There’s always been a concern that young males who regularly watch porn don’t fully learn how to interact with women on an intimate level and in turn, are objectifying women day in and day out. So what’s the female excuse?
Objectification happens everywhere! We all do it, whether we know it or not. We won’t see a person and immediately wonder what their favourite colour is, or how they feel about tomatoes, it’s our instinct to determine whether or not the person is attractive to us- almost immediately.
Looking at Bernieri’s theory of “thin-Slicing”, it is said that within a few minutes of the first impression, we make a solid judgement on the ‘new’ persons gender, body shape, hair colour, skin colour and whether or not we find that person physically attractive.
Women are such a point of discussion within the media spheres. We’re constantly being told ‘what to wear to avoid the encouragement of sexual assault’, we’re being told that we’re ‘vulnerable’ and that we need to be protected, much like children within the media.
I’m not objecting the fact that women are to be protected, as a woman myself, I stand for the rights of my gender and am in no way undermining this cause.. But I do have three older brothers that I love dearly, and growing up with them has taught me that men are just as sensitive and worthy of protection as women are.
The media is constantly portraying women and children as ‘vulnerable’, so at what point does a young male stop becoming vulnerable? As an example, child molestation isn’t something that is overlooked, it’s an issue that is taken extremely seriously, regardless of gender. (As seen in this video). So if boys are being protected from sexual predators, why are men not being protected from rape? Why are men not being protected from becoming ‘sex symbols’? Why is it so assumed within society that men aren’t sensitive to the way they are depicted within the media?
So we’ve gathered that women and children are ‘vulnerable’ according to the media, but children eventually grow into adults, and boys to men. Is there an age where a boy suddenly becomes a man and is no longer ‘vulnerable’ to objectification or voyeurism?
I don’t know what that age is, but I want to say it’s somewhere around the ‘Tween’ age, in which young girls magically transform into ‘blossoming’ young women, mastering the art of fashion and the application of makeup. Similarly, at this age, boys are becoming men. Men that are ‘strong’ and confident and are in absolutely no way hurt by a woman seeing them as nothing more than a pair of arms and a six pack.
Why is it acceptable or even deemed humorous when a TV personality like Ellen DeGeneres constantly displays men shirtless on her show? Is it because she’s America’s most loved Lesbian? Does that make it okay? I don’t think that it should at all.
Within her day-time TV program, Ellen has incorporated a running theme of shirtless males who, in simplest terms, know their way around a gym. This is pretty important, I guess, to her demographic, because they all squeal when a scantily-clad gym-junkie appears on set. The newest segment of male objectification is labelled ‘Nick the Gardener‘.
Nick-The-Gardener doesn’t get a lot of time for dialogue on Ellen’s show. He is in charge of watering plants and taking his shirt off when Ellen says so, causing her studio audience to erupt into a roar of high-pitched wailing. The theme of these segments is essentially ‘yay for Nick’s oily body’. Nick doesn’t have any special skills, interests or thought-provoking things to say because Nick serves his purpose: a torso that keeps plants hydrated.
Ellen dehumanizes Nick, even by referring to him as ‘Nick-The-Gardener’ she is labelling him as nothing more.
In saying that, it is commonly known that Ellen doesn’t intend for this segment to be offensive, it’s done in good humour. We all know that Ellen is presented as a philanthropist, she’s the dancing ‘comical’ version of Oprah Winfrey, giving out as much cash as she does sympathy to those with ‘incredible stories’.
Alright Ellen, if you’re such a good person then why are you flaunting male flesh left right and centre on your show? Isn’t that degrading? Wouldn’t it be disgusting if someone like Jimmy Fallon flaunted barely-dressed females on his show? Wouldn’t there be an uproar of people vigorously emailing documents whose subjects are along the lines of ‘Jimmy Death Threat No. 34’ ? There’s no question about it, because women are ‘vulnerable’ and men are not. When a man poses shirtless, it’s tongue in cheek, when a woman does it, it’s risqué and pornographic.
So what is this called? Meninism? No, it’s plain and simple gender equality.
More people need recognise that men are objectified at the same level as women are.
I understand why Ellen utilises half-naked men to please her demographic (sex-sells and it always will), but I certainly do not approve of the double standard. People, regardless of gender, are not disposable and they are not objects. Within the societal panics that the media produce, men are looked at as the perpetrator and never the victim.
I understand that my post this week is on a sensitive topic, know that my intent was not to offend, but to analyse a perspective of objectification in the media.
See Also:
Russell Brand touching on this topic here
And Mysterious Skin, a movie with Joseph Gordon Levitt that, I believe, encapsulates the vulnerabilities of men. Watch the Trailor here.
Bella Hunter 
First off I’d like to say, great blog! I really enjoyed reading this. I like how you took a different approach to the question rather than just reiterating what was projected in the lecture. The fact that you wrote the blog from a different angle prompted me to think more broadly about the topic and in fact, think about the way males are depicted in the media compared to females, which no one seems to make mention of. The media portrays women as the vulnerable gender who need to be protected, however nothing is ever stated about the protection of males. I like how you raised the point about gender equality as well. It seems society these days is all for gender equality, however when it comes to sexualisation and the media, its only women who are the focus. I strongly agree with the point you made about men being objectified at the same level as women are. Gender equality will never be achieved if the media keeps all of their attention on women. I’d like to commend you again on your efforts. Keep up the good work!
