Abstract
In 2015, Bay-Cheng proposed that sexual stereotypes of young women had evolved into four types: sexually abstinent and in-control Virgins; sexually experienced and in-control Agents; sexually experienced and out-of-control Sluts; and sexually abstinent and out-of-control Losers. Bay-Cheng also speculated that perceptions of the four types would align with the Stereotype Content Model’s (Fiske et al., 2002) dimensions of competence-incompetence and warmth-coolness. We tested this through a fine-grained visual content analysis of 833 images selected by 175 participants (aged 19–64) to represent the four sexual types. We coded each image’s composition (e.g., appearance, pose, attire, setting, race) for indicators of the depicted woman’s competence, incompetence, warmth, and coolness. Analyses indicated that images representing both Virgins and Agents included more visual markers of competence and fewer markers of incompetence than Sluts and Losers; however, Agents were distinct from Virgins in having significantly more markers of coolness. Images of Sluts had more visual markers of coolness than Virgins and Losers, but significantly fewer markers of warmth than Virgins and Agents. Images of Losers were distinct in displaying the least competence and the most incompetence compared to the other sexual types. In a separate analysis of race, Losers were also disproportionately represented by Asian Pacific Islander Desi American women whereas Black women and women of mixed or ambiguous race were disproportionately selected as Agents. Findings indicate that although sanctions against sexually active young women (i.e., Agents and Sluts) may be receding, young women who are involuntarily abstinent may be vulnerable to ridicule.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Availability of Data and Material
The datasets analyzed for the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Code Availability
The codebook used for the current study is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
References
Aromona, O., & Waters, S. (2017). Portrayal of African American women in Nollywood films over a five-year period: A content analysis of traits applying the Stereotype Content Model. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 9(2), 149–164. https://www.jcmrjournal.org/
Azhar, S., Alvarez, A. R. G., Farina, A. S. J., & Klumpner, S. (2021). “You’re so exotic looking”: An intersectional analysis of Asian American and Pacific Islander stereotypes. Affilia, 36(3), 282–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/08861099211001460
Baker, P., & Potts, A. (2013). “Why do white people have thin lips?” Google and the perpetuation of stereotypes via auto-complete search forms. Critical Discourse Studies, 10(2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/17405904.2012.744320
Bay-Cheng, L. Y. (2015). The agency line: A neoliberal metric for appraising young women’s sexuality. Sex Roles, 73(7–8), 279–291. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0452-6
Bay-Cheng, L. Y., Bruns, A. E., & Maguin, E. (2018). Agents, Virgins, Sluts, and Losers: The sexual typecasting of young heterosexual women. Sex Roles, 79(11–12), 699–714. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-018-0907-7
Becker, J. C., & Asbrock, F. (2012). What triggers helping versus harming of ambivalent groups? Effects of the relative salience of warmth versus competence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(1), 19–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2011.06.015
Beggan, J. K., Vencill, J. A., & Garos, S. (2014). Vulnerable but aloof versus naughty and nice: Contrasting the presentation of male and female nude models in Viva and Playboy. Journal of Sex Research, 51(3), 265–279. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2013.776659
Bell, P., & Milic, M. (2002). Goffman’s gender advertisements revisited: Combining content analysis with semiotic analysis. Visual Communication, 1(2), 203–222.
Berinsky, A. J., Huber, G. A., & Lenz, G. S. (2012). Evaluating online labor markets for experimental research: Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk. Political Analysis, 20(3), 351–368. https://doi.org/10.1093/pan/mpr057
Brown, D. L., White-Johnson, R. L., & Griffin-Fennell, F. D. (2013). Breaking the chains: Examining the endorsement of modern Jezebel images and racial-ethnic esteem among African American women. Culture, Health, and Sexuality, 15(5/6), 525–539. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23524698
Butkowski, C. P., Dixon, T. L., Weeks, K. R., & Smith, M. A. (2020). Quantifying the feminine self(ie): Gender display and social media feedback in young women’s Instagram selfies. New Media and Society, 22(5), 817–837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444819871669
Cahood, D. D., & Edmonds, E. M. (1989). Male-female estimates of opposite-sex first impressions concerning females’ clothing styles. Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society, 27(3), 280–281. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03334607
Cense, M. (2018). Rethinking sexual agency: Proposing a multicomponent model based on young people’s life stories. Sex Education, 19(3), 247–262. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681811.2018.1535968
Cohen, J. (1960). A coefficient of agreement for nominal scales. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20(1), 37–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F001316446002000104
Collins, P. H. (2000). Black feminist thought: Knowledge, consciousness, and the politics of empowerment (2nd ed.). Routledge Press.
