Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Defining Female Self Sexualization for the Twenty-First Century

  • Review
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

In Western society sex appeal has become greatly valued and young women actively and publically expose their sexualities in a variety of ways. Those women who embrace and participate in the hyper-sexualized cultural trend are called self-sexualizers. Despite the growing number of empirical studies related to self-sexualization, there is lack of consensus around a definition of self-sexualization among researchers. The concept of self-sexualization needs to be clarified and explained. The primary purpose of this examination is to address the self-sexualizing phenomenon and to define self-sexualization by building upon previous researchers’ approaches. In this research, self-sexualization is defined as the voluntary imposition of sexualization to the self. We adapted the four aspects of sexualization presented in a task force report issued by the American Psychological Association in 2007 to propose the four conditions of self-sexualization. (1) The first condition of self-sexualization is favoring sexual self-objectification. (2) The second condition is relating sexual desirability to self-esteem. (3) The third condition is equating physical attractiveness with being sexy. (4) The last condition is contextualizing sexual boundaries. Description of each condition and related concepts are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allen, J. M. (2013). The drive to be sexy: Belonging motivation and optimal distinctiveness in women’s self-sexualization (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nebraska). Retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI3559213/.

  • Allen, J. M., & Gervais, S. J. (2012). The drive to be sexy: Prejudice and core motivations in women’s self-sexualization. In N. S. Gotsiridze-Columbus (Ed.), Psychology of prejudice: Interdisciplinary perspectives on contemporary issues (pp. 77–112). New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Psychological Association, Task Force on the Sexualization of Girls. (2007). Report of the APA task force on the sexualization of girls. Retrieved from www.apa.org/pi/wpo/sexualization.html.

  • Attwood, F. (2009). Mainstreaming sex: The sexualisation of western culture. New York, NY: IB Tauris.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aubrey, J. S., Gamble, H., & Hahn, R. (2017). Empowered sexual objects? The priming influence of self-sexualization on thoughts and beliefs related to gender, sex, and power. Western Journal of Communication, 81(3), 362–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bartky, S. L. (1990). Femininity and domination: Studies in the phenomenology of oppression. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Blake, K. R., Bastian, B., & Denson, T. F. (2016). Perceptions of low agency and high sexual openness mediate the relationship between sexualization and sexual aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 42(5):483–497.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braun, V. (2005). In search of (better) sexual pleasure: Female genital ‘cosmetic’ surgery. Sexualities, 8(4), 407–424. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460705056625.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Calogero, R. M., Tantleff-Dunn, S. E., & Thompson, J. (2011). Self-objectification in women: Causes, consequences, and counteractions. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cash, T. F., & Kilcullen, R. N. (1985). The aye of the beholder: Susceptibility to sexism and beautyism in the evaluation of managerial applicants. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 15(4), 591–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crocker, J., & Wolfe, C. T. (2001). Contingencies of self-worth. Psychological Review, 108(3), 593–623.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davies, L. (2012). Sienna Miller nude: Expect the same ballyhoo as Demi Moore’s Vanity Fair appearance. The Telegraph. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-features/9659350/Sienna-Miller-nude-expect-the-same-ballyhoo-as-Demi-Moores-Vanity-Fair-appearance.html.

  • Erchull, M. J., & Liss, M. (2013). Feminist who flaunt it: Exploring the enjoyment of sexualization among young feminist women. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 43(12), 2341–2349.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Erchull, M. J., & Liss, M. (2014). The object of one’s desire: How perceived sexual empowerment through objectification is related to sexual outcomes. Sexuality and Culture, 18(4), 773–788.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahs, B. (2009). Compulsory bisexuality?: The challenges of modern sexual fluidity. Journal of Bisexuality, 9(3–4), 431–449.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahs, B. (2014). Genital panics: Constructing the vagina in women’s qualitative narratives about pubic hair, menstrual sex, and vaginal self-image. Body Image, 11(3), 210–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson, C. J. (2011). Sexting behaviors among young Hispanic women: Incidence and association with other high-risk sexual behaviors. Psychiatric Quarterly, 82(3), 239–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fredrickson, B. L., & Roberts, T. A. (1997). Objectification theory. Psychology of Women quarterly, 21(2), 173–206.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freud, S. (1960). Jokes and their relation to the unconscious. New York, NY: Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerbner, G. (1972). Communication and scial environment. Scientific American, 227(3), 152–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gill, R. (2008). Empowerment/sexism: Figuring female sexual agency in contemporary advertising. Feminism and Psychology, 18(1), 35–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodman, M. P. (2011). Female genital cosmetic and plastic surgery: A review. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 8(6), 1813–1825. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1743-6109.2011.02254.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gordon, M. K., & Ward, L. M. (2000). I’m beautiful, therefore I’m worthy: Assessing associations between media use and adolescents’ self-worth. In: Paper presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Chicago.

