The role women play in their own objectification
The media plays a large role in the objectification of the female body and persona, and social media and interactive websites have begun to create an even larger problem. Women of celebrity such as Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez have recently made an effort to encourage women to challenge the traditional notions of female sexuality by taking different approaches. Beyoncé has pushed for women to “own” their sexuality, while Jennifer Lopez has, in her most recent music video attempted to objectify men in hopes of showing the ridiculousness the continuous objectification of the female body in music videos (especially in the hip hop and rap genres).
These attempts to propel change in the industry have fallen flat. Beyoncé’s stance for women to “own” their sexuality allows for the public to think of sexuality as something that can be owned and thus an object in itself. In her most recent album and public performances, she has transformed her persona from one of a strong leader into an even stronger sex symbol. Jennifer Lopez, on the other hand, is making a mockery of the situation as a whole – her video for “I luh you papi” showcases men dressed oiled up in scantily clad attire. This may be showcasing how absurdly women’s bodies are objectified – but does it really make it any better if woman do the same to men? Does this change anything, or does it simply continue a culture of sexual objectification?
Celebrities make money off their artistic ability, and as entertainers, they know that they are role models for people all over the world. Beyoncé, as a powerful woman who is also an extremely intelligent business women, must know that by showcasing herself as a highly sexualized being, she is telling women that sex sells and attracts attention – but maybe not the right kind of attention for all women.
The rise and absurd popularity of interactive websites, such as the Chive, are propelled by the objectification of women. With women in the media using their sexuality to become powerful, it is sending a message to women everywhere that if what you want is attention – any kind of attention, at that – they must use their bodies to get it. The Chive is a daily dose of sexual objectification to the max, with categories such as “mind the gap,” “burn bra,” “happy hump day,” and “in life there’s underboob and then there’s everything else,” among countless others. The Chive has other categories, as well – it isn’t all about the female body, but it might as well be, since pictures of half naked women filter throughout the other categories, as well.
The saddest part of it all is that it isn’t just on the creators of websites like this who create the content – women actually send in photos of themselves to be published online. So in a sense, some women are objectifying themselves because they think that is what will make them attractive to men. Some women claim to like The Chive, but the reasons behind this are unclear – some may feel like it is not an issue to showcase sexuality in this manner, or may not be disturbed by the content of the website, and others may be insecure and searching for all the wrong forms of attention.
Powerful women have an important role to play since they are in the public eye so often, and it is detrimental to society to put out the idea that what makes a woman (or any human) powerful is owning and showcasing their sexuality, rather than their personality.