Conley, T. D., & Ramsey, L. R. (2011). Killing us Softly? Investigating portrayals of women and men in contemporary magazine advertisements. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 35(3), 469–478. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684311413383
Cuddy, A. J. C., Fiske, S. T., & Glick, P. (2007). The BIAS map: Behaviors from intergroup affect and stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(4), 631–648. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.4.631
Daniels, E. A., & Zurbriggen, E. L. (2016). The price of sexy: Viewers’ perceptions of a sexualized versus nonsexualized Facebook profile photograph. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 5(1), 2–14. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000048
Dewey, C. (2016, August 10). Study: Image results for the Google search “ugly woman” are disproportionately black. Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2016/08/10/study-image-results-for-the-google-search-ugly-woman-are-disproportionately-black/
Döring, N., & Poschl-Guenther, S. (2006). Images of men and women in mobile phone advertisements: A content analysis of advertisements for mobile communication systems in selected popular magazines. Sex Roles, 55(3), 173–185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9071-6
Döring, N., Reif, A., & Poeschl, S. (2016). How gender-stereotypical are selfies? A content analysis and comparison with magazines adverts. Computers in Human Behavior, 55, 955–962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.10.001
Dupuis, E. C., & Clay, J. A. (2013). The role of race and respectability in attributions of responsibility for acquaintance rape. Violence and Victims, 28(6), 1085–1096. https://doi.org/10.1891/0886-6708.VV-D-12-00013
Endendijk, J. J., van Baar, A. L., & Deković, M. (2020). He is a stud, she is a slut! A meta-analysis on the continued existence of sexual double standards. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 24(2), 163–190. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F1088868319891310
Epstein, R., Blake, J. J., & González, T. (2017). Girlhood interrupted: The erasure of Black girls’ childhood. Georgetown University Law Center on Poverty and Inequality.
Esqueda, C. W., & Harrison, L. A. (2005). The influence of gender role stereotypes, the woman’s race, and level of provocation and resistance on domestic violence culpability attributions. Sex Roles, 53(11–12), 821–834. https://doi.org/10.1007/11199s-005-8295-1
Evans, A., & Riley, S. (2015). Technologies of sexiness: Sex, identity, and consumer culture. Oxford University Press.
Fiske, S. T. (2012). Warmth and competence: Stereotype content issues for clinicians and researchers. Canadian Psychology, 53(1), 14–20. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026054
Fiske, S. T. (2018). Stereotype content: Warmth and competence endure. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(2), 67–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/096372147738825
Fiske, S. T., Cuddy, A. J. C., Glick, P., & Xu, J. (2002). A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(6), 878–902. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878
Flanders, C. E., Anderson, R. E., Tarasoff, L. A., & Robinson, M. (2019). Bisexual stigma, sexual violence, and sexual health among bisexual and other plurisexual women: A cross-sectional survey study. Journal of Sex Research, 56(9), 1115–1127. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2018.1563042
Gill, R. (2008). Culture and subjectivity in neoliberal and postfeminist times. Subjectivity, 25(1), 432–445. https://doi.org/10.1057/sub.2008.28
Glick, P., & Fiske, S. T. (2001). An ambivalent alliance: Hostile and benevolent sexism as complementary justifications for gender inequality. American Psychologist, 56(2), 109–118. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.56.2.109
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Harvard University Press.
