The society regards women differently from their male counterparts. Even on social media platforms, the images the two gender members post differ significantly. Evidently, a woman appears as a lesser human as compared to their male counterparts. Perhaps we could blame this tendency on the conventional patriarchal society we live. In the usual way of things, it is a sad reality that despite the advancement of humanity, the issue of gender remains slightly biased against women. The situation is almost similar to the past, only in a different era, where women as merely object that lives in glorification of men. While in the past women were left treated as inferior beings and rarely involved in the normal workings of the society, today there is active participation of females, just in a skewed manner. The media has only fueled the gender inequalities. This paper will, therefore, discuss the portrayal of women on social media and its implication.
Sexual objectification
First and foremost, women appear sex objects. The media and the general population expect women to look in a particular way. Most commonly, they have to seem sexy. The idea of sexual objectification of women is nothing new in the media. The idea being, women, evoke sexual urges in men. Accordingly, men look at women primarily as objects of sexual pleasure or even worse, objects to serve at their mercies. The “male gaze” as discussed by Laura Mulvey in her essay Visual Pleasure' and Narrative Cinema is the tendency of women carving in to appeal to a particular expected look by men(Mulvey 836). Men have expectations of women. Sadly, and I think because of their insecurities, women only fuel the madness. I believe women have accepted that they are not equal to men and that is why they appear as sexual objects on social media. Surely, who would gladly degrade their personality?
Film industry
As pointed out by Mulley, the film industry takes a sick projection towards women. In the twenty-first century, I would expect women to appear as human beings equal to men. However, the reality is sickening. A glimpse into any film with female characters will surely disappoint any right-thinking individual. Rarely are female characters given lead roles. In fact, I reckon that at least two-thirds of cinema shows women as sex objects. You will often encounter that charming, beautiful office girl falling into the sexual seduction trap of males. Even at times, they will be coerced into conjugal activities by their male colleagues. Although the films are merely fictional, they point out to the actual realities of our patriarchal societies. They are mirrors of the bitter truth we encounter daily. Primarily, women are erotic objects that are there to fulfill the sexual needs of men. I think it is unfair to include women in films only because of their sexual appeal. The implication is that they feature just because of their gender and nothing more. Similarly, it would imply to me that without their sexual attractiveness, women will not be included in the films at all.
Conversely and unknown by many is the link between sexual objectification and violence. Women have to endure the male gaze at workplaces. In the recent past, I have read news about women who undergo sexual abuse under their male bosses and even colleagues. Thus, however, the media portrays women is what is happening. On the media platform, the male gaze is present. Males gaze at women’s pictures unbeknown to the character who, being in a photo, is focused on other things(Mulvey 837). For the men looking at the images, the encounter seems almost real. Strangely, the male gaze is not limited to pornography alone; it spread to other films, advertisements, and television programs. Also, body parts represent the women in question, unlike the male who show their faces. Rather than the society measuring the worth of a woman by her personality, sadly, it focuses on her body parts. No wonder women wear revealing attire and at times go half nude. To the society, it is a woman’s body that matters more(Mulvey 840).
The above advert is outright sexist. Just like many other similar adverts where only women body parts instead of their complete person appear, this ad shows her legs spread by a man. Admittedly, what message does it send to the viewers of such an advert? The likelihood that men will relate the ad to sex is high. No wonder even women who succeed in the media are considered immoral, and filthy. As I have already pointed out, women seem to accept the notion that their body parts exist to pleasure men. Thus, they adjust their appearances into what the society calls attractive. To gain power, fame and social acceptance women do weird things. Perhaps it is human nature to desire love and social acceptance that drives them into semi-insane behavior and appearances on social media and life in general. The society’s view of a woman has a significant effect on her life. That is why their public appearances are well-planned. Those affected by sexual objectification suffer from psychological problems. To a woman, looks are everything. Failure to reach the social sexiness threshold breaks most women to levels beyond reparation.
The pain some women undergo due to sexual objectification is immense. The stress, anxiety, and withdrawal behavior are every day (Mulvey 839). The media's portrayal of "model class women" is untenable. You cannot have a clear measure of beauty and sexiness. Personally, I believe in the religious view that everyone is in God's image. Thus, every woman is beautiful in their special way. The tendency by media platforms such as advertisements where they show most women their inability to look as beautiful as their ideal models are flawed. Rather, it only serves to hurt many women's ego, for no sensible reason(Correa, Hinsley and Zuniga 248). Although the practice is bad for humanity, it is rooted in the society. Some women have insecurities about their attractiveness as perceived by others especially men. In extreme cases, women deemed sexually attractive live with the constant fear of sexual abuse such as rape. Men are known to lust over women with “acceptable attractiveness” and sometimes force themselves on them.
