UJ: Hypersexualization of Women in American Society Today
Hello everyone my name is Wesam Wekhyan. I too was intrigued by several particular questions posted, such as the ones in relation to pop culture and women’s roles in Arab society today. I find it interesting that one of the questions posed the idea that women’s progress in a society was linked to their choice of dress.
“I have noticed that much of the progress that women made in the middle part of the 20th century has been reversed in the past few decades. By progress, I mean that I noticed that women dressed in more Western clothes…It just confuses me on how so much progress can be made and then taken away in such a short amount of time ” Jeanetta Clement UNC: Women in the Arab World
Hugh Hefner in 2010 made the clear statement that “women are sex objects”, riling many Feminists to reach the conclusion that many women in the American sexualized culture believe “Women’s liberation has now come to be seen as the ability to wrap your legs around a pole, or flash your breasts in public, or send a sexual image of yourself to your boyfriend … Girls think that empowerment lies in their ability to be hot and sexy.” In an article By Caroline May – The Daily Caller
Today the media bombards girls and women with 400-600 images daily, images of impractical and unattainable beauty standards. Leading women to believe if their hair doesn’t curl in the right way, if their legs aren’t a certain length, if their body weighs above a certain number, or if their clothes don’t portray a certain image they will be unaccepted. The desire to be an individual clashes with the desire to follow the standards of society and the media, the consequences are outrageous: eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, depression, and even resorting to plastic surgery.
The issue of hyper sexuality in television, movies, magazines, celebrities, basically the media in general in the United States is the REAL factor to the oppression of women. This is something that the media has turned a blind eye towards for one reason sex sells.
My question is, in your opinion, with the help of campaigns such as Oprah’s Real Women Real Beauty, and Dove’s campaign for Real Beauty is there hope to break this predominant ideology? What do you believe could be a solution to this very serious problem that day-to-day robs children of their youth and individuality? In the future if and when some of you have children what would be your restrictions, and methods to raise and educate them about this issue?
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Hello Wesam Wekhyan,
My name is Ellen Magnuson and I also believe that the issue of hyper-sexuality is a negative impact on our society. I believe that beauty campaigns endorsed by Dove and Oprah are one of many steps that are being implemented in order to break the ideology that you mentioned. The biggest issue is that American consumerism runs deep in the idea of outer appearances. If the media is going to steer away from hyper-sexuality they will have to find another mode of advertising their products by continuing to make the same amount or more money. Dove has found an alternative to this issue by representing a diverse variety of women in their line of products, but if their existence is based off the reason to make money then their success will be limited.
There are many solutions to solve this complex problem, one in particular is to create a movement where women refuse to buy products that endorse hyper-sexuality. This is also a complex solution, but in order to encourage companies to eliminate sexy images in the media and to have appropriate content in movies, songs, and other forms of media consumers must stop rewarding them with money.
Growing up, my parents made sure to enforce rules on the clothes that I would wear. If the clothes were inappropriate for school then I was not allowed to buy them.
Part of my school’s dress code”
-shorts must be longer than the spot where your fingertips reach along your leg
-shirts must be at least three fingers wide at the shoulders (no spaghetti straps or inappropriate tank tops)
I plan on regulating the types of media (television, songs, magazines, etc.) that they will be exposed to along with the type of clothes that they wear outside of the house. As they get older I will lift many of these restrictions if I believe that they are responsible enough to make decisions on their own.
When educating them on the matters of some of the images that they see, I will encourage them to be their own individual. I will let them know that these images do not control who they are and who they will be.
I think it’s incredibly interesting that you inquire about this. As a female of color, growing up in a predominantly white society, it was difficult to come to an understanding and acceptance of who I was and how this worked into society’s definition of what was pretty and acceptable. I used to come from school crying because I wanted to be white and fit in with what everyone was telling me was normal and what the media was telling me was normal.
I don’t think that Oprah or Dove’s campaign is necessarily beneficial. These are marketing to the wrong age group and the wrong demographic. Children’s shows and teen magazine are still showing us that beautiful is white, thin, and drop dead beautiful. No one, not teachers, peers, or media, are telling us that beauty comes from the inside.
In college, it is also difficult to find a balance between what media and peers tell us is pretty and acceptable and what we believe is acceptable. Especially in the south, there is pressure to find and meet a potential husband in college. But how do we do that when our peers are dressing with shorter hemlines and lower cut shirts? Because all we know from the media and our peers is that sexy is wearing less clothes and more make up; magazines tell us that if we want to find a guy we need to wear these shoes and this small skirt and this color lipstick.
I think the problem is far too expansive for campaigns such as Dove and Oprah, who not only appeal to a much older audience, but also don’t hold esteem in knowing what is “cool” and “acceptable.” If popular celebrities (younger), clothing brands (like Chanel or Forever 21 or Gap), or make up company started to redefine what they deem pretty and acceptable by society, I think there would be a better chance.
The best I could do for kids, in this day and age, is start the discussion of beauty comes from the inside much earlier. We don’t hear these messages until we are in high school and already behaving in the ways magazines and media are telling us to act.
I hope you found this helpful!