Conor Geraghty's paper discusses sexual objectification of women in social and media contexts. It explores how objectification reduces women to their physical appearance and body parts for the sole purpose of male pleasure and satisfaction. Early arguments from philosophers like Kant viewed those who are objects of sexual desire as mere means to an end. Studies also show that focusing on women's physicality can decrease perceptions of their competence and agency. Music videos frequently portray women in sexually submissive roles and outfits that emphasize their sexuality, while portraying men as dominant. Exposure to such objectifying media influences casual attitudes about gender and sex, especially amongst adolescents.

1. Conor Geraghty
Com 315
05/16/14
Objectification
When it comes to objectification, viewing women as a body roughly includes de-
mentalization. This, in actuality, leads to “stripping away their psychological traits” (Gray, 1207).
Objectification is a phenomenon that means a person, more commonly a woman, is viewed as an
object that eists for the sole person of pleasure . Women that are viewed as objects are typically
redued to body parts such as breasts, legs and hair. In this paper, I will be discussing sexual
objectification in a social and sexist context. I will also touch up on where the objectification of
women made its mark in the music video industry.
One of the first arguments stated centuries ago by man named Immanuel Kant stated that,
“sexual love makes of the loved person an object of appetite; as soon as that appetite has been
stilled, the person is cast side as one casts away a lemon which has been sucked dry” (Gray,
1207). What this analogy is trying to say is that those who are products of sexual desire are seen
strictly as a means of a satisfaction which needs to be achieved. This way of thinking has brought
up phenomenon brought up by feminist scholars commonly referred to as objectification. By
definition, objectification means that a person that is an object of sexual desire is seen as on
object. This phenomenon tends to focus primarily on women and is very easy to catch in our
culture. In a very large scale study of typical magazine advertisement, it was discovered that
female's bodies are dominantly displayed (Gray, 2017). This study bring up a valid point that
states how only focusing on a woman's physical appearance can decrease perceived competence
and emotion. Research also shows that a “disgust” response to ones appearance can also led to

2. the de-mentalization of others. Overall, this journal makes it known that when we focus on the
body it does not lead to a wholesale de-mentalization. Rather, it leads to a redistribution of mind.
By this they mean that perceptions of agency are reduced and experience perceptions are
enhanced (Gray, 1217).
Rachel Calogero's studies in 1997 suggest that girls and women are targeted for sexual
objectification far more than men. Rachel defined objectification as a phenomenon when women
are reduced to instruments and items that are evaluated through a sexual lens. They are also
reduced to body parts and functions from a sexual point of view as well (Calogero, 211). The
way in which women are commonly sexualized in this part of the world has political and
personal implications in a woman's life. Regular encounters of objectification in women, “coax
women into taking a third-person versus a first-person self-perspective. Women tend to do this in
such a manner that they come to view themselves through this social lens (Calogero, 211). This
form of self-perspective also reflects the degree to which women today come to monitor their
appearance from an external observational standpoint. Decades of research on the objectification
theory have pointed out several costs of the self-objectification to a woman’s “well-being and
cognitive performance” (Calogero, 212). This is also very closely associated with a greater fright
and perceived hazard of rape, greater hostility towards other women, greater probability of self-
mutilation, and a very high rate of risks from a mental health perspective (Calogero, 212).
Researchers consistently locate this from of body shame as a highly negative consequence of
self-objectification.
This particular article later discusses sexism as an environmental antecedent of self-
objectification. It begins by explaining that sexism is an, “insidious component of a woman's
everyday social environments” (Calogero, 212). A recent investigation of sexism from a daily

3. diary methodology, typically, women experience much more sexism than men do. The examples
can be endless, as most of can go without arguing. The most common examples include
interactions that include expressions of gender role stereotypes, comments that are deemed to be
demeaning, and sexual objectification (Calogero, 212). The author goes on to explain that these
forms of sexism are definitely not limited to university settings. According to interviews dealing
with female members of the Parliament of Britain, “women's legitimacy within the legislature
requires them to suffer constant sexist remarks and to chronically monitor their appearance to
convey the right amount of femininity” (Calogero, 212). All of this baggage making it very
difficult to be effective in this form of government.
While sexism occurs in a vast array of ways, there are two very well-known forms of
sexism that this journal discusses: hostile and benevolent sexism. In hostile sexism, it refers to an
“openly antagonistic attitude towards women.” On the other hand benevolent sexism means it
refers to a, “subjectively positive orientation towards women.” Now, both of these forms of
sexism communicate well-informed information dealing with the standard division of structural
power between the sexes by showing women as the weaker type than men (Calogero, 212).
In the research done on benevolent sexism remarks, it is known that these remarks
undermine a woman’s cognitive execution by increasing self-doubt as well as worry. On the
other hand, some studies have shown that just the mere suggestion of sexism can drastically
impair a woman's cognitive performance (Calogero, 213). This from of sexism also has been
known to cause consequences for a woman's self-body relation. In other words, women may
direct their undivided attention to certain areas that bring them immediate social rewards and
validations in order to, “counteract the implications of vulnerability and incompetence”
(Calogero, 213).