Implications of sexual objectification
The objectification of females has far-reaching impacts on one's life(Murray 500). For instance, young girls become aware of the object of their bodies even before puberty when small boys start ogling them. As a consequence, they grow up more conscious of their external appearances. Instead, they begin dieting practices, ignore hunger by skipping meals, and, continuously monitor their bodies. I am of the thought that this is torturous. The glorification of the female body by men is indeed a disaster. In some case, the women lose track of their pursuit of long-term development goals and instead concentrate on their bodies. No wonder the level of individual development among men and women is against the women. The patriarchal order practically condemns them to nothingness. In some advertisements, women are poorly depicted, sometimes dressed inappropriately, just to appeal to the male status of sexiness and attractiveness.Women have lived through time under the oppressive patriarchal order. Some do not even know their situation and blindly embrace the conventions of life. The struggle for gender equality is far from over. Also when men and women appear to be over, the sexual objectification makes things more complicated for women and feminist advocates.
The sustained practice of the conventional media to portray women stereotypically is terrible. Women get minor roles in mass media(Davtyan-Gevorgyan). Rarely do you find them in principal characters? Commonly, they appear as sex objects that serve at the mercies of the men. In advertisement campaigns, women look as young, slim, and measure up to certain levels of beauty. To set such standards implies women who don’t satisfy the threshold are not beautiful enough, a conclusion which to me is mediocre. The young, slim and sexy woman defined by the society is often comparable to sexual objects. The sexual objectification of women seems to develop and root in the media. Conventionally, femininity is both a cultural and social construction. However, the media, both mainstream and social has fueled the notion. The men construct their ideal type of woman, standards which ladies clamor to attain. Personally, I feel like men have taken on the role of God, creating their perfect kind of a beautiful woman. Consequently, it is in breach of humanity. No human is superior to the other.
Unrealistic beauty
The media portrayal of women is silly and points to a tendency of the media to distort facts to suit themselves. Women appear as beautiful objects with adorable body features. However, they are also passive in the conventional social processes of life such as the economy. Even today, the issue of sexuality concerning women is still dominant. Although the media associates femininity with powerful and autonomous women, desire still plays a part. The objectification of women is with us to stay. Even in TV commercials, women with such features as slender legs, protruding breasts, and sexy thighs have more prominence. Accordingly, I think it is difficult for a man to see personality in a person having such features. Instead, they begin sexual fantasies imagining the other explicit body parts. The process is similar to social media accounts held by women where they post revealing pictures.
To achieve the media standards of beauty is no easy task. For one to have a flawless skin, slender stature, and all other beauty features as possessed by models on social and mainstream media requires a lot. The image above shows a woman flexing her muscles by lifting weights.Normally, men prefer going to the gym more. However, times and society demands women to look in some particular way. Body fitness can be achieved through such exercises. You see, I think women are on the brink of depression. They have to do things they would have preferred not to in the name of attaining an acceptable figure. For instance, technical processes such as surgery to change the individual makeup and use of chemicals are prevalent among many women. I have seen photos of women, especially colored, who have had their skin bleached or undergo what some call skin lightening treatment. The notion that beauty can be defined is sickening to the root. Whoever determines what others should look like is worse than terrorist. Worse, because by forcing women to look in a particular way, you make them change their real appearances. Also, the women lead fake lives and those who cannot do anything suffer depression and low-esteem challenges, issues that are avoidable through acceptance and appreciation of who we are. Women subconsciously blame the current reality on their struggle for equality. Many nations globally still have gender imbalance where women occupy lesser positions in leadership in comparison to men.
Information emanating from social media comments and posts about images women post is predominantly sexist. The patriarchal order of the society is unfavorable to women because everything women do, and share has to be in line with the male worldviews. The challenges women face therein are humongous. With their emotional tendencies, they quickly succumb to public opinion of their looks. In the above image, the woman focuses on her features rather than her whole body. She shows the public more of her cleavage and flat that her entire body. When men look at the picture, they are more likely to think of her first as a sexual object before anything else. As a result, men show their approval her beauty through sexist remarks and comments. Other women who see such will strive to have similar looks, through technical body modifications such as weight loss and skin lightening.
