Abstract
This article reports the results of a content analysis of female self-sexualization in personal profile pictures on MySpace.com (N = 24,000). Photographs were analyzed according to three measures: ritualization of subordination, body display, and objectification. Trained evaluators coded the photographs for each measure by race/ethnicity, body type, sexual orientation, and education level. Findings reveal that rates of ritualization of subordination were significantly higher for Hispanics, average body types, and bisexuals. Body display and objectification were both significantly higher for Blacks and Hispanics, bisexuals, and women with higher education levels. Body display and objectification rates were significantly lower for larger body types while body display alone was significantly lower for lesbians. Overall self-sexualizing behavior in this study sample is low based upon study measures. Images presented on MySpace.com do reveal, however, an acceptance of constrained and stereotypical notions regarding both gender and sex roles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report on the APA task force on the sexualization of girls. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Retrieved September 21, 2009, from http://www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html.
Aubrey, J. (2006). Effects of sexually objectifying media on self-objectification and body surveillance in undergraduates: Results of a 2-year panel study. Journal of Communication, 56, 366–386.
Bartky, S. (1990). Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York: Routledge.
Brooks, S. (2010). Hypersexualization and the dark body: Race and inequality among black and Latina women in the exotic dance industry. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 7, 70–80.
Carr, E., & Szymanski, D. (2011). Sexual objectification and substance abuse in young adult women. The Counseling Psychologist, 39(1), 39–66.
Choma, B., Foster, M., & Radford, E. (2007). Use of objectification theory to examine the effects of a media literacy intervention on women. Sex Roles, 56, 581–590.
Clifford, J., Brewster, D., & Kowalski, G. (2005, November 15). Hyperfeminine behavior: Outcomes of socialization. Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology. Abstract retrieved December 30, 2010, from http://www.allacadeic.com/meta/p33016_index.html.
Emerson, R. (2002). “Where my girls at?”: Negotiating black womanhood in music videos. Gender & Society, 16(1), 115–135.
Engeln-Maddox, R. (2006). Buying a beauty standard or dreaming of a new life? Expectations associated with media ideals. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 258–266.
Fredrickson, B., & Roberts, T. (1997). Objectification theory: Toward understanding women’s lived experiences and mental health risks. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 21, 173–206.
Frith, K., Shaw, P., & Cheng, H. (2005). The construction of beauty: A cross-cultural analysis of women’s magazine advertising. Journal of Communication, 55, 56–70.
Gay, R., & Castano, E. (2010). My body or mind: The impact of state and trait objectification on women’s cognitive resources. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 695–703.
Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1994). Growing up with television: The cultivation perspective. In J. Bryant & D. Zillman (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (pp. 17–41). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Glanz, K., Rimer, B., & Viswanath, K. (2008). Health behavior and health education: Theory, research, and practice (4th ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Glick, P., Fiske, S., Mladinic, A., Saiz, J., Abrams, D., Masser, B., et al. (2000). Beyond prejudice as simple antipathy: Hostile and benevolent sexism across cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79(5), 763–775.
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Goldwert, M. (1985). Mexican machismo: The flight from femininity. Psychoanalytic Review, 72, 161–169.
Gordon, M. (2008). Media contributions to African American girls’ focus on beauty and appearance: Exploring the consequences of sexual objectification. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 245–256.
Gurung, R., & Chrouser, C. (2007). Predicting objectification: Do provocative clothing and observer characteristics matter? Sex Roles, 57, 91–99.
Hooks, B. (1992). Black looks: Race and representation. Boston: South End Press.
Kaiser Family Foundation. (2010). Generation M 2 : Media in the lives of 8- to 18-year-olds. Menlo Park, CA: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Retrieved November 12, 2010, from http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf.
Kang, M. (1997). The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles, 37, 979–996.
Kipnis, L., & Reeder, J. (1997). White trash girl: The interview. In M. Wray & A. Newitz (Eds.), White trash: Race and class in America (pp. 113–130). New York, NY: Routledge.
Kornblum, J. (2005, January 8). Adults question MySpace’s safety. USA Today. Retrieved January 11, 2011, from http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2006-01-08-myspace-sidebar_x.htm.
Kozee, H., & Tylka, T. (2006). A test of objectification theory with lesbian women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30, 348–357.
Krassas, N., Blauwkamp, J., & Wesselink, P. (2003). “Master your johnson”: Sexual rhetoric in Maxim and Stuff magazines. Sexuality and Culture, 7, 98–119.
Lee, S. (2004). Up against whiteness: Students of color in our schools. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 35(1), 121–125.
Lerum, K., & Dworkin, S. (2009). “Bad girls rule”: An interdisciplinary feminist commentary on the report of the APA task for on the sexualization of girls. Journal of Sex Research, 46(4), 250–263.