  • Hall, P. C., West, J. H., & McIntyre, E. (2012). Female self-sexualization in Myspace.com personal profile photographs. Sexuality and Culture, 16(1), 1–16.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffreys, S. (2005). Beauty and misogyny: Harmful cultural practices in the West. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jhally, S., & Kilbourne, J. (2010). Killing us softly 4: Advertising’s image of women. Northampton, MA: Media Education Foundation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kammeyer, K. (2008). A hypersexual society: Sexual discourse, erotica, and pornography in America today. New York, NY: Plagrave Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Klaassen, M. J., & Peter, J. (2015). Gender (in)equality in Internet pornography: A content analysis of popular pornographic Internet videos. The Journal of Sex Research, 52(7), 721–735.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Labre, M. P. (2002). Adolescent boys and the muscular male body ideal. Journal of Adolescent Health, 30(4), 233–242. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1054-139X(01)00413-X.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Landy, D., & Sigall, H. (1974). Beauty is talent: Task evaluation as a function of the performer’s physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 29(3), 299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, A. (2006). Female chauvinist pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture. New York, NY: Free Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindberg, S. M., Hyde, J. S., & McKinley, N. M. (2006). A measure of objectified body consciousness for preadolescent and adolescent youth. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 30(1), 65–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liss, M., Erchull, M. J., & Ramsey, L. R. (2011). Empowering or oppressing? Development and exploration of the enjoyment of sexualization scale. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37(1), 55–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, A. (2007). Expanding the definition of provocative dress: An examination of female flashing behavior on a college campus. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 25(2), 184–201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynch, A. (2012). Porn chic: Exploring the contours of raunch eroticism. New York, NY: Bloomsbury.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKenney, S. J., & Bigler, R. S. (2010). Development of the internalized sexualization scale (ISS) for pre- and early adolescent girls. Poster presented at the biennial meeting of the Society for Research on Adolescence, Philadelphia, PA.

  • McNair, B. (2002). Striptease culture. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, L. B., & Szymanski, D. M. (2011). Experiencing sexually objectifying environments: A qualitative study. The Counseling Psychologist, 39(1), 67–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morris, D. (2004). New naked woman: A study of the female body. New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nowatzki, J., & Morry, M. M. (2009). Women’s intentions regarding, and acceptance of, self-sexualizing behavior. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 33(1), 95–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nussbaum, M. C. (1995). Objectification. Philosophy & Public Affairs, 24(4), 249–291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouytsel, J., Ponnet, K., Walrave, M., & d’Haenens, L. (2017a). Adolescent sexting from a social learning perspective. Telematics and Informatics, 34(1), 287–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouytsel, J., Van Gool, E., Walrave, M., Ponnet, K., & Peeters, E. (2017b). Sexting: adolescents’ perceptions of the applications used for, motives for, and consequences of sexting. Journal of Youth Studies, 20(4), 446–470.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peterson, Z. D. (2010). What is sexual empowerment? A multidimensional and process-oriented approach to adolescent girls’ sexual empowerment. Sex Roles, 62(5–6), 307–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Philpott, A., Singh, A., & Gamlin, J. (2017). Blurring the boundaries of public health: It’s time to make safer sex porn and erotic sex education. IDS Bulletin-Institute of Development Studies, 48(1), 99–116. https://doi.org/10.19088/1968-2017.108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Queensland Health, Queensland Government. (2011). What are disinhibited and inappropriate sexual behaviours. Retrieved from http://www.health.qld.gov.au/abios/behaviour/family_sup_worker/disinhib_behav_fsw.pdf.