Power of sight
In the words of John Berger, “Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak” (Berger 7). The words have a strong significance on the topic of study. About women portrayal on media, we see before we put words into the visual image. Through, pictures, we feel as though we are in direct contact with the subject. That is why people care about how they look on social media so much. An image, therefore, communicates to us about the personality of an individual. Even in this century, there still exists a strong line of linkage between social relations and morality. People interpret images following their already established view of things. A case in point is the conventional view of women. We all expect women to appear in a certain way, dress in a specified direction among other things. Art (images) speaks to us(Berger 8). That is why when men look at social media images of women, they feel as though they are in direct physical conduct.
Women exude their attitudes and personality in appearance. Unlike men, their presence is an expression of what can and cannot happen to them (Berger 46). They have this unique aura around them that seem to draw men to them. However, being a woman is not rosy. As I indicated, the society is predominantly patriarchal. Thus, women live under the rule of men. Their space is small. Moreover, they are split into being their real selves and conforming to the male perception of them. From a young age, they are keen on their look for that is what seems to define them. More importantly for women, they have to make sure they appeal to men. Even at their lowest moments, they must appear "womanly." Typically, men treat women according to how they look. Hence for women to have some form of power, they ensure their image exudes confidence and acceptability. In a nutshell, men act whereas women appear. Men watch women on social media, whereas the women have to look the part, operate within norms of womanhoodthat is still determined by males. The reality seems to point out that women live in a man’s world. All their actions are in a bid to gain acceptability. The image below shows an Instagram post of a female celebrity.
Rihanna, above, is arguably one of the most accomplished female artists of our time. However, despite her power musically, money and fame, she still has to bow down to her male audience. In the above image, she shows too much-uncovered cleavage. If Rihanna, at the peak of her career can post such a picture, what should we expect other unaccomplished women to post? Surely, not images in their decent clothes. The life of a woman, regardless of her social status, is evidently a determination of the men. Women live under the assumption that their general audience is male. Thus, they appear in images whose practical purpose in life is to arouse men, flatter and seduce them. Rihanna's picture above is what many TV programs would refer to as explicit content. She intends to draw the attention of men. The justification and glorification of such images by the society fuel an increase in such posts. A look through Rihanna's social media images will prove just that. She seems hell-bent on appeasing her male audience through her sexually explicit photos.
Revealing dressing
The appearance of women on social media sometimes dressed skimpily and exposing their natural body parts, is not entirely pleasurable to them. In fact, it is their submission to the cruel patriarchal society. In the current social dispensation, these women have to adhere to filmmakers needs to fit and appeal to a broader audience. I find it absurd that a human being would hold another at ransom by making them appear in a morally and personally degrading state. The state of our economic activities such as videography and filmmaking has bowed to the disturbing sexual objectification of women. Often, music videos and movies contain nude and semi-nude women. The primary reason is to gain relevance. The power of a beautiful sexy woman in her essence will astound you. Many people love them. Nell Gwynn’s image commissioned by King Charles II shows her staring at the spectator with a disinterested look implying that she was merely submitting to a higher authority (Berger 52).The appearance of women on media is very different from that of the male. Not in the sense of their masculine and feminine characteristics but because the perfect audience is expected to be male. The female will, therefore, portray herself in a way that is likely to endear her to the men who are flattered(Berger 64). The psychology behind this fact is astonishing. Although women might try to dispute this fact, they aim at evoking an interest among men in their social media posts. Funny enough the male gender likes the images.
Publicity
The use sexuality, often by women, aims at earning promotion. For instance, female models in adverts make the male audience feel uncomfortable with their way of life. Thus, they feel need to change it by buying whatever is on sale. As a result, the models/ women earn from the publicity so acquired. With publicity comes money. Money itself is power. People who have money are deemed desirable, attractive and lovable (Berger 142). Humans seek publicity and in turn money primarily from the fear having nothing which implies poverty and undesirability. No one wants to amount to nothingness. Socially, publicity helps in protecting those who act in contrary to the ordinary laws of the land. Often, famous people hide behind their popularities when they err.Consequently, it becomes a mask, shielding the rot in the society. I believe in every word of the argument. The mediocrity with which the media portray females is hogwash, backward and unacceptable. However, because it is the favorite thing to do, no one seems to mind. Instead, the sexual gratification of women grows by day in our social platforms. Come to think of it; everyone wants money and the good things it can buy. Media owners want to attract or look more appealing. An immoral presentation of women seems like the way to go, sadly.