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Really enjoyed reading this! You made some really interesting points and I love how you integrated images and videos to keep the reader engaged in what you were saying and to give them some relevant examples of how objectification takes place regardless of gender or age!
I really enjoyed your use of different language skills such as rhetorical questions, it allowed me to think about what you were saying and form my own opinions on the issues at hand of the text. It also helps the reader, in this case me, to keep focus on what you’re saying!
Your writing is really well done, however if I could make a suggestion maybe add some more links to where you found some of the information if possible, or maybe even other relevant info you’ve read on this issue, just to make it that little bit more interactive!
Other than that I think you did a really good job at conveying your ideas and arguments and you had well thought out, relevant examples and sources of information!
Thanks for posting this interesting perspective on the issue!! ☺
Ps loving your blog layout!
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Thanks Emily!!
I’ve got a few links here and there throughout the posts, they’re just not fantastically visible! I’m working on changing the text colour so that links are brighter. I’m also looking at making the layout a little more user friendly! But thank you for reading 🙂 I’m glad you enjoyed it, I’ve always been quite well immersed in a sort of feminist-life style, yet my closest friends were all male, so I saw that sort of ‘other side’ to these issues. If you like, I’ll post a few more links to Twitter regarding interesting perspectives on male objectification?
Thanks again for reading 🙂
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Sounds good Bella! Thanks 🙂
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First and foremost Bella; thank you. As a male, but moreso as someone who supports equality, this post perfectly sums up the unheard aspect of sexualisation in the media regarding males. Your incorporation of multimedia (i.e. image and YouTube video) was perfectly suited to the argument you were putting forward, and broke up the text enough to make the argument flow perfectly.
You mentioned at the end “men are objectified just as much as women are”, a controversial point that I agree with, but could be considered a generalisation. Perhaps, providing just a few extra recent examples and links to solidify your argument would be a way of strengthening this summarising point, such as Ricky Gervais being labelled “sexist” this week for protesting against a hunter who happened to be female (here is the link for that story: http://www.news.com.au/technology/science/extreme-huntress-rebecca-francis-plays-the-victim-after-ricky-gervais-condemns-hunting-pics/story-fnjwkt0b-1227308973776)
Having said that though, this was one of the most well-written and thought-provoking blog posts I have read in a while, and coming from a female perspective, makes your argument even more important. Keep up the great writing!
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Tom! Thank you so much for your comment!
Ah I actually considered putting in the Ricky Gervais story but decided against it because I was already bordering on 800+ words!
I was really excited to get a male perspective on my post actually! I really appreciate your feedback 🙂 thanks again!
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It was a great piece of writing!
Sorry about the double post. I re-submitted it, thinking the Madonna story was more relevant to what you were saying! The Ricky Gervais story is still relevant to the concept of bias against males, but the latter story is more relevant to your post.
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poor drake! if he had been the one to kiss madonna, and she reacted in the way that he did, there’d be a sexual assault charge
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First and foremost Bella; thank you. As a male, but moreso as someone who supports equality, this post perfectly sums up the unheard aspect of sexualisation in the media regarding males. Your incorporation of multimedia (i.e. image and YouTube video) was perfectly suited to the argument you were putting forward, and broke up the text enough to make the argument flow perfectly.
You mentioned at the end “men are objectified just as much as women are”, a controversial point that I agree with, but could be considered a generalisation. Perhaps, providing just a few extra recent examples and links to solidify your argument would be a way of strengthening this summarising point, such as Madonna forcefully kissing Drake during her performance to achieve a “sexualised” atmosphere (link here: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/madonnas-pash-horrifies-singer-drake/story-fnk822dn-1227302456445)
Having said that though, this was one of the most well-written and thought-provoking blog posts I have read in a while, and coming from a female perspective makes your argument even more important. Keep up the great writing!
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A really interesting spin on the traditional. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post, it was engaging and thought provoking. The way in which you used a mix of media (images and videos) to support your arguments and actually included them in your discussion rather than leaving the as stand-alone-supports added to the fluidity of your argument. It also made it easy to digest and take in.
I must say that as a male I had never even thought about the idea of male objectification let alone head from a females perspective. You handled yourself masterfully on a topic that isn’t widely talked about.
Picking up on what you said about not knowing when boys turn into men; I think that there is another huge but largely not talked about issue that ties in with your idea idea of male objectification. Obviously that is another topic for another day but is nonetheless an interesting point. And although you said it is around the tweens that this happen, I would like to posit that while physically boys are developing into men earlier, emotionally the constraints of society are pushing back maturity further and further. But i digress.
A very clearly written and enjoyable read, keep it up.
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Aaron! Thank you for your comment! Oh when I was writing it, I had way too many thoughts on all the topics and subtopics I was raising! It was crazy, my notes are filled with issues I want to rant about! Maybe they’ll pop up later in the semester! thank you for reading and taking the time to comment!
