex. The pilot study was used to select thin, thin sexually objectifying and average/plus size non-sexually objectifying images. Using a quasi-experimental research design with an elaborate cover story, the main study exposed one hundred seventy women to one of three conditions (thin non sexually objectifying, thin sexually objectifying or plus size non-sexually objectifying images) and measured negative affect and body image. Following viewing images, participants interacted with a male confederate for five minutes and their reported comfort level and flirting with the confederate were assessed. Results indicated that trait self objectification was associated with disordered eating symptomatology. However, the manipulation check revealed that the experimental condition did not produce varying degrees of sexual objectification. Nonetheless, results indicate an effect of condition on body dissatisfaction, in which individuals who viewed thin images reported more body dissatisfaction than participants in the above average/plus size group. In regards to the social interaction, individuals in the non-sexually objectified group reported more flirting than individuals in the sexually objectified group. Implications for clinical work and future research are discussed.

Objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts, 1997) has been used to explain how mechanisms related to socialization, sexual objectification, and psychological variables interact to predict mental health difficulties. Among a sample of 626 undergraduate women (age 18-24), this study empirically tested components of Moradi and Huang’s (2008) model and extended it by including additional socialization experiences (i.e., sexual abuse, societal pressures regarding weight and body size). Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the model provided a good fit to the data and the model was tested in the confirmatory sample. Across the two samples, high levels of Body Shame and low levels of Internal Bodily Awareness directly led and high levels of Societal Pressures Regarding Weight and Body Size, Internalization of Cultural Standards of Beauty, and Self-objectification indirectly led to increased Bulimic Symptomatology and accounted for 65 to 73% of the variance in Bulimic Symptomatology. A history of sexual abuse and sexual objectification were not consistently supported within the model and do not appear to be as salient as the experience of societal pressures regarding weight and body size in understanding women’s experience of bulimic symptomatology. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Sexual objectification has become a pervasive problem, negatively affecting the mental and physical health of many women. Understanding the influence of visual media, social-support networks and social interactions on young women's health is essential to addressing issues related to objectification. We do not have an in-depth understanding of how Black and White young adult women make meaning of objectification. Further, the existing literature suggests that experiences of objectification are likely different for Black and White women. The current research employed two studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, to address these particular gaps. Study 1 used focus groups to assess young Black and White women’s attitudes and experiences related to objectification. Four focus groups were conducted with university students, two with White women (N=11) and two with Black women (N=17). Results indicated that sexual objectification is a complex and unfortunate reality in the women’s daily lives; driven by the media, men and even other women. Participants’ immediate responses to objectifying experiences are multi-faceted and the potential consequences of long-term exposure can be detrimental to a woman’s well-being. Racial differences arose in relation to standards of beauty as well as examples of and reactions to objectifying experiences. Study 2 study assessed two different models of sexual objectification for White and Black women. Female, undergraduate and graduate students completed an online questionnaire about sources of objectification; 155 White women and 173 Black women were included in the analyses. The results suggest there are significant relationships between certain sociocultural sources of objectification, body image preoccupation and the associated consequences of depression, eating disturbances. Skin color dissatisfaction was an additional negative outcome for Black participants. The models for Black and White participants were not equivalent. Understanding how women experience sexual objectification and racial differences has implications for how objectification and related outcomes are measured. This information also has implications for developing appropriately tailored programming related to the objectification and psychological well-being of women. The information from these studies can hopefully be used to inform individuals of the risks associated with sexual objectification, as well as develop educational programs on college campuses.

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This essay argues that the depiction of women in Seamus Heaney’s poems “Bog Queen” and “Punishment” results from the male gaze in three ways: the narrative viewpoint, stereotypical characterization, and the objectification of the female body. The following essay analyses the poems through an ecofeminist perspective that enables examination of the female characters as personifications of nature – “Bog Queen” as Mother Earth and the victim of “Punishment” as Nerthus, the fertility goddess. The analysis explores three areas; historical context, ‘The Feminine Principle,’ and Nussbaum’s list of ‘Feminist Perspectives on Objectification’ to answer how the male gaze is present in the three aspects. The male gaze is argued to be attributed to an androcentric narrative that presents a man and country’s sense of revenge, stereotypes that are totems of the male fantasy, and dehumanizing sexual objectification that enables appreciation of the dead bodies of women.

