Women as Sex Objects and Victims in Print Advertisements

Many advertisements use sex to sell a product, along with this notion comes the idea of women as sex objects. Though some may argue using women as sex objects is acceptable there is a fine line between women as sex objects and women as victims in print advertisements. This article examines 1,988 advertisements from over 50 well known American magazines. The advertisements were coded in a way that labeled women as sex objects, victims, or aggressors in a way that would now skew the results of the study. A woman was considered a sex object depending on her posture, facial expression, make up, activity, camera angle and amount of skin shown. The coding was subjective being that a woman wearing a bikini might not be coded as a sex object while a fully clothed woman in a suggestive posture could be considered a sex object. The coding for women seen as a victim is if a woman is involved in an act of violence, a man is overpowering a woman in a sexual act or lustfully staring, a woman appears lifeless and a woman is tricked or lied to. A woman was viewed as an aggressor if she was participating in violent acts or was dominant over a man in a sexual way. The study concluded that about half of the advertisements displayed women as sex objects, 9.51% portrayed women as victims and about 7% of advertisements depicted women as aggressors. However it is interesting to know that 75% of the women portrayed as aggressors were sexualized as well. The conclusion of the article states that women are constantly judged and that their value is based upon their sexuality and physical appearance. It also states that more exposure to women as victims creates "an acceptance of rape myths, interpersonal violence, and gender role stereotyping" thus making it normal and justifiable.


Reference: Francine Rosselli. Julie M. Stankiewicz. “Women As Sex Objects And Victims In Print Advertisements.” in Sex Roles. (Eds) Springer Science + Business Media, 2007.