The photo above shows a woman dressed in a bikini. Although the environment, ocean or sea could be a justification for her way of dressing, the effects are far-reaching. She is slim, looks young and petite, all definitions of beauty according to the society. Other females who see the image will want ton b to be exactly like her. Also, men will treat her with sexist approval. Today, social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook among others are common among youth. Primarily, Instagram is a platform where people share their images. More commonly, own selfies, celebrities, and, fashion bloggers flood Instagram with pictures. The buzz in photography is tremendous. Many people seek approval from other on social media shown by the likes and comment the photos attract. However, these images do not necessarilyrepresent reality. They are merely a creation made in conformity with the general social perception. I presume that it is madness to post something that does little to describe you. In fact, apart from deceiving the audience, it gives one a false sense of safety. People choose what moments they look good enough to take photos and post on Instagram. Scrutiny of individual social media posts gives us a glimpse into at least a moment in a person’s life(Manovich 2). Clearly as opposed to Instagram stars and fashion icons who primarily post everything regarding their lives and businesses respectively. That is not to say they do not filter what is displayed.
As I have already indicated, Instagram is an image sharing platform whose daily usage grows by the day. Its only rivals are giants such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Instagram users take selfies and other images to show their belongingness to a given social class, and, community as well as show their identity. The platform policies expressly restrict users from posting nudes(Locatelli 3). For me, it is only a matter of time before people are allowed to post whatever they wish to. Before, women were allowed to post images of their breastfeeding and those found culpable would have their accounts shut by the administrator. The idea of displaying images of breastfeeding remains a matter of critical debate. The cultural and social perception of the same remains unclear with concerns about the issue of privacy and decency. Even in the physical trajectory, breastfeeding in public frowns. However, it is safe to say the use of Instagram by breastfeeding mothers is essential in a way.
The use of Instagram helps us appreciate motherhood and infancy. Whoever the woman in the photo is, they are a constant reminder of motherhood. Everyone has fond memories of their mothers. Thus, unlike in other pictures where women are objects of sex that appeal to men, breastfeeding images evoke a sense of appreciation of the female body in the mind that it is where we all came and ate from the breasts. Thus the representation of the female body albeit only the chest depicts a strong bond she shares with the child (Locatelli 4). Also, they mark essential steps in child development, moments which bring joy to women, particularly mothers. In contrast, while the images may appear as generally about breastfeeding, they show the challenges of motherhood. A breastfeeding mum has to endure waking up late at night to nurse the baby. Also, in addition to the routine duties women have to do on a daily basis. Clearly, through the images, we see the difficulties women face without being appreciated. Given the importance of women breastfeeding, both to them and the audience, I support the destigmatization of public breastfeeding. Therefore, women should be allowed to as they please on social media.
Conclusion
Towards this end, it is clear that both men and women use social media for different reasons. The patriarchal society places a tall task on women to look exceptionally beautiful in their social media posts and healthy life. The male culture seems to worship the female body albeit in a defined assumption of what is beautiful. The skewed and biased male definition of beauty and attractiveness is oppressive to women. They have to look like men expect them. Although not all women are affected by the sexual objectification of their bodies, it is safe to say the majority care about what men think of their bodies. I believe it is sad that even in the twenty-first century, women have to live under the tutelage of men. The media, both traditional and social media acts as a catalyst for gender imbalance. Adverts on media show women as sexual objects through their primary focus on the body parts. It is hard to think of such a woman as a person and even easier to see her as a sexual object. The women also have to alter their body make-up to suit the society’s standards of beauty. Often, they undergo technical procedures such as surgery to become beautiful enough. Evidently, everything needs to change if we want gender equality to work.
Work Cited
Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. British Broadcasting Corporation and Penguin Books, 1972, John Wiley & Sons: New Jersey. Print.
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Davtyan-Gevorgyan, Anna. Women and Mass Media. 8 April 2016. Web. 2 March 2018 .
Locatelli, Elisabetta. "Images of Breastfeeding on Instagram: Self-Representation, Publicness, and Privacy Management." sagepub (2017): 1-14. Print.
Manovich, Lev. "Subjects and Styles in Instagram Photography." Manovich, Lev. Instagram Book. manovich.net, 2016. 1-20.
Mulvey, Laura. "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema." Film Theory and Criticism: Introductory Readings (1999): 833-844. Print.
Murray, Derek Conrad. "Notes to self: the visual culture of selfies in the age of social media." Consumption Markets & Culture (2015): 490-516. Print.
