Huge rise in intensely sexualised pictures of women… but not men

Published: August 15, 2020

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 9:42 AM on 15th August 2011

The number of intensely sexualised images of women in the media has soared in recent years.

Pictures of women have increasingly become hyper-sexualised, research has found. But the same is not true of the portrayal of men.

Images of women on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine were 89 per cent more likely to be sexualised and even ‘pornified’ in the 2000s than in the 1960s, the study by the University of Buffalo revealed.


Enlarge

 

Bringing sexy back: The study examines the covers of Rolling Stone magazine from 1967 to 2009

After analysing more than 1,000 images of men and women on Rolling Stone covers over the course of 43 years, the authors concluded that though images of both men and women have become more sexual, sexualised images are more frequent with women.

At the same time, the number of intensely sexualised images of women — but not men — have surged.

In
the 1960s they found that 11 per cent of men and 44 per cent of women on
the covers of Rolling Stone were sexualised. In the 2000s, 17 per cent of
men were sexualised (an increase of 55 per cent
from the 1960s), and 83 per cent of women were sexualised (an increase
of 89 per cent). Among those images that were sexualised, 2 percent of
men and 61 per cent of women were hyper-sexualised.

Assistant Professor of Sociology at Buffalo University, Erin Hatton, one of the study’s authors

Hatton said: ‘In the 2000s there were 10 times more hyper-sexualised images of women than men, and 11 times more non-sexualised images of men than of women.

‘What we conclude from this is that popular media outlets such as Rolling Stone are not depicting women as sexy musicians or actors; they are depicting women musicians and actors as ready and available for sex.

Previous research has found highly sexualised images of women to have far-reaching negative consequences for both men and women.

Hatton said it was ‘problematic’ ‘because it indicates a decisive narrowing of media representations of women.

She added: ‘We
don’t necessarily think it’s problematic for women to be portrayed as
‘sexy.’ But we do think it is problematic when nearly all images of
women depict them not simply as ‘sexy women’ but as passive objects for someone else’s sexual pleasure.

‘Sexualised portrayals of women have been found to legitimise or exacerbate violence against women and girls, as well as sexual harassment and anti-women attitudes among men and boys.

‘Such images also have been shown to increase rates of body dissatisfaction and/or eating disorders among men, women and girls; and they have even been shown to decrease sexual satisfaction among both men and women.’

In order to measure the intensity of
sexualised representations of men and women, the authors developed a
‘scale of sexualisation.’ An image was given “points” for being
sexualised if, for example,
the subject’s lips were parted or his/her tongue was showing, the
subject was only partially clad or naked, or the text describing the
subject used explicitly sexual language.

The study, ‘Equal Opportunity Objectification? The Sexualisation of Men and Women on the Cover of Rolling Stone’, will be published in the September issue of the journal Sexuality Culture.

Print this article

Read later

Email to a friend

Here’s what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below,
or debate this issue live on our message boards.

The comments below have not been moderated.



  • Newest


  • Oldest


  • Best rated


  • Worst rated

The Rolling Stone “Gossip Girl” cover (center row, second from right) would be more at home on “Penthouse” and made me cancel my subscription. I’m not a prude, but I thought it was supposed to be a music magazine.

Report abuse

It’s ALL about the money STUPID !
No insult meant to anyone but “intensely sexualised pictures of women” make BI$$IONS of DO$$ARS a year to the industries that supply it / them to the public who DEMAND it / them and it’s obvious that the public DEMANDS “Women” over “Men” in their “intensely sexualised pictures”.

Report abuse

I have to admit, it is annoying to have women shoved down my throat all the time.I REALLy would love to see a lot more “sexualised” men!
- natalie bongiorno, little river, 15/8/2020 1:49+++++++++++++++ Really - the average bloke, once he takes his kit off - is not a pretty picture

Report abuse

This isn’t the media’s fault. They aren’t jamming anything down our throats. They are simply responding to consumer demand. All apologies, but women tend to look better scantily clad than men. This isn’t a gender-specific viewpoint on my part by any means. Look at issues of Cosmopolitan and Victoria’s Secret, magazines intended to be viewed specifically by other women, these are some of the most sexualized publications you will see.
Women are the fairer sex, congratulations, now stop complaining and use it to your advantage rather than treating it like a cross to bear.

Report abuse

A woman who seeks equality needs to take responsibility. The Playboy, glamor model crowd does not to take responsibility, so they are treated like bits of meat that have no brains. I have no sympathy though because it was their choice. We are not talking Eastern European or third world forced prostitution to put bread on the table. When it happens in the first world, it’s sheer laziness that drives such women to fund their lives through a dye and boob job - far less taxing than going to college and holding down a job with accountability to others. P.s. It IS becoming mainstream and rather annoyingly shoved down our throats even when we are not looking for it (Beyonce, Rhianna, Pussycat Dolls).

Report abuse

No one wants to a some grimy, greasy, sweaty as a man I don’t even care to shake the hands of other men. If you have even been into the locker room of a gym, then you will know why.

Report abuse

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Related Posts



Tweet this


Published August 15, 2020 by in news

Leave a Reply