Goodman-Delahunty, J., & Graham, K. (2011). The influence of victim intoxication and victim attire on police responses to sexual assault. Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling, 8(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.1002/jip.127
Gornick, V. (1979). Foreword. In E. Goffman’s Gender advertisements (pp. vii). Harvard University Press.
Greenwald, A. G., McGhee, D. E., & Schwartz, J. L. K. (1998). Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1464–1480. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1464
Gurung, R. A. R., & Chrouser, C. J. (2007). Predicting objectification: Do provocative clothing and observer characteristics matter? Sex Roles, 57, 91–99. https://doi.org/10.10007/s11199-007-9219-z
Gurung, R. A. R., Punke, E., Brickner, M., & Badalamenti, V. (2018). Power and provocativeness: The effects of subtle changes in clothing on perceptions of working women. Journal of Social Psychology, 158(2), 252–255. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2017.1331991
Guzman, I. M., & Valdivia, A. N. (2004). Brain, brow, and beauty: Latina iconicity in U.S. popular culture. Communication Review, 7(2), 205–221. https://doi.org/10.1080/10714420490448723
Hall, P. C., West, J. H. & McIntyre, E. (2012). Female self-sexualization in MySpace.com personal profile photographs. Sexuality & Culture, 16(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9095-0
Hammer, T. R. (2009). Controlling images, media, and women’s development: A review of the literature. Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, 4(3), 202–216. https://doi.org/10.1080/15401380903084936
Harris, A. (2004). Future girl: Young women in the twenty-first century. Routledge.
Harris, A., & Dobson, A. S. (2015). Theorizing agency in post-girlpower times. Continuum, 29(2), 145–156. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2015.1022955
Hatton, E., & Trautner, M. N. (2011). Equal opportunity objectification? The sexualization of men and women on the cover of Rolling Stone. Sexuality and Culture, 15(3), 256–278. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-011-9093-2
Jean, E. A., Neal-Barnett, A., & Stadulis, R. (2022). How we see us: An examination of factors shaping the appraisal of stereotypical media images of Black women among Black adolescent girls. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-021-01269-8
Jerald, M. C., Cole, E. R., Ward, L. M., & Avery, L. R. (2017). Controlling images: How awareness of group stereotypes affects Black women’s well-being. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 4(5), 487–499. https://doi.org/10.1037/cou0000233
Jordan, J. A., Lawler, J. R., & Bosson, J. K. (2021). Ambivalent classism: The importance of assessing hostile and benevolent ideologies about poor people. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 43(1), 46–67. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973533.2020.1828084
Kang, M. (1997). The portrayal of women’s images in magazine advertisements: Goffman’s gender analysis revisited. Sex Roles, 37(11/12), 979–996. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02936350
Kapzidic, S., & Martins, N. (2015). Mirroring the media: The relationship between media consumption, media internalization, and profile picture characteristics on Facebook. Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, 59(2), 278–297. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2015.1029127
Katz, J., Merrilees, C., Hoxmeier, J. C., & Motisi, M. (2017). White female bystanders’ responses to a Black woman at risk for incapacitated sexual assault. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 41(2), 273–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316689367
Kiang, L., Huynh, V. W., Cheah, C. S. L., & Yoshikawa, H. (2017). Moving beyond the model minority. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1037/aap0000070
Kroon, A. C., Van Selm, M., ter Hoeven, C. L., & Vliegenthart, R. (2018). Reliable and unproductive? Stereotypes of older employees in corporate and news media. Ageing and Society, 38, 166–191. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X16000982
Kuipers, G., van der Laan, E., & Arfini, E. A. G. (2017). Gender models: Changing representations and intersecting roles in Dutch and Italian fashion magazines, 1982–2011. Journal of Gender Studies, 26(6), 632–648. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.2016.1155435
Laing, M. (2020). Rewriting Lolita in fashion photography: Candy, consumption, and dying flowers. Sexualities, 23(5–6), 717–738. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460717736719
Lindner, K. (2004). Images of women in general interest and fashion magazine advertisements from 1955 to 2002. Sex Roles, 51(7/8), 409–421. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:SERS.0000049230.86869.4d
Lippman, W. (1922). Public opinion. Macmillan.
