Objectification of women and girls in our culture is pervasive (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997).
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2294/is_9-10_49/ai_110813265 Objectification theory posits that the ubiquitous objectification of women in our culture encourages body dissatisfaction, eating problems, and other mental health concerns among girls and women (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). There are data that show that women are objectified in the media, that girls and women experience a high rate of body dissatisfaction and eating problems, and that exposure to objectified media images of women is related to the experience of self-objectification and body shame among women. One purpose of the present study was to examine the links between these variables from a developmental perspective by examining how grade-school girls responded to objectified images of women. A second purpose was to examine how grade-school boys responded to objectified images of men. Although such images of men are less common in our culture, there is a growing concern that they, too, might be problematic. Objectification of women and girls in our culture is pervasive (Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). In the media women's bodies are more likely to be shown to advertise products and there is often a focus on parts of the body, rather than the whole body, which emphasizes the view of woman as an object (e.g., Archer, Iritani, Kimes, & Barrios, 1983; Kilbourne, 1994). Images of women are often sexualized, which sends the message that men may "possess" women's bodies (see Frederickson & Roberts, 1997). Greater sexual objectification of women than men has been found in many media realms including fashion and fitness magazines (Rudman & Verdi, 1993), "MTV" (music television) commercials (Signorielli, McLeod, & Healy, 1994), and prime-time television commercials (Lin, 1998). In addition to being portrayed as sex objects, women presented in the media are unrealistically thin (see Gilbert & Thompson, 1996; Levine & Smolak, 1996 for reviews). Playboy centerfold models, Miss America contestants, female television characters, and models in women's magazines have all gotten thinner across time (Garner, Garfinkel, Schwartz, & Thompson, 1980; Mazur, 1986; Silverstein, Perdue, Peterson, & Kelly, 1986) whereas average American women have become heavier (Spitzer, Henderson, & Zivian, 1999). ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
