Are Contemporary Media Images Which Seem to Display Women as Sexually Empowered Actually Harmful to Women

Bibliographic Data

ID12005646
AuthorsEmma Halliwell (0000-0001-8283-2991, University of the West of England, corresponding author), Helen Malson (0000-0001-5176-9387, University of the West of England), Irmgard Tischner (0000-0002-1405-8997, University of Worcester)
Year2011
Volume35
Issue1
Pages38-45
Publication date2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePsychology of Women Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0361-6843 • E-ISSN: 1471-6402
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0361684310385217
OpenAlexW1967303760
LanguageEN
Citations received40
References cited40

There has been a shift in the depiction of women in advertising from objectifying representations of women as passive sex objects to agentic sexual representations where the women appear powerful and in control (Gill, 2007a, 2008), and there is substantial evidence that these representations have a negative impact on women’s body image. However, to our knowledge, this study is the first experimental research that aims to compare passively objectifying and more recent sexually agentic representations. British undergraduate women ( N = 122) participated in an experiment in which they were randomly assigned to view sexually passive, sexually agentic, or control print advertisements. Exposure to both types of representations of women, compared to viewing control images, was associated with increased weight dissatisfaction. The sexually agentic representations were singularly associated with increased state self-objectification. Media exposure research tends to focus on the models (e.g., their thinness) shown in advertising and pay little attention to the framing of the image. Our results highlight the powerful impact different framings can have on women’s body image concerns as well as suggest that recent shifts in advertising may be particularly problematic because contemporary images increased both weight concern and self-objectification. Therefore, these images may have a more powerful impact on psychological well-being and disordered eating behaviors than traditional images

Advertising · Depiction · Developmental psychology · Disordered eating · Eating disorders · Framing (construction · Mass media · Objectification · Clinical Psychology · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · Eating Disorders and Behaviors · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology · Social Psychology

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