4. According to the journal, the value that is given to a woman's physical beauty is directly
linked to a tangible social reward. Men and women match women with a vast majority of life
outcome that are rewarding, “underscoring the assertion that physical attractiveness functions as
a form of currency for women” (Calogero, 213). Typically, women place more importance on
appearance than men do as well as pursue in much more “appearance management” to further
deviate to ideals of beauty.
Another article that I found to be interesting and worth noting was one by Cynthia Frisby.
In her journal, she studied the sexual objectification in music videos. Although objectification is
agreed as a commonplace in our media, music videos are definitely the most potent examples of
sexual objectification. Frisby discusses the fact that one of the most pervasive themes of the
media is the theme that a sexy body and highly attractive appearance are the most important
goals for young men and women to attain (Frisby, 476). In particular, television displays music
videos that give a rather extreme picture to this certain theme. Several findings paint a vivid
picture of woman’s appearance and sexual appeal being strongly punctuated. According to
Frisby, however, these studies are flagged as outdated. Frisby makes the argument that music
videos supply fertile grounds for examining how sexuality and gender are commonly depicted
through the media because love and sex are not only dominant themes, but the nature of music
videos from a visual aspect make sexual stereotypes a commonplace (Frisby, 476). She argues in
her report that a close analysis of music videos is highly crucial in today's media because of their
continuously growing popularity amongst adolescents. Why is this worth mentioning and why
are adolescents important? Frisby believes that adolescents are more likely, “refining their
stigmata regarding gender and sexuality” (Frisby, 476). According to her report, approximately
thirteen percent of adolescents regularly engage in the viewing of music video. This statistic is

5. also in direct correlation with other programing such as news programs and talk shows.
In her literature review, Frisby explains how MTV used to be a very popular nonstop
stream of music videos in the 1980's. This overgrowing popularity made critics as well as
scholars worried about the possible antisocial effects of exposure to this genre (Frisby, 468).
Early studies revealed that around sixty percent of all music videos at the time contained some
form of sexual imagery. Evidence later suggested that many undergraduate student as well as
teenagers who were heavily exposed to a large quantity of music videos that included sexual
imagery were much more likely to develop casual and stereotypical attitudes about sex than
those in the control group and were not bombarded with sexualized music videos (Frisby, 478).
In a recent study done in 2009, it was discovered that characters that were female were
very often in submission positions when compared to a male character. This same study also
showed that women are more likely to be in positions that are described as sexual submission
when compared to their male counterparts (Frisby, 478). Women also tend to be portrayed as
items of sexual desire in many music videos today by the use of revealing clothing like very
skimpy dresses that reveal an obviously high amount of skin. In addition to these studies, several
more have examined gender-role traits and behaviors, and these have also confirmed the idea
that the world of usic today is flooded with stereotypes. Typically, men in music videos are
dominant, violent, and highly aggressive when compared to women. In the same ball park, men
are also displayed as being “wanted” on a sexual level by highly attractive women. On the other
side of the coin, female characters are portrayed as highly affectionate, dependent and heavily
nurturing with a persistent massive emphasis of their sexual appeal (Frisby, 478).
Throughout this research, I have discovered that sexual objectification is more dominant
and noticeable in today’s society than ever before. I have also discovered that women have a

6. hard time escaping objectification and sexist remarks due to the medias constant portrayal of
them through advertisements, music videos, and other forms as well. Due to this portrayal,
adolescents are socially constructed into a sexist way of thought. Three critical questions I have
in regards to the research are: Will there ever be a point in time where the sexual objectification
of women will be nonexistent or highly unnoticeable? What can we do to help our children think
outside the box and consider a non-sexist way of thinking? What does a male dominated society
have to do with the constant objectification of women on television?

7. References
Gray, Kurt. (2011). More than a body: Mind perception and the nature of objectification. Journal
of Personality and Social Psychology. 101(6), 1207-1220.
Frisby, Cynthia. (2011). Sexual objectification in music videos: A content analysis comparing
gender and genre. Mass Communication & Society. 14(4), 27p
Calogero, Rachel. (2011). Self-subjugation among women: Exposure to sexist ideology, self
objectification, and the protective function of the need to avoid closure. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology. 100(2), 211-228