THE SEXUALISATION OF WOMEN’S BODIES IN MAINSTREAM MEDIA
By Nisha-Paris Murria
Whichever medium you choose to absorb whether that be through television programmes, interactive games or the traditional magazine, women’s bodies are constantly sexualised. From the types of clothes designers choose to fit women into, to the different positions photographer’s tell women to get into for a modelling shoot, the end result is often the same; that being that women’s bodies are sexualised benefitting the male gaze!
Yet, the sexualisation of women’s bodies is not a new thing, this has been an issue that originated from the Greeks. During this time, the Greeks had a positive attitude about young male relationships with the older and dominant male, which was named Pederaty. They believed younger boys were weaker emotionally/submissive which in turn established the comparisons between younger boys and women, as the Greeks believed that women were similar to young boys as they were less developed which made them weaker.
However, this was not the only thing that started off the trend of sexualising female bodies. It also started as it seemed that if a female lacked any body hair, only then was she deemed more feminine, making the female in question look more childlike and prepubescent. During the Greek period, body hair was a prominent factor showing a girl maturing into a woman, a similar way as a menstruation would.
Since then, the sexualisation of female bodies has only grown more prominent in society. In the 1970s, women were placed in a box of fragility. This did not stop magazines from jumping onto the trend as the women’s magazine ‘Vogue’ made model’s pose in that way to further the ingrained ideological belief surrounding women and femininity.
Even in the modern-day era, the same things are still apparent in the mainstream media as women are often portrayed as sex symbols in films, magazines and on social media. However, if males pose in scantily positions wearing the bare minimum (exposed chest), women would enjoy that. Yet, if women were to do exactly the same thing, they would be criticised for not being a feminist, judged by other females and probably get unwanted male attention.
This needs to stop, it’s 2021 and it’s quite shocking that this behaviour still goes on, however, there have been other accounts that do not follow these trends, like body positivity account @meganjaynecrabbe on Instagram. She makes content that allows people to feel confident with their bodies, and unlike the models who have an ULTRA slim physique, she would be seen in the fashion industry as a plus-sized woman, (even though she is a healthy size).
There should be more accounts like Megan’s showing how women could feel more confident within their own bodies, while makeup site BeautyBay and fashion company ASOS have campaigns to show how women’s bodies should not be fetishized but looked upon as a normal body, not to be judged or criticised. They have done this by showing body hair and stretch marks in the promotional pictures, normalising what people would consider flaws.
It’s sad to see how women’s bodies are still sexualised by the media, yet with changes such as Beauty Bay’s and ASOS’, and body positivity accounts could the sexualisation landscape be changing?