Macnamara, J. (2005). Media content analysis: Its uses, benefits, and best practice methodology. Asia-Pacific Public Relations Journal, 6(1), 1–34.
Mager, J., & Helgeson, J. G. (2011). Fifty years of advertising images: Some changing perspectives on role portrayals along with enduring consistencies. Sex Roles, 64(3–4), 238–252. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9782-6
Merskin, D. (2004). Reviving Lolita? A media literacy examination of sexual portrayals of girls in fashion advertising. American Behavioral Scientist, 48(1), 119–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F0002764204267257
Merskin, D. (2007). Three faces of Eva: Perpetuation of the Hot-Latina stereotype in Desperate Housewives. The Howard Journal of Communications, 18(2), 133–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646170701309890
Millard, J. E., & Grant, P. R. (2006). The stereotypes of Black and White women in fashion and magazine photographs: The pose of the model and the impression she creates. Sex Roles, 54(9), 659–673. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9032-0
Motro, D., Evans, J. B., Ellis, A. P. J., & Benson, L., III. (2021). Race and reactions to women’s expressions of anger at work: Examining the effects of the “Angry Black Woman” stereotype. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0000884
Nam, K., Lee, G., & Hwang, J. (2011). Gender stereotypes depicted by Western and Korean advertising models in Korean adolescent girls’ magazines. Sex Roles, 64(3–4), 223–237. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9878-z
Neuendorf, K. A. (2011). Content analysis—a methodological primer for gender research. Sex Roles, 64(3–4), 276–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-010-9893-0
Okamoto, T., Fujihara, T., Kato, J., Kosugi, K., Nakazato, N., Hayashi, Y., Ikeuchi, H., Nakagawa, N., Mori, K., & Nonami, H. (2006). Measuring social stereotypes with the Photo Projective Method. Social Behavior and Personality, 34(3), 319–332. https://doi.org/10.2224/sbp.2006.34.3.319
Okazaki, S. (2002). Influences of culture on Asian Americans’ sexuality. Journal of Sex Research, 39(1), 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490209552117
Olson, M. A., & Fazio, R. H. (2004). Trait inferences as a function of automatically activated racial attitudes and motivation to control prejudiced reactions. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 26(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15324834basp2601_1
Pariser, E. (2011). The filter bubble: What the Internet is hiding from you. Penguin Press.
Pickel, K. L., & Gentry, R. H. (2017). Slut shaming in a school bullying case: Evaluators ignore level of harm when the victim self-presents as sexually available. Sex Roles, 76(1–2), 89–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0662-6
Potter, J. W., & Levine-Donnerstein, D. (1999). Rethinking validity and reliability in content analysis. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 27(3), 258–284. https://doi.org/10.1080/00909889909365539
Ramsey, L. R., & Horan, A. L. (2018). Picture this: Women’s self-sexualization in photos on social media. Personality and Individual Differences, 133, 85–90. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2017.06.022
Ringrose, J. (2013). Are you sexy, flirty, or a slut? Exploring “sexualization” and how teen girls perform/negotiate digital sexual identity on social networking sites. In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New femininities: Postfeminism, neoliberalism, and subjectivity (pp. 99–116). Palgrave Macmillan.