Levy, A. (2005). Female chauvinist pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture. New York, NY: Free Press.
Liss, M., Erchull, M. J., & Ramsey, L. (2011). Empowering or oppressing? Development and exploration of the enjoyment of sexualization scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(1), 55–68.
Malatesta, V., & Robinson, M. (1995). Hypersexuality and impulsive sexual behaviors. In L. Diamant & R. D. McAnulty (Eds.), The psychology of sexual orientation, behavior, and identity: A handbook (pp. 307–326). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
McKelvie, M., & Gold, S. (1994). Hyperfemininity: Further definition of the construct. The Journal of Sex Research, 31(3), 219–228.
McKinley, N. (1998). Gender differences in undergraduates’ body esteem: The mediating effect of objectified body consciousness and actual/ideal weight discrepancy. Sex Roles, 39, 113–123.
McKinley, N., & Hyde, J. (1996). The Objectified Body Consciousness Scale. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 20, 181–215.
Millard, J., & Grant, P. (2006). The stereotypes of Black and White women in fashion magazine photographs: The pose of the model and the impression she creates. Sex Roles, 54, 659–673.
Moradi, B., Dirks, D., & Matteson, A. (2005). Roles of sexual objectification experiences and internalization of standards of beauty in eating disorder symptomatology: A test and extension of objectification theory. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(3), 420–428.
Moradi, B., & Huang, Y. (2008). Objectification theory and psychology of women: A decade of advances and future directions. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 32, 377–398.
Muehlenkamp, J., & Saris-Baglama, R. (2002). Self-objectification and its psychological outcomes for college women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26(4), 371–379.
Murnen, S., & Byrne, D. (1991). Hyperfemininity: Measurement and initial validation of the construct. Journal of Sex Research, 28, 479–489.
Nowatzki, J., & Morry, M. (2009). Women’s intentions regarding, and acceptance of, self-sexualizing behavior. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33, 95–107.
Papadaki, E. (2007). Sexual objectification: From Kant to contemporary feminism. Contemporary Political Theory, 6, 330–348.
Peter, J., & Valkenburg, P. (2007). Adolescents’ exposure to a sexualized media environment and their notions of women as sex objects. Sex Roles, 56, 381–395.
Piran, N., & Cormier, H. (2005). The social construction of women and disordered eating patterns. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 52(4), 549–558.
Reichert, T., Lambiase, J., Morgan, S., Carstarphen, M., & Zavoina, S. (1999). Beefcake or cheesecake? No matter how you slice it, sexual explicitness in advertising continues to increase. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76(1), 7–20.
Roach, M. (2003). Stiff: The curious lives of human cadavers. New York, NY: Norton Company Inc.
Roberts, T., & Gettman, J. (2004). Mere exposure: Gender differences in the negative effects of priming a state of self-objectification. Sex Roles, 51, 17–27.
Rolon-Dow, R. (2004). Seduced by images: Identity and schooling in the lives of Puerto Rican girls. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 35(1), 8–29.
Rudman, W., & Verdi, P. (1993). Exploitation: Comparing sexual and violent imagery of females and males in advertising. Women and Health, 20, 1–14.
Szymanski, D., & Henning, S. (2007). The role of self-objectification in women’s depression: A test of objectification theory. Sex Roles, 56, 45–53.
Thompson, M. (2000). Gender in magazine advertising: Skin sells best. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 18(3), 178–181.
Tiggemann, M., & Kuring, J. (2004). The role of body objectification in disordered eating and depressed mood. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43, 299–311.
Tiggemann, M., & Linch, J. (2001). Body image across the life span in adult women: The role of self-objectification. Developmental Psychology, 37(2), 243–253.
Trevino, J. (1985). Latino portrayals in film and television. Jump Cut, 30, 14–16.
Tylka, T., & Hill, M. (2004). Objectification theory as it relates to disordered eating among college women. Sex Roles, 51, 719–730.
Unger, R., & Crawford, M. (1996). Women and gender: A feminist perspective (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Villar-Mendez, C. (2008). Psychological correlates of adherence to femininity ideology in Hispanic and European-American college women (Masters thesis, University of Nevada Las Vegas, 2008). Masters Abstract International, 46(05), 2865.
Ward, L., & Rivadeneyra, R. (1999). Contributions of entertainment television to adolescents’ sexual attitudes and expectations: The role of viewing amount versus viewer involvement. Journal of Sex Research, 36, 237–249.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hall, P.C., West, J.H. & McIntyre, E. Female Self-Sexualization in MySpace.com Personal Profile Photographs. Sexuality & Culture 16, 1–16 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9095-0
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9095-0