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Bella! Your article about the current moral panic surrounding the objectification of men and women within our society really struck a chord with me personally as it is an issue that I have a strong personal stance on. Introducing me as the reader to Bernieri’s theory of ‘thin-slicing’ allowed me to attach a scientific basis to something that we all do upon meeting someone, regardless of whether we mean to or not.
In the mainstream media, while not discrediting the very real societal issue of female objectification, it is in some ways a one-sided display in that it is being strongly and publicly spoken out against, as opposed to male objectification that is in some cases seen as just an accepted and normal part of our lives. There are plenty of women in the world who treat men as merely pieces of meat, much the same as there are men that treat women the same, but in neither case is this okay as you have described. All in all Bella, you give a fantastic insight into an aspect of society that is definitely under-represented and have done it well!
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Brockyy come back!
Thank you man! it’s really interesting to actually look at the scientific side of ‘first impressions’ and the natural instincts that are innate within us. thanks for taking the time to read Brock! Hope you went well this week up north 🙂
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Awesome post! This is such an important issue and I agree with your viewpoint.You ask the question of why aren’t men seen as vunerable and why don’t men become sex symbols. I personally believe that this comes down the gender roles and the stereotypical ideas of the role of males and females in the media. This idea hasn’t changed essentially, as much as we have progressed in many ways in eliminating these defined gender roles in terms of equal pay and a right to vote, however in many ways this has not changed. Women are still perceived as being nurturing and men as being strong. This idea is still constantly seen in the media and it negatively affects women as well as men. From a young age boys are not able to show emotional sides and this affects them into adulthood especially if this causes them to develop a form of mental illness. Both genders are impacted in different ways and as you have stated in your example with the Ellen show this side of sexualizing males is not talked about as much as it should be. Thanks for your insight!
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Thank you for your comment!
It’s just a Pandora’s box I’ve noticed, it has now opened up so many topics of gender roles within our society! I really appreciate your comment! Thanks again
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Hey Bella,
I love the stance that you have taken on this issue, it is one that I myself, as a male, have never even thought of. I think that is part of the problem that arises with gender equality and the dehumanizing aspect of men in the public sphere that you have brought to the fore.
I have personally experienced the objectification that you have talked about, but as a man i have never seen it as a bad thing until now. I am a young, tall, sporty, 19 yr old and I’m not afraid to say that i work hard on my body and am not ashamed of it. One of the highlights of high school life was the annual swimming carnival. It was the showcase event where you walked around with your shirt off and got oogled by the girls for the whole day, it was a massive confidence booster. I feel that that might be where the problem lays, as a society we have grown up accepting the fact that a man’s body is a striving factor in the process of impressing women and ultimately, getting in with women. So when we see examples of this on a massive scale like Ellen a lot of people just take the same approach of – “They’re a man, they can handle it”.
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Thanks for comment Dan!
I feel as if I want to focus on the ‘confidence booster’ aspect that you mentioned. Within the media, men are always seen as the predator, they’re on the prowl – looking for women. Whereas woman are very rarely presented this way. I know that at carnivals the girls would DEFINITELY prowl on the boys, no questions asked, they were leering. as a reversal, I’ve never been ‘boosted’ when I catch men looking, I always feel somewhat violated. Isn’t that an interesting perspective! That men are boosted and women are violated! maybe that’s why it’s seemingly ‘okay’ to sexual men, but not women ?
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Great blog, really well written and structured. I’d have to say though, I don’t agree with your stance on gender inequality and the sexual objectification of men. Although you could look at ‘Tim the Gardner’ on Ellen as sexual objectification akin to that of a group of ‘scantly clad women on Jimmy Fallon’ I don’t think it can be placed in the same likeness. Women have historically been subjected to a huge degree of sexual and societal discrimination and although over sexualization in the media is generally a bad thing, its much more concerning for women generally because they’re subjected to much greater amounts of discrimination and objectification in the media. It can also be said that it would be quite acceptable for a man to walk around in public with no top on, but less so for a woman.
I think you’ve raised some good points though. Good post.
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Hey Bella, I love this post. Despite my love for Ellen, I had never even considered this point of view until now. There is actually so much sexualisation of men on her show, even celebrities get topless for her antics and games. I definitely agree that there needs to be equality for both genders and sexualisation of males in this way is not okay. There are so many feminists and females in general standing up for equality, like the ‘Free the Nipple’ campaign (http://www.freethenipple.com/) but definitely a lack of awareness for men. We even have men promoting female rights in the ‘HeForShe’ (http://www.heforshe.org/) campaign but not their own! The closest thing I could find to a male right’s campaigns was http://mensrights.com.au/ or http://mensrightsactivism.com/ but it’s still far less advanced then feminist movements. The video you used was great in illustrating your point about how Ellen has dehumanised Nick. The theory of ‘thin-slicing’ you mentioned is so relevant and I will admit I’m guilty of objectification. I only just noticed your hyperlink to the theory so I would suggest trying to make it a bit more noticeable but great post.
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