This essay will compare Margaret Atwood´s dystopian novel The Handmaid’s Tale to the tv-adaptation of the novel by Bruce Miller. In the original work, the protagonist Offred narrates the story of her life in a patriarchal society called Gilead. In contrast, the viewers are guided by different sound and visual strategies in the series. One sound strategy is the use of voice-overs as the viewers can hear Offred´s thoughts in situations where she is being mistreated. In addition, visual strategies include the viewers watching the ceremony from a bird-view angle and reviewing the scene as outsiders looking in. I argue that the novel provides a deeper understanding of how it is to live in Gilead as a handmaid, as Offred, because of how the novel is told through first-person narration. Also, in both versions, Offred is objectified by the Gilead society, but in the tv-version, I believe that she is also objectified by specifics of the adaptation. The essay will focus on the objectifying treatment of Offred by comparing the novel and the series and the use of these strategies and discuss relevant terms from the story through the narrative of Offred. The analysis is divided into three passages from the novel and corresponding episodes from the series’ first season. They are chosen since the objectifying treatment of Offred is demonstrated within them. The theoretical framework is feminist theories of objectification to help me compare the novel and the series regarding this aspect, primarily, the objectification theory established by Barbara Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts. The essay, all in all, shows that the handmaids, as fertile women, in the patriarchal society of the Gilead are treated as mere objects whether through their sexuality or their reproductive function.

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Sexuell objektifiering har länge varit ett fenomen som kopplats till många psykologiska problem hos kvinnor. I samband med sociala mediers utveckling har det blivit alltmer utbrett. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka unga kvinnors upplevelse av sexuell objektifiering och hur de upplever att det påverkat deras självkänsla och välbefinnande. 10 semistrukturerade intervjuer gjordes på kvinnor mellan 20–27 år som sedan tematiserades. Fem teman identifierades och namngavs till kläderna som täcker, självobjektifiering, en skiftande självkänsla, ouppnåeliga kroppsideal och sociala mediers inverkan. Resultatet visade att kvinnor upplever sexuell objektifiering som negativt, med känslor såsom obehag och nedstämdhet. Kvinnor upplevde att den sexuella objektifieringen påverkade kvinnans självkänsla och välbefinnande genom bland annat verbala handlingar samt genom blickar. Studien kan bidra till en bättre förståelse av sexuell objektifiering som kvinnor upplever och hade i framtiden kunnat utvecklas med ytterligare en studie, där man istället studerar varför män objektifierar med hjälp av intervjuer.

Background: For decades, gender representation in advertising has occupied the attention of researchers, where especially advertising that depicts women sexually has been well examined. However, relatively few research works have investigated the sexualization and objectification of men in advertising, although it is starting to change. Research Purpose: The purpose of this research is to analyze Swedish male's perspectives of male representations in fashion advertising, specifically, sexualized, and objectified male representations and its effects on brand image. Methodology: For this study, a qualitative research method with a deductive approach was applied. The data collection was conducted through semi-structured interviews, using a topic guide based on the proposed analytical framework by Edell & Burke. 17 stimulus in the form of advertisements were chosen from internationally well-known brands as well as Swedish brands within the time frame of the last ten years, from 2013-2019. 17 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Swedish male adults between the ages of 25-57 were conducted. Findings: The findings, in relation to RQ1, showed that the aspects emphasized by Swedish male adults in discussing sexually objectifying images of men in advertising are: “lack of reality”, “body focus and lack of purpose”, “lack of new-thinking” and “lack of inclusion and self-identity with brands”. The findings, in relation to RQ2 showed that the men’s negative feelings, judgements, beliefs and attitudes about and towards most of the brands and advertisements resulted in a negative or ambivalent brand image. An exception to this was the men’s positive feelings, judgements, beliefs and attitudes towards the American Eagle and Dressman which resulted in mostly a positive brand image. Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings of this thesis confirms firstly that the aspects emphasized by Swedish male adults in discussing sexually objectifying images of men in advertising are: “lack of of reality”, “body focus and lack of purpose”, “lack of new thinking” and “lack of inclusion and self-identity with brands”. Secondly, Swedish men’s attitudes towards sexually and objectified males in fashion advertisements resulted in a positive, negative, or alternatively, an ambivalent brand image being created, depending on the context the brand image was analyzed from. Theoretical Contributions: This thesis contributes in several ways theoretically to literature on the topic of advertising, gender stereotyping and sexualizatiom in relation to the advertising of males. Firstly, it highlights a modern phenomena which has been overlooked in previous research. Secondly, it contributes to new areas of consumer attitudes, in this case Swedish male adults, which has not previously been thoroughly investigated. Lastly, this thesis contributes with updated, descriptive as well as specific information on the phenomena and ultimately creating and generating a better understanding of the phenomena: sexualized and objectified men in fashion advertising and the effects it has on brand image.

This essay explores and compares the depiction of the character Beverly Marsh in Stephen King’s novel IT and Andy Muschietti’s 2017 film adaptation. The literary analysis uses the theoretical concepts of Mulvey’s the Male Gaze, Bartky’s sexual objectification theory, and Kristeva’s abjection. The Male Gaze describes how women are constantly looked upon by an implicit male subject, whether it be characters within the narrative or the spectator outside of it. Sexual objectification refers to how the body can become fragmented into sexual parts when described in an oppressive way. Feelings of abjection can occur when the concepts of subject and object, cultural norms, or sexual differences are challenged. The initial hypothesis was that King’s novel would lean more on patriarchal structures in the way femininity is described. However, the results show that both the original novel and the film depict Beverly in a sexually objectifying way, although the methods differ.