Hey all. In today’s post I’ll be discussing the hyper-sexualisation of women in Western media, and evaluating whether or not women are actually empowered by it. Hyper-sexualisation refers to when an individual is depicted or treated as a sexual object. In a society where the beauty industry is worth approximately £13.5 billion in the UK and $532 billion in the US and the sex industry is also worth billions, are the lines being blurred between sexual liberty and sexual confinement? Is it possible that what we now see as women becoming confident within their sexuality and showcasing their bodies online is really just counterproductive to the feminist movement? Instead, is this an indication of the harsh reality - that ‘being sexy’ is a pressure that has been imposed on women for centuries? For instance, even medieval inventions like corsets, which make a woman’s waist look thinner, were made to increase the sexual appeal of the female from the 16th - 19th century. Like I said, the relationship between women and having to appear physically attractive or ‘sexy’ is not a new phenomenon, but rather, an age-old one.

Let’s fast-forward to 2019, where it may seem difficult to reimagine all the seemingly confident, half-naked women on our TV screens, music playlists and instagram explore pages as victims of their own sexuality. If anything, with the prominence of styles like the leotard on the music scene, it seems as though they are challenging misogynistic, slut-shaming ideals about modesty and ‘covering up’.

However, the reality is, young women in particular, have to begin to have honest conversations with ourselves about the pressure to show skin and wear revealing clothes in order to be recognised, especially in the beauty and music industries. It would be naive to pretend that seeing big half-naked booties in 99.9% of rap videos and on social media platforms has no effect on the way young women and teenage girls advertise their physical appearance.

Interestingly, many claims to freedom of sexual expression exist through half-naked posts on social media. I get it. Receiving bodily praise from thousands of instagram followers may feel empowering, making many women feel like WE have the power... but to what extent is this power really in our hands? As individuals, we are just a drop in the ocean - a minuscule cog which enables the function of the patriarchy under which we live. Therefore, whether or not the majority of women choose not to conform to our sexualisation, society and the various industries within it will always capitalise on/gain profit from the it - some women are just hopping on board.

This begs the question: If we can’t beat ‘em, shouldn’t we just join them? If women can’t escape the male gaze, shouldn’t we at least be able to make a living off it? If our access to professions beyond the beauty and sex industries is more limited than men’s, can you blame women for seeking these alternative forms of making a living and monetising their bodies, i.e. through instagram modelling, exotic dancing, escorting or prostitution? These questions are worth considering when thinking about how much power women have in our own sexualisation. The emergence of female artists such as Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion over the last decade has drastically influenced what we perceive as ‘sexy’ in Western society. As sex symbols, these women have redefined the ‘sexy’ woman as bold, fierce, unapologetically explicit and just as sexually driven as men. Songs like Rihanna’s ‘Rude Boy’ (2009), Nicki’s ‘Anaconda’ (2014), Megan’s ‘Big Ole Freak’ (2018) . Even the videography used by these artists is revolutionary - from Rihanna sucking on a strawberry and a banana in ‘S&M’ (2010) to Cardi B and Offset practically giving us a preview of us what goes on their bedroom in ‘Clout’ (2019). Occasionally, celebrities can really take it too far when they’re trying to express their bodily confidence and sexual liberation. A good example of this would be the outfit that the singer Lizzo’s wore to the Laker's earlier this week, declaring, "This is how a bad bitch goes to the Lakers game".

Little did she know that the internet would have a lot of criticism about this outfit, deeming it as inappropriate, especially as young children were at the game. Admittedly, in the name of giving credit where credit is due, Lizzo has remarkably given a voice to bigger women through her music and messages of empowerment on social media. However, her choice of outfit to the Lakers game begs the question: was she really seeking to empower bigger women or just hyper-sexualising herself in a family-friendly environment for attention?

On the other hand, I don’t want to risk sounding like I am trying to devalue women who do monetise their sexuality. I know that there is a lot of 'respectability politics' when it's comes to women who advertise themselves as sex symbols; respectability politics refers to when less privileged groups are told that they must behave 'respectably' and conform to societal norms before being considered deserving of equal treatment. Often, a typically ‘sexy’ woman has to prove that she is equally as intelligent or ambitious to be taken seriously in a professional sense. For instance, Kim Kardashian still faces so much scrutiny till this day regarding her entrance into they legal sector last year, despite her constant efforts to have her studies taken seriously. As someone who is aware of the way in which women are often served the dichotomy of ‘Brains OR Beauty?’ (when we can get the whole damn feast) it would be ludicrous to suggest that the very same women who are sex symbols on our screens aren’t equally as intelligent and entrepreneurial minded. I know that they are, but this isn’t the side of them that we usually get to see in mainstream media and even on social media. My underlying point is that, until we have visual representations of the various ways in which a woman can be sexy in mainstream media (which isn’t going to happen because nudity sells), can we ever wholeheartedly declare that women are completely liberated?

Sexual liberation shouldn't just be about becoming more visually explicit. Sexiness isn’t one-dimensional; there’s isn’t only one way to be sexy or desirable. So why does it seem like there is for women once we turn on our TVs or open our social media apps? Whether or not a man is regarded as ‘attractive’ is deemed by a range of things, many of which aren't physical/aesthetic characteristics. According to several articles, women usually measure attraction amongst men by qualities such as looking older, having a good sense of humour, having a high salary income, showing charm and kindness, whereas, men place much more of an emphasis on a woman's physical appearance.

Looking at these results, can you blame so many women for advertising their physical features at the forefront? Don’t get me wrong, I know that we as human beings don’t always think about sexual attraction in such a black and white manner - lol, I know some guys are probably thinking “Who said I don’t find intelligence in a woman just as sexy?!” Nevertheless, the truth is that mainstream media/social media DO deal with sexual attraction in this black and white manner, and this simplistic, unhealthy way of thinking is distributed to us millennials and Gen-Zs. As members of these generations that are facing extreme societal beauty pressures, we ourselves have to become conscious of the way the female sex appeal is marketed and its effect on our perception of beauty. I’m not disputing that many of the artists and influencers I have mentioned are indeed bold, beautiful women who have changed the game. I just want to remind fellow young women like myself that sex and nudity sells and will continue to sell as long as we live in a patriarchal society. Once we realise this, many young women can stop convincing themselves that they’re less attractive merely because they are less comfortable being half-naked or don’t fit the archetypal female image of either being petite and slender or having an hourglass shape. The key is to find the balance - an equilibrium whereby women can express themselves sexually and be vocal about their sexual desires just as men are, BUT also aren’t made to feel any less appreciated, attractive or ‘sexy’ when they aren’t revealing their bodies. Is it possible to achieve this as a society?

RECOMMENDED READING

Data which shows how men and women differ in their measurements of attractiveness:

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2017/12/05/americans-see-different-expectations-for-men-and-women/

Article on 'Gal Dem' - a publication for women and non-binary people of colour. The writer discusses her personal experiences of hyper-sexualisation, particularly as a black female:

http://gal-dem.com/hyper-sexualisation-black-female-body/