  • Ramsey, L. R., Marotta, J. A., & Hoyt, T. (2017). Sexualized, objectified, but not satisfied: Enjoying sexualization relates to lower relationship satisfaction through perceived partner-objectification. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 34(2), 258–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, M. E., Lott, B., Caldwell, D., & DeLuca, L. (1992). Tolerance for sexual harassment related to self-reported sexual victimization. Gender and Society, 6(1), 122–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ronai, C. R., & Ellis, C. (1989). Turn-ons for money: Interactional strategies of the table dancer. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 18(3), 271–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, K. M., & Kanjorski, J. (1998). The enjoyment of sexist humor, rape attitudes, and relationship aggression in college students. Sex Roles, 38(9–10), 743–756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sabina, C., Wolak, J., & Finkelhor, D. (2008). The nature and dynamics of Internet pornography exposure for youth. Cyber Psychology and Behavior, 11(6), 691–693.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sarracino, C., & Scott, K. M. (2008). The porning of America: The rise of porn culture, what it means, and where we go from here. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sharp, E. A., Weiser, D. A., Lavigne, D. E., & Kelly, R. C. (2017). From furious to fearless: Faculty action and feminist praxis in response to rape culture on college campuses. Family Relations, 66(1), 75–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sigall, H., & Landy, D. (1973). Radiating beauty: Effects of having a physically attractive partner on person perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 28(2), 218–224.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smolak, L., Murnen, S. K., & Myers, T. A. (2014). Sexualizing the self: What college women and men think about and do to be “Sexy”. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 38(3), 379–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Snyder, M., Tanke, E. D., & Berscheid, E. (1977). Social perception and interpersonal behavior: On the self-fulfilling nature of social stereotypes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 35(9), 656.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trekels, J., Ward, L. M., & Eggermont, S. (2018). I “like” the way you look: How appearance-focused and overall Facebook use contribute to adolescents’ self-sexualization. Computers in Human Behavior, 81, 198–208.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walster, E., Aronson, V., Abrahams, D., & Rottman, L. (1966). Importance of physical attractiveness in dating behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(5), 508–516.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walter, N. (2011). Living dolls: The return of sexism. London: Virago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward, L. M. (2016). Media and sexualization: State of empirical research, 1995–2015. The Journal of Sex Research, 53(4–5), 560–577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, L. M., Seabrook, R. C., Grower, P., Giaccardi, S., & Lippman, J. R. (2018). Sexual object or sexual subject? Media use, self-sexualization, and sexual agency among undergraduate women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42(1), 29–43.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward, L. M., Seabrook, R. C., Manago, A., & Reed, L. (2016). Contributions of diverse media to self-sexualization among undergraduate women and men. Sex Roles, 74(1–2), 12–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, J. W., & Smith, P. H. (2004). A longitudinal perspective on physical and sexual intimate partner violence against women. Washington, DC: National Institute of Justice. (NCJ Publication No. 199708). Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/199708.pdf.

  • Whitehead, K., & Kurz, T. (2009). Empowerment and the pole: A discursive investigation of the reinvention of pole dancing as a recreational activity. Feminism and Psychology, 19(2), 224–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilhelm, H. (2015). The ‘rape culture’ lie zero shades of grey. Commentary. Retrieved from https://www.commentarymagazine.com/articles/therape-culture-lie/.

  • Yost, M. R., & McCarthy, L. (2012). Girls gone wild? Heterosexual women’s same-sex encounters at college parties. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 36(1), 7–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zurbriggen, E. L. (2013). Objectification, self-objectification, and societal change. Journal of Social and Political Psychology, 1(1), 188–215. https://doi.org/10.5964/jspp.v1i1.94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Darden College of Education and Professional Studies, Old Dominion University, Education Building Suit #4103, 4301 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Dooyoung Choi

  2. College of Design, University of Minnesota, 358 McNeal Hall, 1985 Buford Ave., St. Paul, MN, 55108-6136, USA

    Marilyn DeLong

Authors
  1. Dooyoung Choi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Marilyn DeLong
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dooyoung Choi.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Choi, D., DeLong, M. Defining Female Self Sexualization for the Twenty-First Century. Sexuality & Culture 23, 1350–1371 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09617-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-019-09617-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation