In the last post we talked about the sexualization of women in the media. Sexualization is defined as making something (us as females) sexual. What bothers me the most, is that sexualization means valuing a person on sexual appeal or behavior; nothing else. For example...
For this post, I want to focus in on poses. I know this might sound strange, but go with me on this. I think that by the end you might find it hilarious.
In the media women are often posed in very similar physical positions: slightly open mouths, pouting, looking flirty, in sexual positions (bent over/legs up), and contorted in odd ways. Do you ever stand like this from head to toe?
I don't either.
The issue with poses like this is that they say a lot. I am a big believer in carrying yourself with confidence. Not loud, crazy type walking, walking with arrogance, or your nose in the air; but shoulders back, head up, and smiling. Do the images above show confident, strong women? No, they look hyper sexualized. They look like their sole purpose is to please a man.
Now you might be a little skeptical about a pose saying all that, so let's flip the situation around. What if men posed like women in advertisements? Would we still think that these poses were not a big deal? The images below are examples of this idea, it is called the commutativity test.
These men look absolutely ridiculous! But what's even more ridiculous is women pose this way frequently in advertisements and magazines.
We go about our daily lives without questioning why. Why is it that women pose sexually and it's accepted, but when men pose sexually we think "What the heck?!"
I think it's important that we challenge the media.
It's time that we stop accepting sexualization, and the commutativity test is a great way to do that! I think it's a great exercise to do with anyone of any age because it's so funny!
*The next time you see a sexualized image ask your friend, daughter, or cousin to imagine the image with a man instead of a woman. Firstly, you'll probably laugh, and secondly it's a great way to start conversations about how women are portrayed in the media. When you shed light on sexualization, you beat it!
Thank you the inspiration for this post Chelsea Evanyke!
(1) http://www.petapixel.com/2011/10/04/men-photographed-in-stereotypically-female-poses/
(2) http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/2011/10/07/satirizing-sitcoms/
*All Images were taken from Google Images: G4G does not take any credit for these photos
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