The Object of Desire: How Being Objectified Creates Sexual Pressure for Women in Heterosexual Relationships

The objectification of women is widespread in the United States (American Psychological Association, 2007), although there is relatively little research on objectification in romantic relationships. The purpose of this research was to explore how partner-objectification might be related to sexual pressure in heterosexual relationships. It was hypothesized that men who objectify their partners would be more likely to sexually pressure and/or coerce their partners. Additionally, a woman who feels objectified by her partner was hypothesized to internalize the objectification, feel like she has less control in the relationship (i.e., less sexual agency), and perceive more sexual pressure and coercion from her partner. Data from both men and women were collected online in two studies. In Study 1, men (119 from all over the United States and 57 from the BSU student subject pool) completed measures on partner-objectification, coercion, and pressure. Partner-objectification was positively correlated with sexual pressure and coercion in the general sample, but not consistently for the student sample. In Study 2, women (162 from all over the United States and 117 from the BSU student subject pool) completed measures of partner-objectification, self-objectification, sexual agency, sexual pressure and coercion. In Study 2, results in both samples showed that (a) partner-objectification is positively correlated with women’s self-objectification, (b) self-objectification is negatively correlated with sexual agency, and (c) lower sexual agency is related to more sexual pressure. This research can inform interventions aimed at reducing sexual coercion and improve the way people learn to treat one another within romantic relationships

Objectification theory predicts college women’s attitudes toward cosmetic surgery

This study investigated cosmetic surgery attitudes within the framework of objectification theory. One hundred predominantlyWhite, British undergraduate women completed self-report measures of impression management, global selfesteem, interpersonal sexual objectification, self-surveillance, body shame, and three components of cosmetic surgery attitudes. As expected, each of the objectification theory variables predicted greater consideration of having cosmetic surgery in the future. Also, as expected, sexual objectification and body shame uniquely predicted socialmotives for cosmetic surgery, whereas self-surveillance uniquely predicted intrapersonal motives for cosmetic surgery. These findings suggest that women’s acceptance of cosmetic surgery as a way to manipulate physical appearance can be partially explained by the degree to which they view themselves through the lenses of sexual and self-objectification

Cutting words: Priming self-objectification increases the intention to pursue cosmetic surgery

We examined whether subtle exposure to sexually objectifying cues increases women’s intentions to have cosmetic surgery. Undergraduate women (N = 116) were randomly assigned to a condition in which they unscrambled sentences containing words associated with sexual objectification, non-self-objectifying physicality, or neutral content. Following a manipulation check of these primes, participants reported their body shame and intentions to have cosmetic surgery in the future. Results revealed that priming a state of self-objectification, compared to the two non-self-objectifying conditions, increased both body shame and intentions to have cosmetic surgery. In a mediational model, the link between self-objectification and intentions to have cosmetic surgery was partially mediated by body shame. Controlling for other key intrapersonal and social motives linked to interest in cosmetic surgery did not alter these patterns. These findings highlight the potential for the consumption of cosmetic surgery to stand as another harmful micro-level consequence of self-objectification that may be perpetuated via subtle exposure to sexually objectifying words, even in the absence of visual depictions or more explicit encounters of sexual objectification

Sexual Objectification Increases Rape Victim Blame and Decreases Perceived Suffering

Sexual objectification changes the way people view women by reducing them to sexual objects—denied humanity and an internal mental life, as well as deemed unworthy of moral concern. However, the subsequent consequences of sexually objectifying others remain underresearched. In the current study, we examined the impact of objectification in the domain of sexual assault. Sixty British undergraduate students were recruited to complete an impression formation task. We manipulated objectification by presenting participants with either a sexualized or nonsexualized woman. Participants rated the woman’s mind and the extent to which they felt moral concern for her. They then learned that she was the victim of an acquaintance rape and reported victim blame and both blatant and subtle perceptions of her suffering. Consistent with prior research, sexualized women were objectified through a denial of mental states and moral concern. Further, compared with nonobjectified women, the objectified were perceived to be more responsible for being raped. Interestingly, although no difference emerged for blatant measures of suffering, participants tacitly denied the victims’ suffering by exhibiting changes in moral concern for the victim. We conclude that objectification has important consequences for how people view victims of sexual assault. Our findings reveal that sexual objectification can have serious consequences and we discuss how these might influence how victims cope and recover from sexual assault

The Object of Desire: How Being Objectified Creates Sexual Pressure for Heterosexual Women in Relationships