Ringrose, J., Tolman, D., & Ragonese, M. (2019). Hot right now: Diverse girls navigating technologies of racialized sexy femininity. Feminism and Psychology, 29(1), 76–95. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353518806324
Saunders, B., Sim, J., Kingstone, T., Baker, S., Waterfield, J., Bartlam, B., Burroughs, H., & Jinks, C. (2018). Saturation in qualitative research: Exploring its conceptualization and operationalization. Quality and Quantity, 52(4), 1893–1907. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-017-0574-8
Shah, B. B., Nieweglowski, K., & Corrigan, P. W. (2020). Perceptions of difference and disdain on the self-stigma of mental illness. Journal of Mental Health, 31(1), 22–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638237.2020.1803231
Stamps, D. (2019). Is it really representation? A qualitative analysis of Asian and Latino characterizations in broadcast television. American Communication Journal, 21(1), 1–12. http://www.ac-journal.org/
Sun, C. (2003). Ling Woo in historical context: The new face of Asian American stereotypes on television. In G. Dines & J. M. Humez (Eds), Gender, race, and class in media (2nd ed., pp. 656–664). Sage.
Tsichla, E., & Zotos, Y. (2016). Gender portrayals revisited: Searching for explicit and implicit stereotypes in Cypriot magazine advertisements. International Journal of Advertising, 35(6), 983–1007. https://doi.org/10.1080/02650487.2016.1189250
Tyree, T. (2011). African American stereotypes in reality television. The Howard Journal of Communications, 22(4), 394–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/10646175.2011.617217
Ueland, V. (2019). Stigmatisation and shame—a qualitative study of living with obesity. Sykepleien Forskning, 14(77012). https://doi.org/10.4220/Sykepleienf.2019.77012
Walker, M. (2005). Critical thinking: Challenging developmental myths, stigmas, and stereotypes. In D. Comstock (Ed.), Diversity and development: Critical contexts that shape our lives and relationships (pp. 47–66). Brooks/Cole.
Wardman, N., Gottschall, K., Drew, C., Hutchesson, R., & Saltmarsh, S. (2013). Picturing natural girlhoods: Nature, space and femininity in girls’ school promotions. Gender & Education, 25(3), 284–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2012.756857
Wittenbrink, B., Judd, C. M., & Park, B. (1997). Evidence for racial prejudice at the implicit level and its relationship with questionnaire measures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 72(2), 262–274. https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-3514.72.2.262
Workman, J. E., & Freeburg, E. W. (1999). An examination of date rape, victim dress, and perceiver variables within the context of attribution theory. Sex Roles, 41(3–4), 261–277. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1018858313267
Yip, T., Cheah, C. S. L., Kiang, L., & Nagayama Hall, G. C. (2021). Rendered invisible: Are Asian Americans a model of a marginalized minority? American Psychologist, 76(4), 575–581. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000857
Zaikman, Y., & Marks, M. J. (2017). Promoting theory-based perspectives in sexual double standard research. Sex Roles, 76(7–8), 407–420. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-016-0677-z
Zhang, Q. (2010). Asian Americans beyond the model minority stereotype: The nerdy and the left out. Journal of International and Intercultural Communication, 3(1), 20–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/17513050903428109
Zhou, Y., & Paul, B. (2016). Lotus Blossom or Dragon Lady: A content analysis of “Asian women” online pornography. Sexuality and Culture, 20(4), 1083–1100. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9375-9
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Rebecca No for her assistance with coding and Ziqiang Chen and Kathleen Preston for their assistance with analyses.
Funding
This research was not supported through external funds.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study design and conceptualization. Material preparation and data collection were performed by Laina Y. Bay-Cheng. Codebook development and coding procedure were led by Janna L. Kim. Coding was performed by Janna L. Kim and Hannah G. Ginn. Dataset management was led by Hannah G. Ginn. Janna L. Kim and Laina Y. Bay-Cheng conducted data analyses. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Janna L. Kim and Laina Y. Bay-Cheng. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics Approval
This research was approved by the University at Buffalo’s Institutional Review Board. This is original work that has not been previously published and is not under consideration at another journal.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Research Involving Human Participants
This research was approved by the University at Buffalo’s Institutional Review Board for research involving human participants. The research did not involve non-human animals.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Kim, J.L., Bay-Cheng, L.Y. & Ginn, H.G. Picturing Sexual Agency: A Visual Content Analysis of Adults’ Sexual Stereotypes of Young Women. Sex Roles 87, 565–582 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01336-8
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-022-01336-8