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Look @ Me 2.0: Self-Sexualization in Facebook Photographs, Body Surveillance and Body Image

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Abstract

Growing attention has been paid to examining how women present themselves on Social Networking Sites (SNSs). Recently, researchers have found that SNSs seem to provide a unique forum for the reproduction of traditional gender roles, including the sexualization of women. In the current study, we evaluated various correlates of self-sexualization in the Facebook profile pictures of young women. Ten Facebook profile photographs of each of 98 young adult women, ranging in age from 18 to 28 years old, were coded for self-sexualization. Participants also completed self-report surveys measuring appearance-related contingencies of self-worth, body surveillance, and internalization of sociocultural beauty norms. Appearance-related contingencies of self-worth and body surveillance were both independently positively associated with self-sexualization in Facebook profile photographs. Although internalization of sociocultural appearance attitudes did not have a direct effect on self-sexualization in Facebook profile pictures, it did have an indirect effect through body surveillance. Potential theoretical and practical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, State University of New York at New Paltz, 1 Hawk Drive, New Paltz, NY, USA

    Lindsay Ruckel & Melanie Hill

  2. Department of Psychology, New Mexico State University, 1780 E University Ave, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    Lindsay Ruckel

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  1. Lindsay Ruckel
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  2. Melanie Hill
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Correspondence to Lindsay Ruckel.

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Ruckel, L., Hill, M. Look @ Me 2.0: Self-Sexualization in Facebook Photographs, Body Surveillance and Body Image. Sexuality & Culture 21, 15–35 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9376-8

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