The objectification of women is widespread in the United States (American Psychological Association, 2007). In heterosexual relationships, a woman can feel objectified by her partner. When a woman feels objectified by her partner, she may internalize the objectification, feel like she has less control, and perceive more sexual pressure and coercion. However, there is relatively little research on objectification in romantic relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explore how partner objectification might be related to sexual pressure in heterosexual relationships. A sample of 162 women from all over the United States participated in an online study that measured partner-objectification, self-objectification, sexual agency, and sexual pressure and coercion. The data were analyzed using bivariate correlations. Results showed that (a) partner-objectification is positively correlated with women’s self-objectification, (b) self-objectification is negatively correlated with less freedom and control, and (c) less freedom and control is related to more sexual pressure. This research adds to the literature on romantic relationships and can inform interventions aimed at reducing sexual coercion

Sanctioning resistance to sexual objectification: An integrative system justification perspective

In this article, we describe an integrated theoretical approach for promoting resistance to the system of sexual objectification. Drawing from system justification and objectification theories, we propose a two-arm approach that would harness the system justification motive and adjust the lens of self-objectification in order to facilitate social change. We suggest that it is necessary to frame a rejection of the system of sexual objectification as a way to preserve (rather than threaten) the societal status quo. Further, we argue that it is critical to alter and expand the self-objectified lens through which many women come to view themselves in order to reduce their dependence on the system that constructs and sustains that lens. Although we recognize that multiple approaches and perspectives are needed, we argue that a disruption of the system at its ideological roots is essential to ultimately transcend sexual objectification as a cultural practice

Sexual Objectification

According to Martha Nussbaum, objectification is essentially a form of instrumentalization or use. I argue that this instrumentalization account fails to capture the distinctive harms and wrongs of sexual objectification, because it does not explain the relationship between instrumentalization and the processes of social stereotyping that make it possible. I develop an imposition account of sexual objectification that provides such an explanation and, therefore, should be preferred over the instrumentalization account. It draws on a contrast between imposition and self-presentation and explains why sexual objectification, understood as the imposition of sex object status on women, is harmful and wrong

From attire to assault: clothing, objectification, and de-humanization - a possible prelude to sexual violence?

In the context of objectification and violence, little attention has been paid to the perception neuroscience of how the human brain perceives bodies and objectifies them. Various studies point to how external cues such as appearance and attire could play a key role in encouraging objectification, dehumanization and the denial of agency. Reviewing new experimental findings across several areas of research, it seems that common threads run through issues of clothing, sexual objectification, body perception, dehumanization, and assault. Collating findings from several different lines of research, this article reviews additional evidence from cognitive and neural dynamics of person perception (body and face perception processes) that predict downstream social behavior. Specifically, new findings demonstrate cognitive processing of sexualized female bodies as object-like, a crucial aspect of dehumanized percept devoid of agency and personhood. Sexual violence is a consequence of a dehumanized perception of female bodies that aggressors acquire through their exposure and interpretation of objectified body images. Integrating these findings and identifying triggers for sexual violence may help develop remedial measures and inform law enforcement processes and policy makers alike

Gender Differences in Experiences with Sexual Objectification

Sexual objectification is a prevalent societal issue that can lead to internalizing an objectified perspective of the body (Engeln-Maddox, Miller, & Doyle, 2011). Contrary to popular belief, objectification is applicable to both men and women (Aubrey, 2006). College students are believed to have many encounters involving sexual objectification, but few researchers have investigated sexual objectification in men, creating a need to expand research in this area. I explored gender differences in experiences of sexual objectification in male and female college students. General psychology students completed the Interpersonal Sexual Objectification Scale (Kozee, Tylka, Augustus-Horvath, & Denchik, 2007). I report a statistically significant difference in sexual objectification based on gender, indicating that women experience sexual objectification more often than do men. Keywords: sexual objectification, gender, college student

Sexual objectification

Sexual objectification, in the broadest terms, involves (at least) treating people as things. Philosophers have offered different accounts of what, more precisely, this involves. According to the conjoint view of Catherine Mackinnon and Sally Haslanger, sexual objectification is necessarily morally objectionable. According to Martha Nussbaum, it is not: there can be benign instances of it, in the course of a healthy sexual relationship, for instance. This is taken to be a serious disagreement, both by Nussbaum and by recent commentators such as Lina Papadaki. However it isn't a serious disagreement, for the two theories have different aims and methodology, and are not rivals. They both could be apt, simultaneously