Adult women should not present themselves as sex objects. Agree or Disagree?

Question

Do adult women in the media have the responsibility to not over-emphasize their own sexuality? How does this tie in to your views about "embracing one's sexuality" or being "proud of one's body"? If a woman feels that she needs to compete with other scantily clad women on MTV in order to further her career, what responsibility does she hold for how she allows herself to be portrayed?

EDIT: I DO NOT wish to "legislate morality". I am asking whether or not people feel that an individual woman should be concerned about how women are portrayed in the media (often as sex objects) and if she should or should not refuse to contribute to this herself.

Answer 1

I don't think women should be revealing. A little mystery is very sexy to a man. I think that if our society was more modest and lest oversexed it would mean our sexuality our feminity would be so much more powerful. Sadly, I also don't think many celebrities care about that kind of responsibility.

Blessings~

Answer 2

I dont really have an answer to this question but let me throw this out there and see if I can justify the trend you are opposing.

You use the term media here which Im going to assume as TV because of the visual connotations of sexuality as well as your mention of MTV and scantily clad.

Most television media is controlled by men for men. Of course you have your HGTV, TLC, and other female geared shows, focused on one primary audience. When there is no primary audience it will be geared towards men as we make up most of the repeat viewership. Men like scantily clad women.

So here are your options: A) you start to watch more TV so that you can controll what happens to be on it. B) you get ALL women to stop parading for TV. or C) You all become unattractive so we dont want to see you on TV.

That said, I dont think you really have a choice in the matter.

Answer 3

Being proud of your body and embracing your sexuality should be a personal thing, not a marketable commodity. That cheapens the whole thing. My mom told me that years ago, men used to hang around the trolley stops, in the hopes that a woman getting off the trolley might flash a little ankle accidentally. Women today have no idea that men get as turned on by a peak as a flash. Silly us.

Answer 4

Adult women should do as they please as long as they aren't breaking any laws.

You can't dictate or legislate 'morality'.

Adult women in the media don't over-emphasise their sexuality. Examples of serious, and respected figures:
Barbara Walters, Christianne Ammanpour, Leslie Stahl ...these women command respect. They are also FULL GROWN, MATURE WOMEN. GROWN-UPS.

You are confusing girls in their teens and twenties with mature adults. How many female university professors dress the way you suggest? How many doctors? How many lawyers? How many chartered accountants? How many professional librarians? How many business leaders? How many...fill in the blank - ??

NONE. It would undermine their credibility and authority.

Girls grow out of it; as you get older you will find your own age group becoming increasingly conservative. Their dress will reflect this. Achieving "adulthood" is a process - it takes time to get there.

It's a path, a journey.

EDIT;
Another thing: you have failed to define 'media' and the 'players' - this is why you and the posters have confused one industry with another, example:

The ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY with serious BROADCAST JOURNALISM; both involve pop-culture media - but belong to entirely different industries. Entirely different DEMOGRAPHICS are involved. Apples are confused with oranges and the inevitable result is confusion.

There are not only differences between industry and demographics, there are cultural differences too. I remember Samantha Bee did a piece about the on the Daily Show recently. The most 'babe-a-licious" talking heads were on the Fox News station. The least attractive talking heads were on the BBC news. The piece was called

"News I’'d Like to F@#k"
NILF hunter Samantha Bee gives us a steamy tour of the hotties that populate the 24-hour news channels. Is Fox the "Spice Channel" of news networks?
http://digg.com/television/The_Daily_Show_With_Jon_Stewart_News_I_d_Like_to_F_k

News 'hotties' appears to be a distinctly American phenomena; yet remember that not all American news broadcasters are equally bad.

Answer 5

Disagree.

What does it mean when you imply that a responsibility should be had? Responsible for what? It is their bodies, their life. A human should choose their own path and use what they got as they deem fit.

What should they be responsible for? A stoning? I thought we got pass that centuries ago (in some places..hehe)! For them to accept rape from deviant men-as if they are responsible for attracting the loser?

I think anyone who agrees is not dealing with a full deck of cards. Media sensationalism is something that every individual in a society is responsible for. We all do enough to perpetuate the atrocities we cite. To pin it on women who do this for monetary gain is being a moral snob. They should not be responsible for presenting them selves as sex objects. This is not the Arab/Medieval world.

Lastly, embracing ones sexuality and being proud of their body is abstract. It is something someone thinks or feels-or in this case writes about as a descriptor. We are not thought police.

The moment other women agree with the statement made in the title, then you ladies too shall be responsible for the stoning, judgment, and imperatives made when you don't wear you Burqas-because any less clothing will mean that you are presenting yourself as a sexual object.

Answer 6

It's true advertising & the media has exploited sex as a selling tool. It does make it more difficult for career women to be taken seriously if the men in the office just wants to talk about work after hours at strip clubs. On the other side of the spectrum, you have to do what you have to do to compete for the best mate. So sure wear the low cleavage & short skirts if you need to at church. No harsh language was used to produce this editorial. Any that existed was edited out to protect the innocent. I also hope this was an objective piece of opinion brought to you in a non offending manner.

Answer 7

I agree. I think our culture is over sexualized in general and young women in particular fall prey to this one sided demeaning portrayal of femininity. But it isn't just her allowing herself to be portrayed that way. Even though a small number of women embrace and reinforce the stereotype of women as sexual object, most women don't. I don't know anyone who dresses like that or behaves that way. So most women should not be measured that way or thought of that way because of what the few do. It's always inspiring to hear one who was that way when she was younger come out to the public as having see the error of her ways and portray herself as a serious adult.

Answer 8

I think anyone man or women can present themselves anyway. They wish as long as they understand the repercussions of that presentation. In other words if they want to dress in a sexy eye catching way. They had better be prepared for the stares and comments, being hit on and so on. And not whine and complain about it happening. As the old saying goes if you can't stand the heat stay out of the kitchen. Well if you don't want the attention don't dress and act the part.

Answer 9

I agree. The very concept "sex object" reduces a person to a commodity to be used. The current parade of women in the entertainment industry who feel the need to display themselves like raw meat in a butcher shop only works to strip away the mystery & intimacy of an individual & adds nothing to the perception of that person's talent. It is difficult to reconcile "embracing one's sexuality" with following the crowd & absurd to equate being "proud of one's body" when the majority of these women are displaying the artistry of cosmeticians & plastic surgeons.

Answer 10

If a woman has a beautiful body then she should show it if shes comfortable with it. The amount of clothing worn should be in direct relation to how much in shape a woman's body is. She shouldn't do it as a marketing tool or a way to tease her way to the top. Although those things might result, she should do because she feels good about herself.

Answer 11

I think an adult woman should present herself however she chooses to. It's not up to me to put the responsibility of appeasing my personal opinions on anyone else's shoulders.

If she feels a need to compete, she competes. If she doesn't, she doesn't. If she's presenting herself as a lady of the night out of a lack of confidence, no one else can fix that issue except her.

It's all her choice.